Andrew Muir and the Umzi Wethu Initiative

Muir, as executive director of the Wilderness Foundation South Africa (WFSA), is well aware of both the significant employment opportunities in the ecotourism industry and the healing power of nature. He remembers the day he formed the concept for Umzi Wethu, which means ‘our home’ in isiXhosa. “I read a UN report back in 2004 that 80 per cent of the world’s orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa. I was shocked. This is a massive issue, not only from a social perspective, but also from an environmental perspective. I understand the pressure this can have on the environment, particularly in very poor regions.

Orphans are vulnerable, and generally have no other option than to use the resources readily available to them. This can lead to poaching, chopping down of trees for firewood and shelter, and the like. I also realised that conservationists as a collective have not come up with a solution, one that could make this crisis take a positive turn. Conservationists today need to be aware of the broader social context within which they operate. Gone are the days when we could simply put a fence around a protected area and ignore what was happening outside.”

By 2005 this concept had become a reality with the establishment of two separate Umzi Wethu Academies in the Eastern Cape. The first one, in Port Elizabeth, focuses on vocational training in the hospitality industry, while the second one in Somerset East, which is close to three national parks, caters exclusively to the training of rangers.

About 60 per cent of the orphans attending Umzi Wethu have been orphaned as a result of AIDS; many of them from child-headed households . Suitable candidates are identified by various organisations working with orphans and vulnerable children and are referred to Umzi Wethu. Both day and residential students are accepted where, in addition to vocational tuition, they also receive lifeskills training, wellness counselling, one-to-one mentoring and a wilderness experience. For one week every two months or so all students attend a bush camp to experience, often for the first time, South Africa’s extraordinary wildlife and plant biodiversity.

Muir explains, “I knew that the only way we could make Umzi Wethu work was by creating a comprehensive and long-lasting programme. After all, the vulnerability of these orphans has generally been 18 years in the making and will need something pretty intense and all-embracing to turn it around! The healing capacity of nature is tremendous and unparalleled. The wilderness can sustain the human psyche and is a wonderful tool to facilitate social change. We know that, given the right opportunities and the right help, today's highly vulnerable youths can be developed into the leaders of tomorrow.”

As well as training, Umzi Wethu also provides guaranteed job placement with transitional support.  As the costs of the programme are substantial, Muir says that it is essential to select only those youngsters who have the aptitude and potential to see the programme through. “We need to be confident that our Umzi Wethu students will be able to stay in the jobs we secure for them – only then will the programme be successful from a socio-economic perspective. Essentially we are creating ambassadors for other vulnerable youths and orphans to look up to, and see a brighter outlook. Graduates from Umzi Wethu will serve as examples of opportunity and hope to both their own families and to the communities from which they come.”

The success of this comprehensive training programme, formally recognised by the Department of Education, has been remarkable. Eighty-five per cent of the 60 graduates so far have made the successful transition into employment in surrounding hotels and game reserves, with some already promoted to junior management positions.  This pioneering method of using conservation to help rescue orphans and displaced youth from both poverty and despair has also garnered international attention and recently won Andrew Muir a prestigious 2008 Rolex Award.

Muir is not satisfied though. He wants to create 10,000 jobs over the next 10 years. To achieve this, the Umzi Wethu model needs to be embraced throughout southern African. He emphasises that Umzi Wethu was not created as a one-off programme, but rather as a model that can be replicated throughout the region and also in other industries such as the banking and building sectors. To this end he hopes that the Rolex Award will act as a catalyst for rolling out this programme more widely in order to benefit many more orphans and displaced youths.

And what do the graduates have to say about the programme? Pakamisa, one of Umzi Wethu’s first graduates and currently employed as a junior chef, is a living testament to the power of Umzi Wethu’s holistic approach. He says, “I now know where I am going. My future is bright and secure, and I really believe that I can fulfil my dream to be a manager in a hotel. What I pray for is that my friends living in the township will also be able to share the Umzi experience, and be given the chance to live their dream.”

For more information see the Umzi Wethu entry in the AIDSbuzz directory; go to www.umziwethu.org, email info@sawild.org or telephone 041 373 0293. See also the article by Alexa Schoof Marketos on www.rolexawards.com