During their time as Junior Rangers, the boys live in purpose-built dormitories in a village on the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. The boys work as a team and share responsibilities for cooking their own meals, washing, and keeping the JRP facilities clean and tidy. The scouts demonstrate high standards for levels of cleanliness and neatness, and the dormitories are inspected daily by the scouts. For all of these boys, it’s a first-time experience in sleeping in a real bed and using a proper shower.

The course aims to instil discipline, respect, teamwork, leadership, and self-confidence which in turn creates a happy learning environment. The Junior Rangers are instructed in physical fitness, bushcraft, conservation education, first aid and a wide range of life skills such as sewing, cooking, public speaking, and compiling CVs. They ultimately graduate in a parade which encompasses a full drill exercise and demonstrates some of the incredible skills that they have mastered in conservation, first aid and public speaking.

The syllabus for the programme is varied and all encompassing:

• Leadership and personal development – team building exercises encourage the boys to collaborate on how to devise strategies and solve problems.
• Public speaking addresses a variety of subjects and encourages confidence and quick thinking. Study time in the evenings allows for revision and keeping up with their diary, which is a course requirement.
• Nutrition – the boys are trained in food handling and hygiene, as well as preparation of delicious meals. By the end of the first module, they are responsible for all their own catering.
• Health and exercise are fundamentals – every day starts with exercises, followed by a run. Workouts include circuit training in the gym and a competitive team ball sport. Each exercise session is instructed and accompanied by senior scouts.
• Conservation education is led by Debbie Kelly – a consulting qualified teacher, who is also a professional guide. Debbie conducts activities both in the classroom and out in the field, with an emphasis on practical work and group discussions.
• Bushcraft, skills and knowledge of the local flora and fauna are taught by senior scouts. Traditional uses for a variety of plants are shared and some Shangaan bushcraft practices, not typically passed down through the generations anymore, are revealed.
• First Aid is taught through practical and theoretical lessons. In their pass out parade, the junior rangers act out a scenario and the processes of attending to the injuries at the scene of the incident.
• Healthy lifestyle motivational talks on the importance of healthy living and making good life choices are done by Malilangwe’s health team. Alcohol abuse, smoking, drugs, HIV/AIDS awareness, and sexually transmitted diseases is also covered.

The programme teaches the boys the meaning of respect and one of the modules focuses on giving back. Communities have been impacted positively by this philosophy, where the Junior Rangers have built houses in the community for elderly people, established vegetable gardens and they have mentored young people within their communities to improve their behaviour.

Since inception the course has made a huge impact on the lives of the boys, who have been given direction and hope, as well as a toolkit of life skills which has shaped opportunities for their futures. Several graduates from the programme have been employed by Malilangwe to work in the various departments of the Trust – conservation, maintenance and workshops, as well as a couple who have trained to become scouts. Some of the boys have continued their schooling and have been sponsored by Malilangwe to attend university.