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KNYSNA NEWS - Water conservation and the state of the country's water availability has been making headlines for some time now, with the Western Cape's plight and proximity to "Day Zero" making us South Africans even more worried about what may lie ahead.
A company called Active Education has launched a campaign aimed at foundation phase education, along with a superhero of sorts, that teaches children how to save water and what to do when you see water being wasted.
Enter the penguin
Wanda the Water Warrior, a penguin, is the superhero – or mascot – helping Active Education spread the word about water conservation.
Recently they visited four schools in the Knysna area, not even to mention the thousands of children they have reached across the Western Cape already. Heatherhill and Rheenendal Primary are just two of the local schools visited.
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According to Active Education spokesperson Kendra-Lee Holdsworth, the campaign is being run in conjunction with Shell and the Department Of Basic Education, and has visited 200 schools in the Western Cape, including those in Knysna.
Impactful experience
"The educational programme is designed around saving water and is interactive and must be experienced to understand the full impact," she adds.
Active Education founder Bruce Smuts says the company is all about addressing social issues and educating the youth about these issues.
"We use roadshows to visit schools and try to teach them a few points around the specific issue we're addressing. We're about changing lives and changing behaviour," he says.
Smuts adds that the Wanda campaign is solely aimed at water saving. Active Education's other programmes include cyberbullying talks, sports development and a road safety campaign that has reached over 1-million children – talks that last two hours maximum, according to Smuts.
Watch a video below:
Heatherhill School learners listen to Wanda the Water Warrior penguin. Although the campaign is aimed at foundation phase children, these teens still seemed to enjoy it.
Fostering water warriors
The Wanda campaign teaches children to close taps after use, to report leakages or water wastage to the number 31373 – they have a catchy tune they share with children to help them remember this number – to always be water wise and do their utmost to save water on a daily basis.
Although not a foundation phase school, the visit to Heatherhill was a successful one, according to Smuts. "Our guys have been thrown into the deep end with these high school kids, but it seems they enjoyed it too. The younger kids go mad for Wanda," he says.
The water warrior team of Donna Sibisi (left) and Mbongi Khanyile say their job working with kids is simple as they are both parents themselves. "Smaller kids go bananas for Wanda, and we do this all for them," Khanyile said.
For more information visit www.activeeducation.co.za.
View a video of Wanda's visit and hear more about Active Education.
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