We are proud to announce that our latest comic (edition number 7), VUSA the Elephant Guardian, will be available from November 2021! The elephant comic is a joint venture between SACT and Elephants for Africa (EFA – Botswana) and Elephants Alive (EA -South Africa) and the comics will be distributed to schools in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
I would like to thank both Dr Kate Evans (EFA) and Dr Michelle Henley (EA) for the many hours of work they put in perfecting the story with me, and our artist, Junior Valentin, for transforming my thoughts into great editorial imagery to capture the essence of the message for our learners. This was by far our biggest comic book project – a full 44 pages in comparison to our usual 28-page comic!
Over the last 4 years SACT has published a series of comic books for rural schools. These are supplied free of charge as educational tools for learners and concentrate on protecting our wild animal species and natural heritage.
In many cases, these school children live in close proximity to national parks or other protected areas but have never seen a lion or an elephant! As such, SACT includes interesting and easily-accessible information in both our comprehensive comic books and the large posters that are produced for classroom walls. Our motto: Children are the conservationists of tomorrow, and the future conservation of our natural resources is in their hands!
Research has shown that one of the most effective means of communicating with children is, in fact, through comic book strip format images! We have received encouraging feedback from teachers/school authorities on the content and believe it is a wonderful way to learn about our animal kingdom!
We now have 7 editions of the comic in total, covering different species, with close to 42,000 copies now in circulation! Some editions have been re-printed with updated text and graphics. All material in the printed comics is well researched to ensure we have the facts correct and that we do not offend anyone in the process!
Hot on the heels of the elephant comic, will be our new cheetah comic which is being done specifically for Cheetah Conservation Project Zimbabwe – a project partially funded by SACT. If time allows, we also hope to produce VUSA the Wild Dog Guardian before the end of 2021!
If there are any companies or individuals out there looking for corporate social responsibility opportunities, here is an ideal opportunity to fund/sponsor the layout and printing of the next comic. Funds will go to a great educational cause, and as such you will receive a section 18A tax certificate from SACT to use with SARS for corporate or personal tax (if a personal donation). SACT is a registered PBO with SARS (only applies to SA tax payers ). Please help us to educate rural school children by supplying them with free copies of these fantastic resources! Thank you.
