“WITH COURAGE YOU CAN CONQUER A WORLD
BUT ONLY WITH COMPASSION CAN YOU HEAL AND BUILD IT.”
— Rasheed Ogunlaru
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Like many great stories of hope, the Tshemba Foundation’s beginning was a culmination of many small, seemingly insignificant events that would eventually lead to an ambitious and heartfelt vision like no other.
Our story starts in 2014. The setting? A game reserve in Hoedspruit, South Africa. The catalyst? A conversation with a ranger during a game drive which lead our founder, Neil Tabatznik, to sit down with the Chief of the area and understand his community’s struggles.
Heeding to the Chief’s request for a clinic, Tabatznik began researching the feasibility of the Chief’s request and soon came to a sobering realisation: The medical infrastructure was somewhat in place, there were just not enough doctors. And so the Tshemba Foundation was born.
A UNIQUE MEDICAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME IS BORN
The Tshemba Foundation’s medical volunteer programme is designed to connect medical professionals with knowledge, skills, experience and a deep desire to give back with rural communities in need. Tshemba recruits local and international healthcare professionals to provide life-saving medical care to the local community with the goal of upskilling and training the local hospital staff and putting systems and procedures in place that help hospitals like Tintswalo provide quality healthcare for more patients.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The community that our volunteers serve gain access to a level and frequency of healthcare they would not ordinarily have, while our volunteers are offered a bushveld medical volunteering programme out of the ordinary, allowing them to rekindle their love for medicine and be inspired by the power that they have to change lives. Not only does our programme offer unlimited opportunities for personal and professional growth, but it also offers a tranquil refuge at the end of a hard day’s work in the form of our lodge (link to lodge section of the website), nestled in the Moditlo Game Reserve