South Africa Wildlife Conservation Short-Term Internship

My name is Zakkiyyah Barron. I am from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. I was looking for an opportunity to gain experience in the conservation field and I came across the GVI programs. After my introductory call, I was ready to go to South Africa and jump right in. Even better, I qualified for a portion of my fees to be covered by the grant. The financial assistance was a great help and facilitated access to the Wildlife Conservation program at the research hub in Limpopo, South Africa. The program was designed to educate, challenge and build confidence to immediately engage in the research work taking place at the hub. I found I was able to apply my skills for collecting and analyzing data and contribute to the weekly reports presented to the landowners, game warden and anti-pouching unit. The leadership courses presented a challenge and opportunity to practice leading with impact with a small group of participants. I prepared a risk assessment for the litter pick up project on the reserve. The removal of litter had a high impact on safety to wildlife and health of the reserve environment. Also, the weights and types of litter collected were added to a sustainability report that was reviewed by the head of GVI and supported our positive impact on the reserve. 

It has been the most amazing time. Being back in the bush makes me so happy and learning all new things was so interesting. Seeing how much work gets put in by staff is incredible and staff are just amazing. The opportunities this opens for people from all over the world is crazy and to see where everyone comes from to do this is amazing. They are really making a difference here and I cannot wait to see what they achieve. Will definitely be back even if it is ust for a visit. Truly is a once in a life time experience especially for some people.

Name: Charlotte Nicolson Course: South Africa 18+ Wildlife Conservation Careers First program start date: 07/01/2023 ? What made you decide to do a BW course? (2 sentences) I have a huge passion for the bush and have known people who have done the Bushwise course and had only good things to say about it. ? What was your BW experience like? (2 sentences) If I could do it again I would in a heartbeat. Definitely the best 6 months of my life. ? What have you done since graduating? (2-4 sentences) I have been guiding in the Northern Cape at a place called Rogge Cloof since Bushwise. Everything Bushwise taught me really helped me with the work I do now and I always hold on the the advice the trainers gave me. ? How do you think your BW course helped you achieve what you have so far? (2-4 sentences) Not only did Bushwise teach me the content from the guiding books that improved my general knowledge and understanding of wildlife but they also taught me the skill of guiding so now even though I'm working in a completely different biome, I can apply the guiding skill to any place in the world.