In June 2018, the Kofi Foundation supported a one week tour of the RSCPA’s Education Mobile Unit to far north Queensland. The grant was made via our grant program with FRRR and their Small Grants for Rural Communities program.

The Education Mobile Unit, EMU, is a state-of-the-art mobile classroom offering an interactive journey regarding animal welfare. It offers engaging multi-media learning, and delivers humane education sessions through interactive learning modules. EMU provides hands-on activities promoting respect, care and empathy toward animals, people and the environment. Specific messages include caring for pets and the importance of health care, identification, and providing for our pet’s needs. In addition, activities include how we can live positively with our natural environment, and how to be a conscientious consumer by considering how animals are farmed.

Kofi Foundation’s sponsorship of this tour enabled the EMU to visit El Arish, Silkwood, Mission Beach and Mourilyan State Schools in far north Queensland. Every student at three of the schools, and all of the Prep to Year 3 students at the fourth, visited the mobile unit (a total of 383 students). RSPCA Queensland was particularly keen to visit this region, as their remoteness and size mean they often miss out on visits from providers looking to maximise their impact at an economical rate. Getting to every child in a district means the same messages are passed on to all parents and community members. The participants receive action plans and see the results when negative decisions are made regarding animal welfare while enjoying the experience at the same time. Teachers are given ideas to continue the learning after the EMU has left, and also have the opportunity to consolidate the teaching already accomplished before its arrival.

Outcomes

Each student made a commitment to care for their own pets and take simple actions to care better for the natural environment. Each session ended with a discussion where students offered what they had learned or what they thought were the most important messages to share with family and friends. Teachers made comments regarding the efficacy of the structure and content of the unit and the links to their curriculum. Schools were emailed an evaluation document to complete with any remarks post visit.

You can read about some of the feedback from participants here. (link to a ‘Latest News’ post)