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SUPPORT US: How You Can Help

PAY US A VISIT!


We would be delighted to welcome you here. We can arrange for you to see the gorillas in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, and we will take you on a tour of our community projects in the area. You could even plant a tree!
Please see our ‘Tourism’ page.
If you’d like to make a longer trip Wild Frontiers Adventure Travel, who are based in London, will be happy to help you. Click HERE.


MAKE A DONATION


Involving the local communities in the active conservation of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park is crucial to the protection of the wonderful array of species which call it home, including the rare Eastern Lowland Grauer’s Gorilla.
To achieve this, the Pole Pole Foundation has initiated many projects with the communities which live on the Park boundaries.


Education is at the heart of everything that the Pole Pole Foundation does. We have built a kindergarten, a primary and a secondary school. Future generations will grow up knowing the value of the natural resources that surround them and with an education which will give them options in life. The Pole Pole Foundation sponsors some children through school - those whose parents cannot afford to pay. Sometimes the brightest pupils will be given funding to further their studies at university level.


By spreading environmental awareness to the communities surrounding the Park, and working with them, we hope to be creating conservationists of the future. By giving people training and employment opportunities, we will end their reliance on the Park for its natural resources.


The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is part of the Congo Basin Forest, the second largest tropical forest in the world. Second only to the Amazon. Together, they are 'the lungs of the world'. Their conservation is important to us all. When you support our efforts, you are supporting the conservation of this hugely-important, and utterly beautiful corner of the planet.


HOW TO DONATE


ONLINE DONATION

From any country you can donate to us via our Golden Giving page. All funds sent to POPOF UK are passed on in their entirety to POPOF in the DR Congo.
There is an option to pay using PayPal if you prefer. Click HERE.


Cheques to POPOF UK

You can also send cheques to the POPOF UK. All the funds will be sent to POPOF DR Congo.
Address: The Pole Pole Foundation UK, 34 Church Meadow, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 5EW, UK
All cheques should be made payable to "The Pole Pole Foundation UK".
Any UK taxpayers can increase their donations by 25% if they fill in a Gift Aid form, which you can download from here.



BANK TRANSFER

If you wish to transfer money direct, please email for details.

Please note that, when you make a donation, you can specify which project(s) you wish to support if you wish.


ENQUIRIES


If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email.

PROJECT COSTS


The Pole Pole Foundation needs funding to run its various projects, and greatly appreciates the support of friends from all around the globe. Any donation is gratefully received. Below is a list of some of the costs involved, to show you how our money is spent.


ENVIRONMENT

Tree planting project
The tree plantations are an important part of what POPOF does, because they provide wood for fuel, building materials, and artisanal carving for the local communities. Which means people don’t have to resort to going into the rainforest for resources - which is not only illegal, but completely counter-productive to the conservation of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and its special fauna and flora.
Since 1993, POPOF has overseen the growing and planting of over 4 million trees. Which is an amazing feat.
Just think how much of the rainforest that has saved.
As well as providing sustainable resources for the local communities, as part of our fight against climate change, POPOF has decided to plant ten trees for every one which is cut and used.
Also, in conjunction with the new Vegan Club, we have begun to cultivate fruit trees which are distributed to local communities to plant in their fields. These trees have the benefit of longevity and in their lifetimes will provide nutritious food, as well as fixing soils and absorbing carbon dioxide.

£10 funds the planting of 40 trees.


EDUCATION

Primary School

  • £200 pays for one pupil to attend primary school for 1 year
  • £1,000 pays for 5 pupils to attend primary school for 1 year
  • £2,000 pays for 10 pupils to attend primary school for 1 year


    • Secondary School

  • £300 pays for one pupil to attend secondary school for 1 year
  • £1,500 pays for 5 pupils to attend secondary school for 1 year
  • £3,000 pays for 10 pupils to attend secondary school for 1 year


    • University

  • £800 pays for 1 student’s scholarship to university for 1 year
  • £2,400 pays for 1 student to attend university for 3 years and get a degree - normally in agroforestry or a similarly POPOF-relevant course
  • £4,000 pays for 5 students to attend university for 1 year


    • Skills and Training

  • £200 provides 1 pygmy ex-poacher with training for an alternative livelihood
  • £2,000 provides 10 pygmy ex-poachers with training for a new livelihood


    • FOOD AND NUTRITION

    CRITICAL NUTRITION WITH SPIRULINA
    To build another large spirulina centre like the one at Miti-Mululu would cost £35,000.


    PLANT-BASED NUTRITION WITH MUSHROOM GROWING
    Mushroom spores are not cheap or easy to buy, and to date we have had to travel to neighbouring Burundi for our supplies.

  • £100 pays for a fresh crop to be started.
  • £200 would pay for two crops to be cultivated.


    • FUTURE PROJECTS

    With funding, there is much more that we can do. As well as continuing with and growing the very important projects which are already up and running, in the future, we hope to be able to do the following:-


  • Build the John Kahekwa Conservation Centre - a visitor’s centre, museum and multi-purpose educational and social resource for the local communities, also a place where tourists could stay whilst they go to see the gorillas and visit our projects in the field.

  • Nutrition education with local communities - an opportunity has presented itself in the form of the new Vegan Club.

  • Provide family planning education for the young adults who do not wish to grow up with such large families and poverty.

  • Research the reasons for the bamboo forest failing to thrive for three years now and, if possible, do something to help it regenerate.

  • Grow high-protein crops such a quinoa.

  • Refurbish the school classrooms.

  • Provide sanitation for the schools.

  • Provide solar powered lighting for the schools and the community buildings.

  • Provide solar powered lighting for homes which will end the use of kerosene lamps - a carbon negative project.

  • Investigate the use of charcoal stoves which can use this resource more efficiently - a carbon negative project.

  • Start a soap making workshop.



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