Help Support My Volunteer Work in South Africa!

Hello!

My name is Caroline Swarm and I am a third-year veterinary student at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. This summer I have the opportunity to volunteer in South Africa which involves working alongside a wildlife veterinarian and participating in the capture, care and rehabilitation of wildlife. It will involve animal relocations, treating sick or injured animals, diagnosing diseases and diagnosing various conditions. We will be assisting with the capture, handling and potential transport of these animals to rehabilitation centres if long-term care is needed.

We have been told that the work will involve call-outs at any moment based on need and therefore, there are no set hours or itinerary of what we will do. However, the species we will work with will be diverse including lions, elephants, cheetahs, giraffes, antelope, rhinos, and more!

This program is entirely volunteer-based and I will solely be responsible for covering the costs of flights, meals, transport and accommodation in addition to the costs associated with the program. As a bit of background, veterinary students in the UK have a requirement to get a certain number of weeks under the supervision of a veterinarian, all of which does not get paid. Therefore, the rest of my summer will be spent working in a small animal clinic in Glasgow as an unpaid intern. Unfortunately, this limits any opportunity I would have to seek out a job and therefore must rely on student loans as my income. As you can see, this makes it more difficult to participate in life-changing experiences like this one in South Africa due to financial constraints. Please be aware that I am sharing this for context, I LOVE what I do and am extremely grateful for where I am but we all need a little help sometimes! Any support at all towards this trip would be greatly appreciated.

If you would like to learn more about what you are contributing to please go to the website, https://vetsandwildlife.co.za/projects/vets-wildlife/?index=1

You can expect lots of pictures and a write-up of my experience following my journey to South Africa. Thank you again for your support, in whatever form that may be, it means more than you can know!