rhino poaching kingpin
Photo Credit: Pexels

On the 12th of November, two people who have never met celebrate their birthdays, and both have dedicated them to rhino conservation!

 

South Africa (04 November 2019) – A year ago, Sally Wellbeloved came up with a brilliant way to pay off a car that she had bought for an ex; she decided to raise money to pay it off and then donate the car to the Black Mambas. The women are the first-ever all-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa.

Sally needed to get rid of the car but didn’t want to do it for her benefit, rather the benefit of others so the kind South African started a crowdfund and was able to raise some of the money needed to pay the car off. A year went by, and she still has the car, only raising R84,342.04. Sally now hopes to use her birthday, which falls on the 12th of November, as her marker for raising the final amount.

Sally stopped celebrating her birthday after she turned 40, but changed her mind this year. She is turning 43 and really hopes that this is the year she can donate it. We shared her story last year when she first came up with the idea.

car

“After a relationship ended, I was left with a big vehicle that I could not afford. I had helped my partner buy and finance it in my name so it became my burden!” says Sally Wellbeloved, a fine art photographer from Cape Town’s south peninsula. “I was struggling to sell it,” she says, “so I had to come up with a plan. I realised that sometimes you cannot do it alone, but that if you come together with other like-minded people, you can turn a burden into an amazing opportunity!”

The Black Mambas have already had a significant impact on rhino poaching numbers in their region, but Sally wants to help them continue to do their valuable work, and they desperately need a robust, reliable vehicle to do this.

“My Birthday wish is to get the Pajero 4×4 fully paid off and do a one-way trip to the Black Mambas to hand it over to them. I will then stay with them for a while to do some volunteering work.”

Sally was inspired to reach out after reading about Kolby, the soon-to-be 7-year-old who has decided to dedicate his birthday to a Rhino orphanage. The reason the story is so exciting is that Kolby’s birthday is also on the 12th of November, and he, too, wants to use it to save rhinos.

Birthday

“Kolby is a young vibrant almost 7-year-old with a love for all animals and critters.  After watching the documentary Stroop and Frank and Fearless over the school holidays he has been praying every night to help save the rhinos from the senseless murders just for their horns through poaching.  With his birthday coming up on the 12th of November he has decided to have a rhino party and instead of asking for ANY gifts this year he only wants donations to help save our rhinos.

Kolby then started asking what he could do around the house to help raise money and this is how his ‘Help a “little buddy” back a rhino’ project was born and has since pledged to raise R50 000 and vowed to not stop until he has reached his mark.

Kolby chose The Rhino Orphanage as his chosen charity to help save the rhino’s as he was a big fan of The wild one’s documentary and feels that they really look after their animals and that he wants to help them to buy feed, medication, treatment and transport for these young rhino’s so they can survive and grow and one day have babies of their own to add to the population.” – Jeanine, Kolby’s mother

Kolby’s fund is also slowly growing; he has raised R19,871.85 for the orphanage so far. Sally reached out to Jeanine after seeing Kolby’s story, and they are now in talks about their respective rhino conservation initiatives. Through crowdfunding and social media, they have become unlikely friends in conservation.

“The symbolism of the rhino represents breaking through insurmountable obstacles, conquering barriers and achieving our goal. Our biggest mistakes can be our greatest gifts,” says Sally. “Standing together we can do anything!”

If you would like to support either of them, you can do so for Kolby here and Sally here.


Sources: Good Things Guy Interview 
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About the Author

Tyler Leigh Vivier is a writer for Good Things Guy.

Her passion is to spread good news across South Africa with a big focus on environmental issues, animal welfare and social upliftment. Outside of Good Things Guy, she is an avid reader and lover of tea.

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