Young school learners from under-privileged schools in the Eastern Cape will now have the opportunity to be part of the Sustainable Seas Trust’s exciting photo-conservation Educational Programme with the help of Canon SA. The company has donated 40 Canon A2500 cameras to SST, enabling it to extend the programme to learners who can’t afford their own cameras.
The aim of the Sustainable Seas Trust Educational Programme is to foster conservation of the coasts of South Africa through fun, educational experiences.
The project goes beyond simply taking children to visit and explore beaches. Children are encouraged to measure, count, photograph, analyse and compare their discoveries while having fun on the shores and estuaries.
The programme with Canon will specifically benefit children and teachers of impoverished coastal communities in the Eastern Cape.
Photography lends a special component to SST’s Educational Programme as it focusses’ the learners attention and develops their observational skills, both key to looking at the world with a scientist’s eye.
There is a diverse scope for learning adventures along the coast with estuaries, extensive rich rocky zones, coastal dunes, beautiful beaches, harbours and marinas readily available for photography and learning experiences. Children are also able to record the impact of rural and urban developments on camera.
“The 40 cameras donated by Canon will make a difference to thousands of children who previously would not have been able to participate in the programme due to lack of resources. We are hoping to publish a book of children’s photographs and exciting discoveries by the end of 2015,” Dr Tony Ribbink, SST CEO said.
“We are delighted to be able to support this extremely worthwhile programme to afford more children from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to explore the wonders of nature and document their discoveries on camera. Canon SA holds the conservation of South Africa’s beautiful natural resources close to its heart and enthusiastically supports initiatives aimed at inculcating a culture of conservation amongst young people. We hope our cameras will ignite a passion for nature. Certainly, opportunity to learn about cameras may also lead to aspirations of careers in photography. It is an exciting programme for Canon to be privy to.” Canon SA’s Corporate and Marketing Communications Executive for Marketing, Dana Eitzen said.
SST recently donated five cameras, sponsored by Canon, to their partner organisation, Nature’s Valley Trust (NVT), for use in their educational programmes. After a recent outing NVT’s Conservation Education Director, Cindy Lee Cloete, said she found using the cameras “a brilliant way of capturing the children’s attention and focusing them on small specific issues that impact the bigger picture” and that “the children absolutely love this new method of learning” – as is evident by the lovely photographs they captured in this Facebook album.
