Rhino poarching a national crisis...

Last week Friday as I was taking a walk with a friend in the beach a came across this young man who uses sand to design powerful message on display for visitors and tourists in our Durban beaches. the picture depicted the following message:

My friend was overly excited about the talent that the young man who made that statue and the way he was so passion about his work, however this was not the case for me. I spent almost two minutes appreciating the art but most importantly the powerful message that was portrayed "Save rhinos-Stop rhino poaching''. Many people see this as something that does not concern them as rhinos are not people and are not close by to their habitats hence they do not see how important are they to their lives.  If I was not an occupational therapist student in an institution that promotes community activism I would definitely not have taken notice of the message or I would have ignored it in totality. however I understand that rhinos play a major role not in the ecosystem but as part of Africa's big 5 most tourists come to our country to appreciate these magnificent powerful creatures.

With this blog I want to challenge all the occupational therapists to take a firm stand against rhino poaching as activist and advocate of change to protect the future heritage of the generations to come after us. We need to appreciate that animals are part of the environment and also part of the communities that we work in. Some of us will be working in the northern part of the province of KwaZulu Natal next year near the Umfolozi game reserve where Rhino poaching has reached it's peak. one of my favourite occupational therapist lectures said one day that ''the little things that you do in the society count a lot to does that are affected''. Saving rhinos could not only be beneficial for our nature conservation but can also save the jobs of those rangers who earn a salary by caring for our animals.