An African Tail – the story of Funda Nenja

Funda Nenja roughly translates from isiZulu as ‘learning with a dog’. The aim is to develop respect and compassion for all living beings by using dog training as a vehicle.The project runs in the township of Mpophomeni, near Howick, in the KZN Midlands of South Africa. An average of  50 - 70 children and their dogs attend the weekly dog training sessions which happen on Friday afternoons at a primary school in the township.

 Children on the program learn about animal welfare and how to train their dogs while learning self-discipline, commitment and responsibility which encourages personal growth and self-worth.

The overall health and welfare of the animals is monitored for disease etc and dogs needing veterinary attention are given free veterinary care. Funda Nenja also sterilises dogs registered in the dog school programme free of charge.

The well-being of children is cared for by the services of a Social Worker who engages with the children and intervenes if their families need support in areas such as counseling, accessing vital documents for social grants or referrals to other agencies.

Biography:

Adrienne Olivier is the founder and current general manager of Funda Nenja, a registered South African NPO, which was initiated in 2009. Adrienne trained as a primary schoolteacher, but has been a professional dog training instructor and canine behaviour consultant with her own dog school since 1988.

After a long career as a judge and high level competitor in dog sports, Adrienne turned her attention to promoting animal welfare in her local community in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands of South Africa. After a few years of volunteering at the local SPCA, Adrienne founded Funda Nenja which works in a semi-rural township populated, in the main, by African people living on the breadline.

 Today Funda Nenja is recognized as a unique groundbreaking organization and receives funding from both national and international sources. In addition, it has inspired several other similar projects to be launched in various parts of South Africa.