Since Grootberg Lodge was built to benefit and uplift the local community, various initiatives have been launched since completion.
Currently 60 people are directly employed at by the lodge while another ten are employed by the conservancy. We are also strongly committed to support the #Khoadi//Hoas community by directly assisting the access to education of the most disadvantaged children from the area. An education fund has been set up to assist with the renovation of one of only two primary schools in the Grootberg area. The trust will also lend support to children whose parents can not afford tuition fees and other requirements pertaining to the children’s education.
Thanks to the support and direct engagement of the public, we plan to renovate the structures of the Eduard Garoeb Primary School including the kitchen, dormitory and classrooms. At present there is only one toilet for more than 250 students and beds in the dormitory are without mattresses. An estimated N$1 000 000.00 needs to be raised in order for all the renovations to be completed.
A scholarship has been set up to support the plight of needy learners to enable them to afford boarding school fees, education materials as well as school uniforms. Children are selected by a Committee composed of members of the community and Grootberg Lodge management based on the following criteria:
To support a full year of a child enrolled in the primary school the total cost would be N$1 130.00. This includes:
For a full year support to a secondary school student the costs amount to N$3 150.00 which includes:
Should you wish to join us in this effort to support the education of #Khoadi//Hoas’ children, you are welcome to donate 1% of your bill (or more if you wish to!) for supporting a child through his/her education or for the renovation work to the school. Please feel free to contact Simonetta Musso, HR Director at Journeys Namibia or Mr Asser Ndjitezeua, Chairman of the Conservancy, with any questions pertaining to the Grootberg Lodge Education Fund or to find out more about how you can get involved to help.
Thanks to the success of the conservation efforts of the conservancy, wild animal populations have shown a steady increase in the conservancy.
This increase was not only limited to herbivores. Larger carnivores have showed an increase in numbers as well. As a result incidents of livestock lost to these predators caused growing incidents human/wild animal conflict within the reserve. The conservancy in partnership with the Grootberg Lodge Management has created a plan to lessen the impact of Human/ wild animal conflict.
With the establishment of the Predator’s Fund, Grootberg Lodge donates N$50 to the fund for each guest’s sighting of a predator while on an activity at the lodge. Lion, cheetah, leopard, wild cat, caracal and spotted hyena are included in the arrangement and the fund has been set up in order to compensate losses from farmers.
The secondary purpose for this fund is to generate enough capital to start a collaring campaign of lions. Collared lions are easier to monitor which would therefore assist the conservancy in notifying the local farmers when the predators are in the area. With forewarning, farmers can move their cattle accordingly helping to prevent any losses.