FIELD NOTE / COMMUNITY
A classroom at the edge of the park.
How school construction, teachers houses and scholarships changed daily life in the member villages.
Education is one of the reasons Ikona WMA exists. Revenue from wildlife has been invested in classrooms, teachers houses and scholarships across the five villages.
Buildings first
The association has built and repaired classrooms, and built houses for teachers so that schools can attract and keep staff. The work is planned with the village councils rather than imposed from outside.
Beyond the classroom
Ikona supports education programmes on wildlife, youth and equality, and provides scholarships for students from the member villages. A dispensary and water points have also been built, because a school only works if the village around it works.
The next generation
Children in the member villages are growing up with a different understanding of the land around them. Conservation is not an abstract idea: it pays for the classroom they sit in, and it depends on the animals outside.
Children outside a classroom in a member village.