Vet Books for Africa

To our loyal VetBooks Supporters 

When 2020 started, no-one would have guessed that it would turn out the way it did.  

This has truly been a difficult time for Vet Books for Africa (VB4A), since online learning started our committee had to adapt to the new way of learning while also trying to make the best we possibly can out of our cause. However, this pandemic did not only target us, but rather turned everyone’s lives upside down and created a lot of uncertainty for the future. As a result the universities, communities, charities and schools we plan to visit need our help now more than ever.

We would like to THANK everyone who continued to support us during this time, as well as a huge THANK YOU to all the new supporters who have come on board to assist the various African countries we plan to visit – you recognized the need that these people have, especially now under these circumstances. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the VBFA mission and vision and the 2020 committee has had to learn to adapt to the lockdown circumstances as well as learn to persevere despite the uncertainties of future.

GOOD NEWS!! After considering all possibilities and seeking advice from all our partners, travelling experts and researching the different countries’ current regulations, we have decided to CONTINUE WITH THE EXPEDITION! As a committee we have voted to continue with our planning and preliminary dates with the hope that by December 2020 travel would be opened (with novel Corona rules) just enough for us to move from between universities, communities and charities.

Here follows the VBFA story during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic:

We unfortunately had to postpone our long-awaited Gala dinner because of the lockdown restrictions in South Africa and for the health and safety of our guests. We have worked hard in making this event a reality so it was probably one of the most difficult decisions our committee needed to make during this time.

The lockdown period gave us a great opportunity to complete all our “administrative” parts of the planning – with the ever-present hope it would become a reality… VB4A contacted the universities we planned to visit as continuous communication has been paramount for us to keep updated with the situation in the respective countries so we can make informed decisions. At the same time contacting all the charities we are planning to visit to ascertain how this pandemic has changed their operation and to hear where we can help.

Online learning has brought some uncertainty with regards to our faculty’s academic calendar, but after some time we received preliminary dates for our end -of year exams and holidays. We have however, made a number of “ backup plans” if our normal trip does not work out, entailing a shortened 3-week version of the trip over the same period (Plan B) or a shortened trip in the following year (Plan C). Therefore, even if we are given less time we should still be able to make an impact in some of the countries south of and including Zambia.

Our detailed list of camping and vehicle equipment that we will need is complete and we have started to collect these items as a committee. Another important thing we have worked on is a preliminary menu to stay within our recently cut budget.

Book Collection Drive

We launched our English dictionary and Children’s book collection drive, together with our partners IVSA, amongst Veterinary students at the University of Pretoria. We are collecting any English dictionaries, school books and/ or story books to distribute on our trip and at OP primary (a small rural primary school close to our campus).

The Expedition project

During April 2020 Vet Books for Africa was invited to share our story with some like minded people through The Expedition Project. The EXPEDITION project is a very cool organisation that was started back in 2011. They strive to connect projects, communities, ideas and individuals with each other, to share their successes and even help them further with contacts, expertise and funding.

Visit them on: https://theexpeditionproject.com/partner/vet-books-for-africa-onderstepoort/

 We were truly flattered when Roger from the Expedition project approached to share our story with their community. We immediately jumped at the opportunity to share our vision with more people and had a live stream on the expedition projects platform on the 18^th of April. Our follow-up session will be on the 24^th of August to give an update as to what we have done since April and where we are heading. To see our live stream from April please follow the following link:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/theexpeditionproject/?ref=bookmarks

Remember to have a look at our HESC experience, where we try to involve our members to a greater extent (as well as to assist us with fund raising). 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.

As you can imagine finding sponsorships during this time has been an almost impossible task, with many of or proposals/ sponsorship requests being denied as a result of financial hardships. Nonetheless, we took on this challenge by developing a sponsorship strategy that has proven to be successful.

Like everyone else, Vet Books for Africa is learning to change and adapt during this uncertain period, as previously mentioned we will have to think outside the box to continue with not only our mission, but for the future VBFA committees who will follow in our footsteps. The world has changed dramatically in a very short time, but we remain motivated and committed to fulfilling our role of unlocking the true potential of conservation in Africa through the education of its people.

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.

Read our latest blog on our website “Wildlife trafficking and its role in the spread of COVID-19”, which emphasizes the urgent need to confront and end wildlife trafficking: https://vetbooksforafrica.org/

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

The VBFA committee wishes everyone health and safety during these challenging times.

Yours in Conservation through Education, 

The Vet Books for Africa.