Supporting our local community, with a loving approach
The Chundukwa Foundation
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS - EDUCATION - ENVIRONMENT - WATER - SUPPORTING LOCAL - ANIMAL WELFARE
Animal and nature lovers, we have grown up in this beautiful country and would like to do as much as we are able to conserve and protect this area. We strongly believe in responsible, sustainable land management, conserving the wilderness and our wildlife now and for future generations. Simply put - we support initiatives that are self-motivating and, in turn, support animals and our community.
With our ecotourism enterprises, we aim to be as low impact as possible. We help to connect dots between guests, friends and families who would like to make a contribution towards conservation and the communities that live here. The Chundukwa Foundation raises funds for initiatives that need our support. Through partnerships, we seek to leverage the resources, knowledge, networks and strengths of stakeholders to enhance positive impact. If you’d like more information, please let us know.
These are a few of the local initiatives close to our heart.
Nakawa Community Academy
Cynthia & Silumba. An extraordinary couple living in the remote village of Nakawa, approximately 70kms from Victoria Falls, Zambia. Recognising the need for sustainable development in their community, Cynthia and Silumba set up the Nakawa Community Academy providing meals and education for 107 children - and growing! The Academy also provides mentorship to children for further education, scholarship opportunities for volunteer teachers and vocational training to adults within the community. As a sustainable food initiative, the couple have created a large vegetable garden, a tree nursery, a fruit orchard to feed the school children. The Arts & Crafts Centre and a small shop help finance the various initiatives. Guests are invited to visit Nakawa Village when staying with us at Chundukwa River Lodge. Learn more here!
Donkey Welfare
We educate and support neighbouring communities in the kind and responsible ownership of working donkeys, assisting with safe and comfortable harness manufacture, diet and animal husbandry alongside Zambezi Animal Welfare Services (ZAWS) and Zambezi Working Donkey Project, working together to improve equine welfare in Zambia.
We are looking to raise funds to support the working donkeys in the Simalaha Community Conservancy where we operate Zambian Horseback Safaris. In the long term, we hope to set up a centre for animal husbandry.
The Yoga + Donkey Connection - were you aware there was one? Probably not! We have found that yoga mats are an ideal material for harness manufacture. We will gratefully accept any old yoga mats that you wish to donate to us for this.
Zambezi Animal Welfare Services
We support Zambezi Animal Welfare Services (ZAWS) a non-profit organization established in 2014 by a group of friends who love animals. ZAWS programs include education, community veterinary outreach, and the population control of dogs and cats through sterilization and rescue within Livingstone and our community. ZAWS offers a variety of educational programs including presentations at local schools, educational lectures and interactive sessions. We focus on values of respect, compassion, and a reverence for animal welfare. Learn more here. Images c/o ZAWS.
Conservation South Luangwa - Detection Dog Unit
We donate to the CSL K9 Unit. In 2014 in partnership with Working Dogs for Conservation, a US based NGO, CSL introduced Zambia’s first ever wildlife detection dog unit in South Luangwa. The dogs and handlers are trained to conduct road block searches, intelligence based village / building searches, border and airport searches and area / grid searches. They have also just recently started training on tracking, a completely new set of skills. Currently the dogs are trained to detect ivory, firearms and ammunition, pangolin, leopard skins, mukula wood and certain species of bush meat. From October to December 2021, the K9 team carried out 62 operations which led to 30 arrests and the recovery of 30kg of ivory, which included the confiscation of 4 elephant tusks. Learn more here. Images c/o CSL.
