Ballito lady to go 10 000km for elephants
"The counties that are more successful in stopping poaching, are the ones where government is standing against poaching"
A group of fearless ladies have embarked on a 10 000 kilometre trek over 100 days through ten southern African countries in the name of saving elephants.
Among the 14 ladies is Ballito’s Yolande Kruger, who also handles the marketing and branding for Elephant Ignite, the organisation dedicated to help the gentle giants.
“We are a group of basic women from all walks of life who are united by our love for wildlife and have this fire in our belly to raise awareness of what is happening with elephant poaching,” said the bubbly Kruger, wearing a little, silver rhino pendant around her neck.
“Secondly, we want to highlight the people on the ground. Those who work hard to help the ellies. We have chosen seven elephant organisations in Africa as our beneficiaries and through our visits to them, we hope to raise awareness of the innovative work they do and get the public involved. Also, we are strong believers in showing our loyal donors where their money goes, so visiting these projects will be a great update on what has happened so far. To see how you can help, we have wishlists for each organisation on our website.”
Another aspect of their journey is education. “We have printed 20 000 educational booklets to hand out to various schools while we are traveling. It is all in aid of the relationship between elephants and humans.”
Knowing that every 15 minutes an elephant is killed for its ivory in East Africa, with Central Africa having lost 64 percent of its elephant in a decade, this project is crucial in spreading the
word to save this iconic creatures.
“The counties that are more successful in stopping poaching, are the ones where government is standing against poaching. Botswana, for example, is the only country in Africa with a military directive to protect their wildlife.”
She said these iconic creatures are a symbol of Africa and are so close to humans, that they simply have to be saved.
“The devastation they face for human trinkets is disgusting. There is no excuse for this behaviour, it is simply empty vanity. Elephants are such emotional animals with real sisterhood behaviour. When you see the way they mourn their dead and look after their young, they have real soul. For ellies, family is everything.”
The money raised for Elephant Ignite is only used for the elephants and is not funding this expedition, as each lady pays her own way.
To find out more about the organisation or to get involved, check out their website www.elephantignite.co.za
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