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How was Chipembele established?
About Steve and Anna Tolan, Trust Founders
About Our Staff and Volunteers
Ben Heermans - Conservation Education Manager
Eunice Nakachinda - Administrative assistant, student mentor and careers adviser
Japhet Shanungu - Book-keeper and computer skills teacher
Jude Price and Kaye Brown - Volunteers
About the Chipembele Trust UK
How was Chipembele established?
Back in 1998 when Steve and Anna first arrived in Zambia they were fortunate enough to be given some land by the late Chief Kakumbi on which to build the Centre. They established a Zambian charitable trust and used all their personal savings to finance it. Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre opened in May 2001.
From there the project grew to encompass a range of other conservation and community projects. An office extension and manager's house were built in the grounds of the local secondary school in early 2010. The Conservation Education Outreach Programme operates from here and has expanded the range of Chipembele's impact further into the school's and local community.
About Steve and Anna Tolan, Trust Founders
Steve and Anna Tolan were married in 1983 and lived in Oxford, England until they emigrated in 1998. Before moving to Zambia they were both Police Officers with the Thames Valley Police but in their private lives Africa was their passion. They went on African safaris, bought old African tribal artifacts, read African wildlife and travel books and watched and recorded every African wildlife video that appeared on the television. Steve retired from the Police in 1998 after 27 years service and Anna resigned at the same time after 17 years service. They then moved to Zambia to set up their lifetime dream of establishing a conservation education programme for local children in a wildlife-community conflict area.
Anna has a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from the 1970s and is pleased to be at long last able to put her life long interest to good use. She has developed her interest in and love of animals by rearing orphaned wild animals that are brought to her from all over the area. She runs a Pupil Sponsorship Scheme for orphaned and otherwise vulnerable children who are unable to find the fees and uniform necessary to attend school. She has also managed a large number of school improvement projects using donated funds. She is the founder and co-ordinator of the Luangwa Schools Project Forum and the founder and co-ordinator of the South Luangwa Eco Awards.
Steve is now actively involved in anti-poaching work in the area working with both the Zambian Wildlife Authority and the South Luangwa Conservation Society (SLCS). He is an Honorary Wildlife Police Officer and an Honorary Forestry Officer. Chipembele holds a seat on the Board of Trustees of SLCS and Anna is Secretary. Steve and Anna are also Consular Wardens for the British High Commission. Steve's particular interest is researching fossils, old pottery, stone tools etc. in the area. He has made a number of important discoveries and has inspired and facilitated a number of international palaeontological expeditions which the Zambia Heritage Department has participated in.
The Luangwa Valley is their permanent home and all the projects they now run have become an integral part of their lives.
About Our Staff and Volunteers
Ben Heermans - Conservation Education Manager
Ben has been an advocate for African culture and nature since his early childhood in West Africa. After leaving Chipata to pursue educational opportunities a decade ago, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he returned to Eastern Province, Zambia.
Ben is happy to be in the Luangwa Valley sharing his knowledge and working towards his passion of community-based approaches to wilderness conservation. He holds a BSc in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and an MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Cape Town.
His field research spans areas from Alaska to Zimbabwe covering a diverse array of species, including: herpetofauna, salmonids, primates, brown bears and beluga whales.
Apart from biological research, Ben has volunteered on several Zambian school construction projects. He is an experienced wilderness field teacher, believes in a hands-on approach to education and has incorporated outdoor learning programs into his varied conservation work.
Eunice Nakachinda - Administrative assistant, student mentor and careers adviser
Eunice, is a Zambian citizen who is a single mum with a daughter at school and has a particular interest in encouraging girl education. She speaks the local language, Chinyanja, but is also fluent in English. She achieved her Grade 12 certificate at school after overcoming a lot of personal problems. She then decided in 2003 to volunteer for the British Red Cross at a refugee project for 28,700 Congolese Refugees in Northern Province. After 6 months she was taken on as a food distributor there and then carried out administrative duties until the project was closed in 2007.
She has a certificate awarding her the status of Messenger of Peace. She attended a 20 week course for trauma counselling, conflict analysis, domestic violence and human rights. She can use a computer and has exceptional interpersonal skills.
Japhet Shanungu - Book-keeper and computer skills teacher
Japhet lives locally with his wife and is the father of 3 children. He has taught previously as computer teacher at Chipata Trades Institute and worked for the last 4 years in office administration at Tribal Textiles.
He holds a certficate in Computers, and a certificate in Teaching Methodology. Japhet was a 4th year undergrad in a BSc in Production Management. His interests include running, listening to music and playing and watching football (soccer).
Jude Price and Kaye Brown - Volunteers
Chipembele’s ‘online’ volunteers from Adelaide, Australia, Kaye Brown and Jude Price have been long time supporters of Chipembele’s projects and Wildlife Education Programme. Both are employed by Trade Unions -Kaye as an Industrial Officer and Jude as an Office Manager. Their passion for Africa’s wildlife grew following their first visit to Southern Africa in 2005. Since then they have been travelling to Africa regularly. They have visited Chipembele twice, each time bringing a huge quantity of much needed goods donated by friends and work colleagues for our sponsored pupils or to be used as prizes for the pupils who attend the Wildlife Education Centre classes.
Kaye’s forte in video production has seen the making of several short video clips about Chipembele’s programmes and projects. Jude is the administrator of the Chipembele Facebook fan page, the Chipembele Wildlife Channel on Youtube and assists with our website design and administration work. They work collaboratively on international, online and Australian-based fundraising initiatives. As the world is increasingly ‘online’ Chipembele needs to be part of the international online community and through Jude and Kaye’s work Chipembele has a strong web-presence.
Chipembele Trust is a UK registered charity (number 1107698) which supports The Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust in Zambia for the advancement of the education of children and young people in the conservation and preservation of the environment and its wildlife. Chipembele Trust UK also supports the Chipembele Pupil Sponsorship Scheme, in Zambia, which enables orphaned and vulnerable children to attend school.
The Chipembele Trust UK trustees are:
Nigel Morgan (Secretary)
Lyn Shaw (Treasurer)
June Chapman
and Paul Norley
