The Mbeko Eco Club, a non-profit organisation in Mbekweni, has since 2019 been empowering local youth with knowledge about the environment and how to take care of it.
The club was started by Phiwe Mtwebana, Vincent Nteta, and Khahliso Lefatsa with the goal mostly to raise awareness and educate young people of school going age about climate change and what it does to the environment. After the club was formally established they recruited three more members, and today it has 24 active members.
“After the 2017-’18 day-zero climate-change near-disaster we realised a lot of people did not realise what was happening and why,” Lefatsa explained. “We all felt the impact of that epic drought period, but a lot of people had seen it as another case of the climate doing its regular natural cycle of not giving us rain. People did not know that some of the factors involved in that natural phenomenon were, to a certain degree, man-made.”
He said the general aim is to improve the water quality of the Berg River catchment while creating awareness about climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the health and well-being of the Mbekweni residents and beyond.
He said the Mbeko Eco Club aligns its values with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and its “no-one left behind” mantra.
Its members share information about the eco-system, water conservation, teach practical skills on how to grow a vegetable garden, aside from conducting eco-tours.
The Mbeko Eco Club has started Eco Clubs at Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary and Langabuya Primary, and members have been giving learners at IHlumelo Secondary, Mbekweni Primary and Mboniselo Primary environmental education every month since starting in 2019. Learners of Wellington Secondary also form part of the club, but anyone is welcome to join.
According to Lefatse, the club follows ecotherapy practices that encourage the learners to engage all five of their senses, which is conducive to a holistic experience of learning, in which they learn faster and better.
“This improves retention and it is fun,” he said. “What is presented to the children in the classroom is mostly theory. Going on excursions gives learners more practical engagement. We have been privileged to have enthusiastic personnel at facilities and labs who are always willing to teach the learners and advise them on their career choices that mostly involve science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”
Recently, the learners went to a waste management facility in Kraaifontein, where they learnt more about circular economy and the value one can extract from the management of waste.
“They got to learn practically about the 5Rs – refuse, re-use, reduce, repurpose and then recycle,” said Lefatsa. “They saw that the value chain of products does not have to end in the refuse bin, but waste was in itself an economy within itself. They got to see how other countries generate millions of dollars in waste management. Another man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. They also learnt how product designers are needed in the industry to design appealing products that are recyclable. These learners are exposed to real-life research and what is currently happening in the industry.”
Each month the club also does water monitoring at the Berg River with the help of the Drakenstein Waste Water Works and the environmental department.
“The Drakenstein Municipality has been our anchor and compass,” Lefatsa said. “Without them it would had been more difficult to have made our ideas work.”
He said learners who form part of the Mbeko Eco Club are becoming more confident and are proud of what they achieve.
“I have seen them excel academically and our environmental education gives them hope. One young secondary learner came to me one day and told me these are memories that he will never forget.
“The seeds we plant are already bearing fruit. The Desmond Eco Club is already involved in river clean-ups, Mbekweni water canal restoration, planting Spekbooms as part of the carbon sequestration in schools, orphanages and homesteads of senior citizens in the community. The Eco learners at Langabuya Primary school already have a functioning garden that provide vegetables to vulnerable learners who come from severe impoverished backgrounds and those learners whose families have been hit hard by Covid-19.”
And as part of its health and well-being objectives and has introduced cycling to the learners.
“It is essential to keep young people engaged and active for the benefit of their mind and body,” Lefatsa said. “We want them to also be aware of Net Zero and the reduction of carbon emissions by using alternative transportation. This has led to our youth taking part in Schools Cycling SA and our girls and boys are winning medals each time.”
He says as part of its volunteer programme, the club has trained volunteers from Mbekweni and Wellington in events management (Seta-accredited) and in culture and nature tourism.
“We do bird watching at the Paarl Bird Sanctuary with tourists and learners. We have recently been welcomed by the Western Cape Environmental Education Forum that is linked to the Western Cape Education Department for the Educational activities we do. For us giving back our time and energy for the environment, the less privileged, the vulnerable, is not just an obligation, it’s a passion.”
Those who would like to supper the Mbeko Eco Club to enable them to do more with the learners, can contact them on 065 849 5803 or via email at khahliso.lefatsa@mbekoecoclub.org. Visit their Facebook page Mbekweni Eco Club or their website mbekoeco.org.za for more details.
