Joy of Life Niassa

An annual integrated education programme in communities within the Niassa Special Reserve, in the north of Mozambique. It brings together health, environment, sport, art and tradition in an intensive module of several weeks, where the coexistence between people and wildlife is lived and taught every day.

Launched in 2015 in partnership with the Niassa Carnivore Programme, Joy of Life Niassa has grown into a recognised educational reference, both within the Reserve and beyond. It has already reached thousands of children across communities, with annual editions travelling through localities such as Lisongole, Macalange, Mbamba, Naulala and Gomba.

What We Do On The Ground

In each edition, multidisciplinary teams of environmental educators, health technicians, basketball coaches, beekeepers and local teachers run activities structured around:

• Community health: sessions on cholera, scabies and disease prevention, with a focus on hygiene, safe water and food
• Human-wildlife coexistence awareness: through programmes implemented in the communities by our partner such as the camera trap initiative and beekeeping, which make visible and tangible the link between conservation and community livelihoods
• Mini-basketball and ludic games: motor skills, fundamentals and teaching the game of basketball; and sport as a tool for cognitive development and active citizenship
• Traditional music and dance: celebrating local culture, with community cultural groups leading the workshops
• Visual arts: drawing and painting as expression and as a language to engage with environment and identity

Main partner: Niassa Carnivore Programme