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A little help can go a long way

A few months ago, a young student named Cassius from the University of South Africa who was studying Animal Welfare contacted us by email as he needed to do a practical placement in animal care to complete his qualification.

However, all doors were closed to him and he was so desperate… Michèle, as a French citizen, remembered how South Africa had welcomed her with open arms 20 years back and decided to give back by accepting Cassius for his 6 weeks practical. He was a young dedicated man who knew what he needed in life, flexible and cooperative. He adapted very well and so quick to our projects in the bush lifestyle Afterwards, due to his hard work and dedication he still needed help to get the experience he couldn’t get at DAKTARI for his studies. We did not want to let him down and we recommended him to an SPCA. During this covid time, it was very hard to convince anybody to take in an intern. It was very difficult to convince anybody to welcome our Cassius. However, we managed to get a 3 days experience for him. It was too short but better than nothing. We followed up on him to find out that after his 3 days the SPCA asked him to stay for another two weeks!!! We are very proud to have given a hand to Cassius with these opportunities which will definitely help him in the future. Please see below his lovely message he sent us after he left. "Good evening Michele, I hope this email finds you well. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, after all the rejection from the vets to do my practicals I almost gave up. DAKTARI was my last option and it came through for me. It's because of you that I was able to learn all the things I've learned, I even made friends with people from France. That's a big deal for me. Before I came to DAKTARI I used to think I had everything all planned out until I met you, the talk you gave me have made me realize that whatever field I take in the the animal industry I must choose to protect animals instead of harming them all in the name of making money and being rich. There's a lot I can thank you for, I've learned a lot from you, you are my role model." This is how DAKTARI uses your donations and volunteer fees. We are so honoured to have made an impact on him for his future (and so many others) that we wanted to share it with you all. Without YOUR support, we would not be able to do this!

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