The SALAMA SAFARI is a CNIS Pilot Program where Canadian school children may take part in a "virtual bike safari" around the African continent.

The course follows grade 6/7 curriculum, adding exciting ways to learn about African culture, geography, ecology and global issues. The Salama (meaning 'Peace' in Swahili) Safari will launch its pilot journey in the spring of 2009 with a Vancouver elementary school. CNIS has been getting help from several dedicated volunteers in writing the Salama Safari Student and Teacher's Manuals. Prescribed learning outcomes, as well as the new directives to give elementary students a minimum 30 minutes of exercise a day is incorporated into the lesson plans.

Each group joining the Safari will have weekly art and culture assignments, 'animal of the week', a lesson from CNIS 'Peacebuilding for Elementary Schools' Course (now taught in both Uganda and Ethiopia), as well as a physical component. To get along on the journey and to complete their virtual kilometers, the students will have to move. They can run, skip, wheel chair, bike or play African soccer to get the virtual kilometers required to proceed to the next chapter of the journey. Additional academic and art assignments can be done for bonus kilometers, making all students able to participate.

Please utilize the navigation buttons above to move around the site. We have an interactive map that can be used to track teams' progress, a photo gallery and various other items will be added in the following weeks.