New School Tour options at The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre

At the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, we have developed a new range of choices for your group of learners, Scouts or Voortrekker groups visiting us.

The standard walking tour to see all the animals at the centre has always been very popular, and combining this with other presentations and activities can make the day at the centre more memorable and educational.

Button badges from bottletops

Learners meet a cheetah

Sagira the Egyptian Vulture

You can choose from the following options and make your experience at the centre customized according to your focus area.

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· Walking tour – 1 ½ hours where learners will see and learn about cheetahs, wild dogs, caracal, African wild cat and various vulture species 

· Interaction with an ambassador cheetah under controlled conditions, learners can meet a trained cheetah. (Approximately 30 min per group) 

· Educational presentation on one of the following topics:

 Tracks and Signs of the wild, Re-use, Recycle, Reduce, Wild dogs and Vultures, Endangered Endemics of SA, the small 5 (Approximately 30 min)

Cheetah Spoor Casts

· Crafts for our planet: Learners can make recycled paper, customized earrings, spoor casts of wild life on the farm and much more (approximately 1 hour) 

· Education games – learners explore the life of a cheetah and learn about our ecosystems through a session on our “prey-ground” 

Many of the new options are best suited for smaller groups, but customised tours can be developed for your school group.

Please contact me to find out more about these new options, or to make a booking on education@dewildt.co.za or 012 504 9906/7/8

Chat soon,

Rita Groenewald

www.cheeta.org.za

Christmas Collections for the less fortunate

Help our education team make Christmas 2013 special for our underprivileged learners...

Yes, it may be rather early in the year to start thinking about Christmas, but we would like to encourage visitors and schools to help our less fortunate learners. We are hoping to collect toys, blankets, shoes (even school shoes please...), clothes, etc that you would like us to distribute during the festive season to orphanages, places of safety, and schools in the area. Even clothes for adults are welcome, as there are many shelters in the area that will appreciate it very much! There will be a box in our reception area at the centre where these items can be placed, but if you live in PTA / JHB area, please let me know if there is enough for us to collect, and I will make a plan with lifts to our farm.

Live in another country? Don’t forget our Skype chats from one of our ambassador camps. We ask a fee for the presentation, and use the funds to visit our underprivileged learners with our ambassador animals, helping to spread the word about conservation.

Locomotion study - Royal Veterinary College

The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre - Phantom the ambassador cheetah running

Holiday Programme June/July - Craighallpark

As parents are finding it increasingly difficult to keep their little ones safe and busy during school holidays, we developed a lovely holiday programme which focuses on teaching kiddies about being able to re-use waste to make new useful craft items, as well as learning about many wonderful creatures - Great and Small!

Fortunately this is a very flexible programme, and can be offered both at the centre, or at any venue. The scouts of Craighall Park were generous enough to allow us to use their hall free of charge during the last week of June, and the first week of July.

The participants and I had loads of fun, and I can't wait for the next school holidays to teach more learners :-)

If you would like to arrange a holiday programme near you, please contact me for further details.

Chat soon,

Rita Groenewald
012 504 9906/7/8

Celebrating Madiba day 2013 at Lowe Primary, Ga-Rankuwa

This Year CHEETA decided to green a local school in Ga-Rankuwa, Lowe Primary. Approximately 80% of the learners at Lowe are from impoverished homes, and many are orphans who live with older siblings, aunts or grandparents.

Due to prior commitments, the celebrations for our beloved former president Mandela were postponed till the 23rd July. Many prominent social workers from the community, as well as celebrity soccer players joined us to celebrate will all the learners and educators. Local businessmen donated 3 beautiful cakes, and each learner got a slice!

Slips for learners and educators
to plant at home.

Our soccer stars, Calvin Siobo from Chiefs and
Siphiwe from Swallows planting trees

Because the school grounds are quite barren, we decided for our 67 min, we would plant a lovely local plant, Elephant bush, or spekboom (Portulacaria afra). Fortunately at the Ann van Dyk cheetah centre, we have plenty of this elephant bush, and this amazing plant makes great cuttings.


We were able to plant 24 large bushes at the school, and had enough slips to send to home with all the grade 7's and educators to plant at home.

Siphiwe from Swallows gives learners encouragement
about how to achieve success in life.

Learners dance joyously. 

Learners asked the stars
to autograph their arms

Our soccer stars, as well as community members
doing outstanding work for social upliftment in Ga-Rankuwa

We were joined by our ISV volunteers who thoroughly enjoyed the day. Before the hard work began, various guests addressed the learners of the school.






Words of encouragement were spoken by Morocco Swallows soccer players, Siphiwe Mhonza and Calvin Sisobo, the headmistress and various other community figures. The students treated the guests to singing, drum majorettes and traditional dancing, before enjoying their cake slices.

We had a wonderful time celebrating a Madiba's birthday with the learners of Lowe Primary, and will definitely continue the relationship with the amazing learners and educators :-)

If anyone would like to assist this school, they are in need of many resources, please feel free to contact me directly to put you in touch with the educators of the school.

Chat soon,

Rita
education@dewildt.co.za
012 504 9906/7/8

Byron Celebrates his 11th Birthday in style

The Human's Cake

Byron turns 11!

Time goes by so quickly, and our first ambassador cheetah turned 11 years old on 31st  May '13. He normally visits a school and has a small party for the learners, but this year we decided to invite children from the Jedidiah Place of Safety in Hartbeespoort to the centre. This is an establishment that houses children in need of safety, and therefore there we are not able to show images of them. Joining in the celebration were a group of international volunteers that were working at the farm for two weeks.

Byron's Meat Cake

Wishing Byron well through the window

Manuela Cimato from Dial-a-picnic, was generous enough to sponsor party packs for all the children, which included juices, crisps, various toys and candy.

There was a cake for all the children, the volunteers and staff, and of course a meat cake for Byron.

It was the first time that the children from Jedidiah had been exposed to wildlife, and got the opportunity to come up and stroke the birthday boy. There was just smiles and purrs all round, and we are very happy that the children got to spend the day with us.

We wish Byron many more years of bringing joy to children and adults.

A big thank you to Manuela from Dial-a-picnic, but also to Stefanie and the team of Jedidiah for the amazing work they do everyday.

If you would like to find out how you can help the children at Jedidiah, contact them on

Contact Information

Crisis Center: 072 383 7294

Fax: 086 260 4865

GPS: S25.71237 w27.893289

hartieshaven@gmail.com

Find Us On

Chat soon,

Rita Groenewald

education@dewildt.co.za

+27 12 504 9906