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Across all the Wild Bird Trust projects, the importance of engaging communities is well understood and incorporated into each project ethos.

Community Empowerment

community-empowerment

The Nkashi Classic is a celebration of the mekoro, a wooden dugout canoe which the BaYei guides use to explore, live and fish in the narrow and winding waterways of the Okavango Delta. The Nkashi is the Setswana name for the pole that is used to propel a mekoro, an essential skill for any person born around the Delta. 

Organised by the Botswana Wild Bird Trust in partnership with Botswana Tourism Organisation, the Nkashi Classic final takes place along the Thamalakane River in Maun. The heats are becoming a big feature of village life around the Delta and polers compete to be able to take part in the finals and have a chance to win life changing prize money. 

The Nkashi Classic aims to create awareness on the importance of the Okavango River System, the community it supports, and the power that it holds to affect positive change for future generations. 

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The Nkashi Classic is a celebration of the mekoro, a wooden dugout canoe which the BaYei guides use to explore, live and fish in the narrow and winding waterways of the Okavango Delta.

Nkashi Classic

The Nkashi Knowledge Centres (NKCs) are dynamic community hubs dedicated to education, vocational training, enterprise development, and the preservation of traditional knowledge in the Okavango Delta region. Established by the Botswana Wild Bird Trust under the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP), these Centres serve as platforms for learning, collaboration, and sustainable development.

Located in Maun and the newly launched Beetsha Centre in the Eastern Panhandle, the NKCs are designed to meet the unique needs of local communities while promoting environmental stewardship and economic resilience. They act as inclusive spaces where small businesses are incubated, skills are developed, traditional knowledge is preserved, and solutions are co-created in partnership with communities.

Each centre offers tailored workshops, training programs, and access to resources that empower individuals—from young storytellers to entrepreneurs and Village Development Committees (VDCs). Through initiatives such as storytelling clubs, business skills training, and early childhood conservation education, the NKCs help foster local leadership and self-reliance.

The centres also feature facilities to support research and education, including office and accommodation space for visiting educators and scientists. Importantly, they are developed in collaboration with local artisans, traditional leaders, and community members, ensuring that the programs reflect local values and priorities.

To reach even more remote areas of the Delta, Nkashi has also introduced the Nkashi Bus—a fully equipped 4x4 mobile knowledge centre launched in 2023. The bus brings education, storytelling, and enterprise development directly to villages that are often inaccessible, extending the impact of the Nkashi mission beyond fixed locations.

Together, the Nkashi Knowledge Centres and the Nkashi Bus represent a growing network of community-driven spaces that inspire, empower, and support a sustainable future for the Okavango Delta and its people.

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The Nkashi Knowledge Centres (NKCs) are located in Maun and the newly launched Beetsha Centre in the Eastern Panhandle. 

Nkashi Knowledge Centres

The Educator Expeditions, are an educational and developmental project, aimed at supporting primary school teachers with the resources to improve the poor academic results. Schools in the North- Western districts, which are divided into the Ngamiland and Okavango sub-districts, have very little access to resources and training for both learners and teachers.These workshops which take the form of walks in the wild were launched to impart the use of scientific and academic knowledge of the NGOWP and the indigenous and local knowledge of the Delta people to teachers who come from other regions. The educators come to appreciate and understand the environment in which their learners are growing to help them become better custodians of this land.

We are also working with local Village Development Committees to support Early Childhood Development through their Play Groups and have launched Itsoseng an out of school and at risk youth development program which is in its pilot phase to help youth either return to formal schooling or enter some form of vocational training.

All of these education initiatives will be supported by the Nkashi Bus - Knowledge on the Go. Which is an extension of our Nkashi Knowledge Centres and will provide points of connection and engagement in remote communities.

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The Educator Expeditions, are an educational and developmental project, aimed at supporting primary school teachers with the resources to improve the poor academic results.

Community Empowerment

Nkashi Classic

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