Photo Camp Botswana

Photo by Keso | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Our 2008-2009 program theme for Photo Camp is centered on youth’s connection with the natural environment. We’ve explored how people utilize natural resources, how communities can be redefined by the connecting features of land and water, how cultural norms can “make or break” a community’s responsibility to the earth, and how young people all around the world are proving that this earth, and its contents, are worth protecting.

Humphrey Gumpo, one of the safari guides for camp, leads the Green Team in song over the camp radio network. Photo by Lynn Johnson (staff) | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Photo Camp Botswana 2009 built on this strong foundation, and added to it perspectives from children from rural areas in northern Botswana – villages that share borders with protected areas, like Selinda Reserve where the camp took place.

Onttie, left, and Ashanti compare shots. Photo by Lynn Johnson (staff) | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Photo by Ernest | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Working side-by-side, educators and mentors from Children in the Wilderness and National Geographic Photo Camp provided an experiential learning environment for the 15 students, allowing them to connect and encounter endangered animals and wilderness in a new way through the power of photography.

Photo Camp students practice using the timer function on their cameras in preparation for the self portrait assignment. Photo by Brian Talbot (staff) | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Self portrait by Naledi | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana