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Get set to explore the wild
Children at a camp organised by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature.
IT IS not every day that children get an invitation to let themselves go, be wild and free.
World Wide Fund for Nature, India (WWF-India), is extending them an irresistible offer to go wild this summer by joining their nature awareness and orientation programme during summer holidays.
Go on a butterfly hunt; discover the joy of bird-watching; go on a river trail; experience the tribal way of life — things that one can never learn, unless one went out of the classrooms.
The nature awareness programme of WWF is intended to sensitise children to the need to coexist with nature. WWF conducts these nature camps every summer and every year, scores of school children pack their rucksacks and join up. The programme is held for students in the age group of 12-17 years.
This is a five-day programme, in which two days are spent in classrooms, watching film and slide shows.
These sessions are followed by a two-day camp at some sanctuary, forest area or tribal village in the outskirts.
Students are taken to places such as Ponmudi, Kallar, Peppara sanctuary or some tribal village like Chathancode, near Palode, where they camp for a day and night.
An education officer of WWF and a core group of conservation enthusiasts within it, known as `Panda Friends,' normally accompany children.
"The children are encouraged to observe birds, animals and butterflies, and how each have a role to play in nature. This will motivate them to be better human beings," says A.K. Sivakumar, education officer.
The day after the camp, children are encouraged to present plays or write stories about conservation issues and there will be prizes for the best work.
Conservation issues
"After each camp, we discover at least one or two children who go on to encourage conservation programmes in their locality or school," says Sudha Soni, State director of WWF-India.
And the letters sent by students after the camps speak for themselves: "I've realised that whatever I do as an individual has an impact on my surroundings. That has made me become careful and more responsible for my actions," writes Anuradha, an engineering student.
"We go before dawn-break and sit in quiet meditation in an open area and watch the dawn in all its glory; the sound of birds coming alive.
It is something I recall even today as a wonderful memory, something that brought me so close to nature," writes another.
Students can join the programme by registering their names at the State office of WWF-India here. The telephone number is 2302265.
By C. Maya
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