Save the Parrots

Parrots, also known as psittacines are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae ('true' parrots), the Cacatuidae (cockatoos) and the Strigopidae (New Zealand parrots). pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia. Parrots have a generally

Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. The plumage of cockatoos ranges from mostly white to mostly black, with a mobile crest of feathers on the tops of their heads. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism. They form the most variably sized bird order in terms of length.

The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material. A few species sometimes eat animals and carrion, while the lories and lorikeets are specialised for feeding on floral nectar and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree hollows (or nest boxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which hatch altricial (helpless) young.

Parrots, along with ravens, crows, jays and magpies, are among the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, has diminished wild populations, with parrots being subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds. Measures taken to conserve the habitats of some high-profile charismatic species have also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the same ecosystems.

MOTTAINAI - WANGARI MAATHAI

Mottainai: The Four R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, ...and Repair)

Wangari Maathai first learned of the concept mottainai while visiting Japan. One meaning in Japanese is "what a waste!" But it also captures in one term the "Three Rs" that environmentalists have been campaigning on for a number of years: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Maathai is seeking to make mottainai a global campaign, adding one more "R" suggested by Klaus Töpfer, the head of the UN Environment Program: "respect" resources.

We can practice mottainai in rich countries where overconsumption is rampant, and we can do it in regions where environmental devastation is causing the poor to get poorer and the ecosystems on which they depend to be degraded, some beyond repair.

In Wangari Maathai's case, mottainai means continuing to plant trees. She has also called on her parliamentary colleagues to ensure that government offices use both sides of each sheet so they can halve the amount of paper they consume.

Wangari Maathai urges the public (and manufacturers) not to use plastic bags that are so thin they tear almost immediately, or are used once and then thrown away. These bags clog waste dumps and blight the landscape in Kenya and other countries. They also provide good breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. If we did not use these bags, and instead carried our shopping in more long-lasting and environmentally friendly containers, we could revitalize traditional industries like basket and cloth weaving.

This could become a global trend. If Kenya began exporting millions of baskets woven by women from sustainably harvested sisal plants to developed countries at a fair price, that would be an important contribution to the protection of the earth, to rural livelihoods, and to fair trade. This is just one example of mottainai. Wangari Maathai encourages us to think of others relevant to our life, our community, and our country.

Welcome To The Youth Garden Project

INTRODUCTION

The Youth Garden Project is a youth led initiative designed to encourage and engage youth to participate in self-employment opportunities around economic growth, health and fitness matters, community gardening and the environment, and also have access to counseling, after school tutoring, mentoring and recreational programs.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This pilot program will reach out to all youth in the community of Zambia. Youth will be offered an opportunity to learn and develop entrepreneurial business skills, and become advocates for environmental and health issues amongst their peers and within their community. The Youth Garden Project program presents youth the opportunity to learn and experience gardening, from planting seeds to cooking to distributing the produce. Participants will grow fresh produce on an urban agricultural site and develop business/marketing skills. Furthermore, this program promotes healthy eating habits, increases awareness around environmental issues and encourages physical activity.

Reaching out to the community is a great way to give back, by doing youth workshop presentations, attending community events and donating free food baskets and clothes to local charities, churches and under privileged families. We want to create a platform for youth to speak up about economic growth, environmental, fitness and dietary issues.

The most important thing about a youth garden is that it is set up by young people for young people with adult support. Young people will be encouraged to be involved in the planning, researching, decision making, fundraising and running of the Youth Garden; empowering young people and giving them responsibility to create a sense of ownership and commitment. That’s why the Youth Garden is a very special project.

OBJECTIVES

Our vision is to:

·         Eradicate health issues through wholesome food and physical activities for children and youth everywhere.

·         Create a training/work program, geared to exposing youth to entrepreneurship, green jobs and technology.

·         Give back to the community by providing ample employment opportunity for youth.

·         Contribute to the next generation of innovators in green industries.

·         Inspire youth to be successful in all areas of their lives.

·         Encourage, foster and build self-esteem among youth.

·         Facilitate the development of leadership skills, social skills, team work, and positive attitude for success.

·         Raise funds to help send other youth to school who don’t have access to money for their school fees.

·         Raise funds for underprivileged children who don’t have food, clothes or clean water.

MISSION

Our mission is to cultivate personal growth, self responsibility and community awareness in youth through gardening, education programmes and community service.

Our programmes will encourage the following principles:

a)     Academic learning through hands on activities.

b)    Develop practical, vocational and life skills.

c)     Provide opportunities to serve and interact in our community.

d)    Cultivate a safe and nourishing place for youth to interact.

e)     Promote ecological awareness and responsibility.

f)     Promote healthy lifestyle through nutrition and fitness.

g)    Build a youth advocacy group – to be a voice among their peers in promoting Zambia, its values for equality, inclusion, justice, and multi-cultures.

h)     The program aims to inspire, encourage and motivate Youth by connecting them with professional adults who can serve as positive role models and influence their lives. Additionally, the adult mentors will provide information, advice, encouragement and support for the youth. Mentors and youth will be matched according to interest and compatibility. We will encourage our youth to believe in themselves, strive for excellence and foster an attitude for success.

i)      To build friendships between volunteer mentors who are 21 years or older and primary school as well as secondary school students who are between 10-19 years old.

j)      We intend to give Career guidance to youth who are not sure of what they want to do in life, by studying their strengths and knowing their weaknesses.

