Eco-Therapy with Educo

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir, Our National Parks

At Rhino Africa we support a number of different charities and it’s always inspiring to come across new ones doing their bit to build a better, stronger, happier society.

Educo is exactly that – an NGO making a difference. They specialise in the development of youth from low income communities all over South Africa. Educo has been working with young people since 1994. Initially, its main aim was to provide youth with leadership in a newly democratic South Africa. Today it deals with many other issues also affecting the youth of today, such as crime, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.

They run a number of programmes that aim to encourage youth at different stages to better themselves and to be a positive influence in their communities.

What impresses us even more is how they use what’s all around them to do this… the wilderness. Some call it “Ecotherapy” or “Wilderness Healing”. Read more about it in the Sisonke Programme below.

Some of the programmes include:

• Sisonke Programme – Heal and grow: This programme is designed to help children who have experienced trauma heal through wilderness-based experiential learning. We all know the value of fresh air and natural landscapes… but its power goes even deeper than that. Participants in this programme vary and include victims of crime, sexual abuse and substance abuse, to name a few. For 6-9 days participants are removed from their familiar surroundings and can keep only a backpack with them. A caregiver is assigned to the participants to works with them to help develop self esteem, to motivate and to heal. Caregivers receive thorough and professional training beforehand.

• Ukuzazi Programme – Optimise opportunity: The Ukuzazi Leadership Programme equips young professionals and tertiary students with leadership skills necessary to advance in their chosen careers or studies. It is also takes students out into the wilderness, where for 7 days several topics are covered, such as personal healing, communication skills, listening skills, creative thinking, and planning and organisational skills.Ukuzazi in isiXhosa means “to know oneself” and during the course participants get to do just that. Each participant get a chance to take leadership role with a group in the wilderness where a wide range of skills are tested which include navigation, team motivation, conflict resolution and communication skills.

How To Get Involved

Be a champion in one young person’s life and inspire more by getting involved…

• Donate money, books, clothes and other learning materials to the organisation
• Give your time
• Take up a challenge for Educo – such as running a marathon or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

Success Stories

 Meet Dumisa

During one of the wilderness learning programmes, run by Mark Gamble, Educo CEO, one of the participants, Dumisa, shared his story about growing up in rural Eastern Cape without school shoes. In later years he sent an email to Educo, addressed to Mark, stating, “I am starting a project to distribute school shoes to young girls at the school in my village. Can Educo help me?”

Over 50 pairs of shoes were delivered as a result with the help of donations. Dumisa’s story did not not end there. Passionate about education, Dumisa went one step beyond and started a mentorship programme to help rural students achieve better results at school. He’s one of many success stories to come out of Educo’s hard work.

“At Educo we say, ‘I hear your story. I recognise your ability’. Our core base is our belief in youths’ inherent potential.”

– Mark Gamble, Educo CEO

Meet Thembinkosi

Thembinkosi is a South African youth who has benefited greatly from Educo’s work. He hosts weekly open mic sessions for music and poetry in Khayelitsha where he lives  to encourage young people to get off the streets, to give them something meaningful to do and to look forward to.

Understanding that government has a big role to play in uplifting his community, he is in charge of a youth parliament that helps youth from his township engage with government. Before he joined Educo he was not sure what he wanted to do with his life and now, having found the right path, he sees it as his turn to give back to the community.

Contact Educo for more information: 

Address: 7 Dalegarth Road, Plumstead, Cape Town, South Africa | Tel: +27 21 761 8939 | Email: contact@educo.org.za | Website

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”
– John Muir