Bright Ideas
Farewell to Natural Start's South African Fellow
September 26, 2014

This week, Natural Start said goodbye Cindy-Lee Cloete, a South African environmental educator who worked with Natural Start as a Mandela-Washington Fellow. She is one of 500 young African leaders selected to participate in President Obama’s flagship program to support young African leaders as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa. Cindy directs environmental education efforts at South Africa’s Nature’s Valley Trust, and her work with Natural Start focused on new efforts to support the nature preschool community. She left us with these reflections on her fellowship experience.
Being a part of the Mandela-Washington Fellowship (MWF) has been such an interesting and developmental journey for me. From Arizona to Washington, DC, I got to see all the different facets the United States of America has to offer. The MWF program is divided into three sections: a six-week academic and leadership course, which I completed at the Arizona State University in Phoenix; a summit with President Obama in Washington, DC; and an optional eight-week U.S. internship. For my internship, I was placed at the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) in Washington, DC, and primarily worked with the Natural Start Alliance.


With their mission of connecting the people who bring nature and the environment into young children’s lives through education, I believe that the Natural Start Alliance has an integral role to play in ensuring that early childhood environmental education further develops throughout the U.S. I had a wonderful time with the Natural Start Alliance and NAAEE, and will always treasure and remember all the experiential training, from taking crazy tourist pictures at famous US landmarks to strategic planning sessions in board rooms! And I would like to thank the NAAEE team, especially the Natural Start team, for their mentoring and friendship throughout my time with them.
