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Who We AreJohn & Mavis Job Owners of Twines:   Mike Job Director: Mike's role with Siyafunda is to supervise the volunteer's activities, act as program facilitator & manage the company's operations. After studying Economics & Psychology at university, Mike spent a couple of years working in the UK. However, the call of the bush was too strong, so he returned to South Africa where once qualifying as a field guide, he worked as assistant manager & guide in the Madikwe Game Reserve. Thereafter, Mike moved to his family farm (Twines) in Makalali & began working for Siyafunda in his present role.  Camp Manager & Senior Volunteer Facilitator: Claudia hails from Germany & discovered South Africa in 1991 for the first time & she fell in love with the bush when she volunteered at Siyafunda in 2007, which has changed her life. She quit her job as a real-estate-manager, rented her flat, sold her car & moved to SA. Claudia on her return to the country got right into making her dream come true & got her Level 1 & 2 Guiding Qualification as well as he r'full' Trails Guide Qualification & is working towards Level 1 Tracking Qualification. She started working with Siyafunda in January 2009 & coordinates our volunteers at Twines & Bush Camp. With her funky German-English she keeps us all entertained,…not just on game drives & brings a bit more multi-cultural aspect to our community out here in the bush.  Assistant Facilitator: Andrews Mtshali has had a background in the South African Defence Force & army as an infantry soldier, Recce for Special Forces & an instructor. As such, Andrews joined Makalali in 1994 as part of the anti-poaching unit, as gate guard & fence patroller. After 10 years of service in these fields, he has gained an extensive knowledge of the reserve. Andrews joined Siyafunda in June 2005 as an Assistant Facilitator, aiding & substituting both the bush camp & SCI facilitators when necessary. Andrews has a passion for lions - must be as a result of the many close encounters he had with them whilst patrolling the reserve on his motorbike!  Bush Camp Facilitator: Chad has been going to the Kruger National Park since the tender age of 4 and he knew as a 6yrs old that he wanted to become a ‘game ranger’. At the moment he is in his final year of Nature Conservation studies and has been working with wildlife for the last 2 ½ yrs in a Lion Park in Johannesburg. He had the opportunity to hand-raise orphaned and sick Lions, Leopards, and Giraffes etc. For him it was amazing to work so close with animals and form such strong bonds with them but it wasn’t the same as “living in the bush” so he jumped up and left in search of the real thing. He found it at Siyafunda-Conservation and he is doing his practical placement as a Lvl 1 Field Guide at our Bush Camp, to learn more not just about the bush, but also about the management side of reserve.  Trainee Ranger: Leon is our new trainee ranger at Siyafunda. After having spent his youth in the Netherlands and surviving the hardships going through school only by building up an impressive amount of hours spent watching wildlife documentaries, taking great photos of animals and reading about African wildlife, he decided to go to South Africa in 2010 for a volunteer project. The country, the people and especially the animals he encountered blew him away. So much so that on the plane back to Amsterdam he decided to pursue his dream of working in the bush. Hence he did a field guiding course with Bushwise Field Guides and attained his FGASA level 1 and Trailsguide theory. You can be sure that Leon knows how to handle all our different snakes here in South Africa, but really his heart is with our colorful birds and we are sure, that you are going to fall for them as well, once you join him on his game drives.
 Camp Attendants: Monica & Ripson are charged with general camp & upkeep duties at SCI & the Bush Camp respectively. They both have lived in this part of South Africa all their lives & take much pride in looking after the Volunteers & Bush Campers, to make their stay as comfortable as possible in their part of Africa.  Research Support: Audrey heads the Makalali Research departement, which over sees all research & monitoring activity on the reserve & Ross is the Conservancy's Warden, responsible for managing the reserves activities. Ross & Audrey provide a supporting role by conducting presentations/discussions on Elephant & Lion Contraception, African Wild Cats, The Role of Conservancies & the Importance of Biodiversity. Ross has completed his MSc on "Lion Management in Small Conservancies". Audrey is currently completing her PhD at the Kruger National Park. Audrey correlates all data collected by the Siyafunda volunteers & the Reserve Rangers. She also consults for a number of reserves with regards to Elephant Immunocontraception & behaviour.  Shongi The Boss: Shongi (slang for "Shongololo" which means millipede in Shangaan) calls Makalali home and she makes sure everything is in order the way she likes it. We can assure you that once you have looked into her soulful brown eyes, your resistance will crumble & she'll have you wrapped around her paw so be ready to give her tummy a rub!  Play & Pats Manager: Khala (meaning 'to cry/call') is a Collie mix with a very loving personality. She loves to play but also loves her Dad and will often detour to the office with the ball/ bone/ stick you've just thrown to her. She will greet everyone on her arrival and will never turn down a pat, in fact she'll probably ask for more!
 Renee Hyena Ambassador: Renee is Makalali's collared Spotted Hyena. We (attempt) to find her using telemetry and then follow her whilst she does her hyena thing (hunt, play, sleep and greet other hyenas in the Lufafa Clan amongst everything else). Siyafunda currently has a Spotted Hyena Project and Renee is one of the biggest parts of it! Being the tech-savvy hyena she is, Renee also has her own facebook page - facebook.com/reneehyena |
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