First of all, what you might not know is that Dineo is not only a qualified field ranger but also the very first student scholar and ambassador of the Timbavati Foundation! Still at school, the young Dineo was given an opportunity to spend 3 nights studying the environment in Grade 11 with the Timbavati Foundation. Part of this opportunity included completing a project of her choice, for which she selected waste management and recycling. True to form, our future Camp Manager not only involved the entire school in her project but she even recruited other community schools to recycle as well! Blown away, the Foundation awarded Dineo a scholarship to study Nature Conservation at the prominent South African Wildlife College and her journey has been on an upwards trajectory ever since.
However, after working in various positions from a environmental educator to logistics and project manager, she says she felt “as if there was a missing piece”. With a burning desire to make a difference and impact people in her community, she eventually decided to take a break and figure out the next step in her career – which is when she discovered Koru Camp. As the only camp in the Greater Kruger exclusively available for community use, our mission to engage and inspire local communities through transformative experiences in nature was exactly the tonic that she needed.
Chatting to Dineo about her role at Koru Camp, she says “I finally feel fulfilled in my work, like there is no longer a hole in my heart. I wake up every morning with a smile knowing I am doing what I love and that it is benefitting others. We have such an incredible team who are not driven by monetary values but have a genuine love to help others. By connecting with the community and building relationships, I am doing a service rather than a job so it never gets boring or tiring. There are many global challenges we are facing and we need to start at grass roots awareness, especially from young, to ensure we can make a difference – maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the future. I am very grateful that I can be a part of this and that I have found a home here at Koru Camp”.
Thank you Dineo, for simply being the wonderful person that you are and an invaluable part of the Koru Camp team!