Riding for Rhinos 2019

 

~TWT Trustee Sophie Neville~

The 5th Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride 2019 has proved a great success.

Thirteen riders crossed seven different South African game reserves in six days at some speed.

They raised £40,000 for Save The Waterberg Rhino and community projects that uplift young people in this corner of rural South Africa.

After riding with white rhino and other rare species on Ant's Nest Game Reserve,

the team crossed the Waterberg encountering diverse landscapes from grassy plains

to rocky escarpments with views across the Waterberg, a UNESCO Biosphere.

They spent come 32 hours in the saddle, covering 200 kilometres.

Days could be long but they had a great back-up team and stayed in comfortable lodges enroute.

Skies looked threatening at the start of the ride but storms dissipated and good weather conditions were enjoyed.

There was always enough natural water for the horses.

Sandy tracks and marrum roads made it possible to canter for miles.

Just as the going was getting hot, we arrived at Jembisa Private Game Reserve who sponsored the ride.

Everyone arrived safely, thanks to Ant Baber who led the ride and supplied the horses.

~ Ant Baber ~

Very many thanks go to him and everyone at Ant's Nest for making TWT Challenge Ride possible for the forth year running.

For details of The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride in Botswana 2020 please click here

Travel With a Purpose

Ivy Rachele, School Nurse Grace Ismail with Sophie Neville and pupils 

How can I help women in Africa?

What could I do to make a difference?

We have been busy raising funds to buy packs of washable sanitary towels so that schoolgirls in a corner of rural South Africa no longer feel obliged to miss lessons while menstruating. Some of them were missing a week of school every month.

Verita Shikwambana of Dignity Dreams

School nurse Grace Ismail invited Verita Shikwambana of Dignity Dreams to Meetsetshehla Secondary School in the Limpopo Province to give a talk to pupils on menstrual health. Verita explained how to take care of the pads, which are designed to be washed in cold water. These were then distributed to 210 schoolgirls. None of them had been expecting such an amazing gift. Nurse Grace will monitor progress and report back on how things go.

The eco-friendly washable sanitary pads are handmade in Pretoria and last 4 or 5 years. They cost R160 or about £9 for a pack of six, which is exceptionally good value. The packs we distributed were purchased by The Waterberg Trust and Environmental Impact Management Services who kindly brought boxes of the packs up from Pretoria.

Representatives of Dignity Dreams, Environmental Impact Services, The Waterberg Trust and Meetsetshehla School 

We are hoping that the pads will give the girls confidence, enable them to remain in lessons and help them to achieve their full potential in life.

We would love to buy another 200 packs to equip the pupils of other schools in the area that are monitored by Nurse Grace. If you would like to make a donation to this very worthwhile project, you can find The Waterberg Trust website page here.