Education South Africa Project #41006

Vet Books for Africa

by Wildlife Conservation Trust

Project Report | Apr 7, 2020
Starting 2020 with a bang - Third Project Report

By Xander van Eeden | Project Leader

Our Vice-Chair deworming a dog in a rural area.

We would like to dedicate this report to THANKING all of our long-term supporters and donors.

We have a number of donors who have been kind enough to donate a certain amount month after month. As the Vet Books for Africa team, we have come to rely on the monthly income for our fixed expenses and appreciate your loyalty and support immensely. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to know that we are able to count on you even through the difficult times such as the one we (as the world) are facing now during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are also a number of new donors that we would also like to thank, especially as they are still willing to support WORTHY CAUSES during these uncertain times.

As mentioned, these are uncertain times and Vet Books has some tough decisions that lie ahead. Even though we started our year with a bang with many great ideas and plans in the works, our (and I believe everyone else’s in the world) project have somewhat slowed down. The Coronavirus surprised and uprooted many people, business and countries, and as our main goal is to travel to African countries who need our assistance, it could have a major impact on our plans. Unfortunately, conservation does not go on lockdown and we still believe we have to do everything in our power to help as many people and institutions as possible. With country borders closed, university holiday probably being shortened and the shortness of funds around the world we will have to decide how we can modify our 6-week trip to still create the impact we set out to achieve. Conserving our children’s heritage needs to continue no matter the circumstances.

For the time being, we will continue as normal to raise funds, plan our routes and build relationships and only make a final decision closer to the time once more information about this pandemic can be provided.

However, every dark cloud has a golden lining and as mentioned we went into 2020 with a BANG…

Annual General Meeting

We had an extremely successful AGM, where we had 169 students who signed up to become members of our project society. The interest was overwhelming, giving us a new boost of motivation for the upcoming year.

HESC Experience

To involve our members to a greater extent (and to assist us with fundraising), we used an incentive for the members to raise money. Every person who raises 500USD or more will be given the opportunity to gain valuable wildlife experience at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre. As most of our members consist of veterinary students, it falls perfectly down our alley to enrich the veterinary field as well as assist conservation institutions with additional carers for animals ranging from cheetah to rhino orphans.

Our team sells hand-made bracelets to raise money and awareness about our project. Thus far we have sold around 150 bracelets, which means there are about 150 people who are walking around with our bracelets. This means there are 1 ambassador for Vet Books for Africa and that is only during our term since the start of 2019!!

SAVA’s Wildlife Congress

Through Vetlink we had the opportunity to set up a stall at the Wildlife Congress where we were able to interact with top wildlife veterinarians from around the country. We were able to ask for advice, build relationships and received a couple of boxes filled with books donated by these vets. We were given valuable tips by some of these veterinarians that work in a number of the countries we plan to visit including the famous travelling vet, Mike Koch.

We are extremely proud to announce that we are planning our first ever Gala Dinner as a fundraiser as well as to celebrate our 25 year anniversary where we will invite all of the Vet Books for Africa alumni. We will be having an auction for all participants as well as world-famous conservationists as guest speakers.

We are also very fortunate to have acquired a storeroom on our premises to store our travelling equipment, books and other supplies. During this first term, we have organised the storeroom, putting in cupboards to order the books according to topics. After sorting through all the old and recently collected books we have confirmed over 200 usable books that we can take to universities and schools across Africa.

Many large companies and organisations have realised the impact we can make in our mother continent and have taken the opportunity to help play their part. We are extremely grateful for their support and hope to assist them as much as they are assisting us. Some of our partners include the Wildlife Conservation Trust, Lessons in Conservation, Vetlink, the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre, University of Pretoria, International Veterinary Student’s Association, Hills, Bayer, South African Veterinary Association, Avimune, Zoetis, British Small Animal Veterinary Association, Omega, Afrivet, to name but a few…

Our partners, supporters, members and public funding donors have assisted to make this possible, YOU helped make this possible. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Please also consider sharing our project link on social media, and telling your friends and family about our project - or just bring us up in conversation. Help us spread the word about our work and continue to grow our community of supporters like you.

Thank you again for choosing this unique initiative. We love our animals. We love our people. We love our continent. We believe we have the ability to connect them with the vital component “education is the key to conservation”. #OneHealth #OneAfrica

Yours in Conservation through Education,

The Vet Books for Africa.

Some books collected so far by our team!

Permalink

Jan 7, 2020
Finishing 2019 - Second Project Report

By Xander van Eeden | Project Leader

The 2018 team at The University of Zambia

THANK YOU!

With your help we were able to finish the 2019 year on a high note, making a last impact in conservation before entering the new year.

So far we have raised $1 660, which is a great start to this new project! This would not have been able without YOUR HELP!Again thank you for every donation, every little bit helps.

During our 2020 term we aim to increase this number to extend our reach and therefore our impact and would therefore continue to ask for your support.

Beyond Borders

Over the course of the December month, two of our team members went on a 4 week expedition into Africa with the only goal being to teach children about the importance of conservation. The trip known as “Beyond Borders” was organized by another NPO, Lessons in Conservation. We hope to partner with them in our future endeavours in an attempt to work together to reach as many students as possible.

