Helping Hands in Snake Safety

Helping Hands in Snake Safety at a Glance

A Bit of Background

Helping Hands in Snake Safety (HHiSS) was born out of the passion for snakes and a realisation that snake conservation and safety are neglected issues in most (rural) areas of our beautiful country, Zambia.  Since June 2020 HHiSS is officially registered as an NGO with the Department of Registrar for Non-Governmental Organisations. Our primary mission is to reduce the risk of snakebite incidence, improve the country's ability to deal with major envenomations from dangerous snakes, as well as initiate a culture and means of contacting a professionally trained snake handler to safely deal with snakes when they pose a threat, or to explain the benefits of the harmless ones so they may be left alone to fulfil their part in the ecosystem.

To meet these goals we operate under three main pillars of action and education:

1) SENSITISATION - To conduct sensitisation activities on snakes and snakebite in communities, schools, organsiations and companies across Zambia. This we beleive will have a large scale impact in terms of the perception of snakes, and how to deal with them.

2) TRAINING -  To conduct training courses in snake awareness, recognition, basic biology and handling for the purpose of DNPW sanctioned snake removal and relocation.

3) SNAKEBITE MANAGEMENT - To support the coordination and efforts to improve the safe and effective treatment of snakebites in Zambia. Snakebite is a complex medical field and common misconceptions can lead to further damage, loss of life or limb, or unessesary complications. The need for qualified medical professional training in Zambia is high, and this kind of training is only available from a very few select providers.

We aim to raise money by crowdfunding, individual donations, grants, selling of not-for-profit merchansdise and collaboration with industries that require snake training for HSE reasons, such as mines, farms and construction companies.