How life can change with just one email. Just a fortnight ago, my girlfriend Gemma and I were busy planning the next few months. It was all looking pretty sweet; a trip on a yacht to film the sardine run with a biomimicry institute (whatever one of those may be), a bit time in Zimbabwe snapping wildlife and lodges, and a press trip to Mozambique to write about some island resorts. But then, Derrick Swanepoel emailed…
I met producer Derrick in Mozambique last year after the filming of Shiver, a documentary on shark finning that I was lucky to be involved with. Derrick had seen a couple of my recent projects highlighting the plight of endangered wildlife around the world. “What are you up to next week?” he asked. “I may just have a job for you.”
Derrick, it turns out, is producing a new series called Out on a Limb. The show follows double amputee Bushy McKelvey on a three-month adventure around Southern Africa. Bushy lost both of his legs, in two separate bike accidents, at exactly the same time of day. Undeterred, this inspirational man decided to seek out some of the continent’s most exciting, little-known NGO’s, charitable organisations and individuals. The aim? To gain exposure for those unsung heroes, who achieve incredible things with few resources.
Derrick wanted me to come along to present the conservation angle, and for Gemma to become production manager. There are very few jobs in the world that would have prevented me from filming the sardine run, (OK, maybe a trip to the moon or Antarctica). But a three-month road trip around Africa, highlighting fascinating, little-known charitable organisations? After giving it a nanosecond’s thought, we were in.
Every day, incredible things are being achieved all over Africa. Yet small charities and initiatives face incessant battles with fundraising, resources, bureaucracy and corruption. For most, the big NGO budgets are no more than a pipedream. Their passion continues to improve and enrich our world; they desperately need more exposure and support.
Here’s where Bushy and the boys come in. Leaving from Cape Town on Thursday June 7th, we will be visiting eight Southern African countries: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. The crew consists of a mish mash of quirky characters including Bushy himself, an accident-prone doctor (whose job it will be to administer over 1000 eye tests en route), an ex-off road champion and an ‘unpractical English conservationist’ (apparently that’s me). Add in a load of free-spirited cameramen, an OCD girlfriend with a clipboard, some tents, a tonne of gear, loose itineraries and you’ve got the recipe for one hell of an adventure. I may even learn how to change a tyre…
We have some fantastic initiatives lined up including; an anti venom clinic, a small charity addressing human/wildlife conflicts, a home for HIV-infected children who have had their funding pulled by Unicef, anti-poaching, a marine education programme for rural communities, a wildlife orphanage, and an NGO that uses bikes to educate locals about the environment and provides communities with transport. Plus many, many more.
The team will get involved, muck in, and raise the profiles of some truly inspiring people and initiatives (plus have a jolly good time along the way). We will also be completing terrifying amounts of adrenaline-pursuits; throwing ourselves off things, diving headfirst into things, and generally being asked to do things against our better judgment. And that goes for the man without legs too…
We’ll keep you posted on our adventures here, but also please ‘like’ us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/outonalimbseries.
To kick proceedings off, we are all having a few drinks and a fundraiser on Wednesday June 6th, at 7pm at Clovelly Country Club in Cape Town. For tickets, please email [email protected] or call 0722116970.
Wish us luck. Chances are we’ll need it!
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