THE YOUTH GARDEN PROJECT PROGRAMS

Our programmes will include:

GARDEN CLASSROOMS PROGRAM

1^st through to 6^th grade students will visit the garden for field trips that explore basic gardening and science concepts related to what students are currently studying. This experimental opportunity builds on classroom learning to strengthen the students’ understanding of science.

HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE IN THE GARDEN PROGRAM

High school Science classes will focus on agriculture and natural resource concepts. It will be offered to a cross-section of 8^th through 12^th graders. The focus of this class is to engage students, through hands-on experience, in the gardening process and help them develop stronger connections with the land and their community. Class concepts include soil biology, germination, photosynthesis, native plants and their uses, nutrition, and organic gardening techniques.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Instead of finding school children at home watching television and playing video games, you will find them getting dirt under their nails, starting plants from seeds, transplanting tomatoes into freshly turned rows, harvesting produce, learning to turn vegetables into snacks and meals, and creating crafts created from garden produce.

TEENAGE PROGRAMS

The Youth Garden Project intends to provide programs for teenagers such as tutoring and homework assistance.

SUMMER GARDEN DAY CAMP

The Youth Garden Project Program Summer Garden Day Camp is created for a fun and recreational summertime program for children that will include responsible youth supervision. This will be a full day, five-day a week summer garden camp that captures the fun in learning through teaching elective topics while in the beauty of the garden. Camp activities will include art lessons, theatrical productions, plant ecology experiments, reading, journal writing, and team building games, with field trips to nearby national parks, museums and swim centres for swimming lessons.

GARDEN APPRENTICE PROGRAM

A national service program, where each August holiday ten youth will have the opportunity to serve at the garden in our Apprentice program, where they learn every angle of operating and managing a production garden, as well as the entrepreneurial skills of marketing and creating value added products. Apprentices will also assist as mentors during our other August holiday programs. We plan for the apprentices to earn a living stipend and financial award for higher education.

CAREER GUIDANCE PROGRAM

This program will target 11^th and 12^th graders and post Secondary students. This will be conducted on a one to one basis. We will evaluate their strengths and weakness in order to advise them on what they should concentrate on career wise.

COMPUTER TRAINING COURSES

We will offer training in basic computer related courses to our youth in order to encourage computer literacy. The courses will include:

·         Introduction to Computers	·         Microsoft Access
·         Introduction to windows	·         Microsoft Publisher
·         Microsoft Word	·         Microsoft Power Point
·         Microsoft Excel	·         Microsoft Office

PLUGGING IN PROGRAM

The plugging program provides juvenile offenders who have received court-ordered community service hours an encouraging environment to repay their community. The youth will work the youth garden project mentors on tasks around the garden and within the community on service projects. This program will instil confidence in youth, build self-esteem and develop a strong work ethic. This program is designed to also reduce the amount of youth offenders to return for a second offense.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY EVENTS

Communities need fun and inspiring events. We intend to host a number of events so that families and community members can make connections and have fun.

HOW THE PROGRAM STARTED

First and foremost, many children never get to see the inside of a high school class room. Most of the children die from starvation or some easily curable diseases before they see adulthood and even lesser of the population is literate. That’s why, instead of seating back and waiting for change, we have decided to take it upon ourselves as youth to give a chance to our future generation and make a difference in the community.

Secondly, we have noticed a lack of programming dedicated to empowering youth in regards to economic growth, healthy food and nutrition. In addition, studies revealed that childhood obesity rates in Zambia are growing rapidly, with the fast food industry growing every day. There is a lot of bad peer pressure circulating and leaves most of our youth very irresponsible and reckless without any regard to elderly members of society, therefore the reckless behaviour tends to lead to premature deaths of our youth.

Through the Youth Garden Project, youth will learn the benefits of eating healthy and staying fit, which will help to reduce the high obesity rates among our youth in Zambia. We guarantee that a community youth garden will provide youth with positive tools that could change their lives and that of their families.

By providing mentorship and workshops geared to enhancing their prowess, youth gain hands on experience working in rural environment while developing leadership, personal management and entrepreneurship skills. They will also be given freedom to think outside the box and use their own personal talents to find their niche within a professional environment, hence promoting Zambia’s Economic Growth, while having the benefit of living a healthy life.

VOLUNTEERS

We will approach adults who have time and dedication to our youth, to come and speak to them occasionally. These will include,

·         Professional Group members of society i.e. The Youth Minister

·         Caring adults 21 years and older

·         Adults with a sincere desire to encourage and listen to young people.

·         Kind and caring people from all walks of life such as businesspeople, professionals, city workers, homemakers, trades people and post secondary students.

Occasionally, in the near future we intend to invite the Minister of Sport, Youth and Child Development to come and see the projects brought forward by the youth.

TARGET MARKET

Our target is mainly youth who have a vision to make a better tomorrow. These include:

·         Youth who are from middle school as well as junior and senior high schools in Zambia.

·         Youth between 5 years old and 28 years old

·         Youth who would benefit from having a caring adult volunteer mentor.

But our main customers will be the community at large.