Lessons in Conservation (LiC) teaches school children across South Africa about the benefits of conservation of nature as well as for every child’s family. Their Beyond Borders trip was the first time ever that they moved out of South Africa, teaching 104 children in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini about the importance of conserving the natural world. At the end of each set of lessons (6 lessons), the children was then taken on an excursion into their surrounding game reserves or national park to help to explain how the lessons come together in the real world.

The two Vet Books members went along to assist in any way possible and even ended up giving some lessons! We believe this was the first step into the right direction to partner and assist another like-minded conservation entity.

Maveric Outreach 2019

Partnering up with numerous other student clubs and OPVSC (Onderstepoort Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Committee), we set out together with medical and dentistry students to make a difference in a community close to Pretoria. Anyone and everyone in the community was invited for free medical and dental screenings, and dogs were vaccinated, dewormed and given free dog food. Vet Books for Africa donated Rabies booklets that we handed out to all the children of the community to raise awareness about the zoonotic disease.

Over this Giving Season in December we have also received numerous books and equipment. Thank youto each and every person who has reached out, donated and offered to help. As books and equipment wear out and become outdated, we are always on the lookout for donations of these veterinary and agricultural textbooks as well as any medical equipment and supplies to be used by struggling veterinary students and conservation charities.

For any such donations, please contact us at: info@vetbooksforafrica.org

We as the Vet Books for Africa team and all the students and children we reach would like to thank you for not only to help make a difference in each of their lives, but also in the natural world of conservation! Your support throughout the past year was exceptional and we hope you will continue to support us during the new year. Together we can create a better world for animals and humans alike.

Yours in Conservation,

The Vet Books for Africa.

Beyond Borders children on their Zambezi excursion

Vet Books assisting during a rhino procedure

Links:

1st Beyond Borders Blog

Permalink

Oct 10, 2019
Vets on a Mission - First Project Report

By Xander van Eeden | Project Leader

Conservation Education

We are very excited to share our first project report with all our donors! In this little time since the project’s launch, we have achieved a lot and much of this was made possible through YOUR help.

We set out with a target of USD 20 000 and we have almost raised USD 1 000 so far! These funds helped us achieve some of our goals and allowed us to start the “positive ripple effect in the struggling world of conservation”.

Our Trip Preparations:

We have contacted and confirmed with the following African universities:

Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Malawi
The University of Zambia in Zambia
The University of Zimbabwe
The Makerere University in Uganda

We are waiting for confirmation from the universities in Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania, but have a long-standing relationship with these universities and have already started preparing their equipment.

The following charities which we intend to visit and provide with resources are:

Sani Primary School in Malawi
Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya
Wilima High School in Tanzania
Vic Falls Wildlife Trust in Zimbabwe
Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya

We are in the process of communicating with several more charities with the intention of visiting at least one conservation charity in every country and a minimum of 6 schools.

We plan on visiting the following countries as per the route set out:

South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda, Mozambique and Malawi. We are also looking at expanding our reach to Rwanda and Namibia.

Thus far we have collected the following books and equipment:

3 boxes of brand new veterinary textbooks
4 boxes of second-hand textbooks with a total of around 70 books.
12 stethoscopes valued at USD90 each.
A bag of surgical equipment, include clamps, plyers and forceps valued at USD700
A box of medical supplies, ranging from gloves to syringes.

We are always on the lookout for donations of these veterinary and agricultural textbooks as well as any medical equipment and supplies to be used by struggling veterinary students and conservation charities.

For any such donations, please contact us at info@vetbooksforafrica.org

Regarding the schools, we have taken on the Rhino & Elephant Art Campaign founded by The Kingsley Holgate Foundation and Project Rhino KZN. The campaign includes teaching community schools about the value of these animals, followed by an opportunity to colour an A3 rhino or elephant drawing where they write message against poaching. These artworks will be used in a worldwide call to action against rhino and elephant poaching by the youth of the world. We would like to implement this in each of the 6 (minimum) schools we intend to reach as well as reach schools in our home country of South Africa during our two-year term of planning.

Vet Books for Africa volunteered at the World Youth Wildlife Summit of 2019, where 200 youth delegates from across the world came together to address the issue of wildlife crime and what we can do to protect our beautiful animals for generations to come. Teaching and helping these students of age 15-18 years understand the immense problem of poaching, will help them grow into future conservation leaders. We as Vet Books for Africa are immensely proud to have been part of this amazing event and to have been able to play our role in our home country, South Africa because that is where every small difference starts. The Kingsley Holgate Foundation, Project Rhino KZN and African Wildlife Trust among others, were the main drivers and organizers behind this amazing initiative.

Public funding has assisted to make this possible, YOU helped to make this possible. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

GlobalGiving matches recurring donations all year and the donation will be matched after the fourth recurring donation is made. Please note if you would like to set up a monthly donation Global Giving will match the donation, so please consider us if you can!

Yours in Conservation,

The Vet Books for Africa.

Permalink

‹ 1 2

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.