FIRST AID COURSE

On tueseday the 23 February I started with my 1st day of the first aid course. I have learned alot about the main arteries and how the blood gets pumped through the hart. We were shown how to do CPR correctly and practised it on a doll. We also learned about the different types of cuts and how to treaat them. I also learned how to help a patiant that is choking.

On the second day of the course I learned more about snake bites and how to treat them. I also learned how to splint a leg correctly. I then had to write a test about all the work. I was also assesed on how to do all the stuff I learned practically.

I passed my first aid course and I am now a qualified first aid level1.

Second weekend of work!!!!

On my second weekend of work: I was put on the game drives again. I did welcoming on the Friday and it went really good. I could give the information about the farm to the guest much easier thain the previous working weekend. I felt much more relaxed. The farm was full again this weekend. I did a few game drives during the weekend. I also had to pick up guests at the front gate and take them through to the wild life centre and take them back again.

We also had a bring and braai and I had to braai for the guests. Throughout the evening I had to keep the guest entertained by speaking and keeping them company. I had to do guest relations throughout the weekend. Monday I did welcoming and it went very good. I am getting better and better with speaking to the guest.

MY FIRST WEEKEND OF WORK

I learned a wide variety of work experience in this weekend that I worked.

What did I do?
-I started with class until 12:00 on Friday.
-Then I did welcoming until 21:00.
-On Saturday morning I started by helping to set up tables for the farmers market and managers tee.
-I helped selling our farm products at the farmers market.
-I helped to keep the kids busy at the entertainment area.
-I went on a tractor game drive
-At 19:00 myself and Calvin did a night game drive.
-On Sunday morning I helped preparing the tables for the guests.
-Talking to guests during the day and making shore the place is clean.
-At 15:00 we had a meeting about how the weekend went.
-At 16:00 myself and JP did a game drive
-On Monday morning I had class in the morning and from 1 to 7pm I did welcoming.

What did I learn?

-On the game drives I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the animals and some funny stories to keep the guests entertained.
-I also learned how to speak to guests and how to keep the place neat and tidy.
-I started to learn how to read guests before I even speak to them.

Tour of town

Arrive-Depart	Site	Direction	Commentary
9:05 – 9:35	Information Centre	When you get off the N1 Highway turn left on the R101. Go straight and follow the road. When you get to the traffic light go straight over. The Information Centre will be on your left hand side.	· Well organized · Well informed · Very friendly · All Bela Bela info
9:45 – 10:00	Grave Yard	Behind the Municipality Building. In Minaar Street	Very old Town build around it Grass was long Christina Pretorius berried
10:07 – 10:20	African Market	When you leave the Information Centre at the Traffic Light you turn right. Go straight, next traffic light you take the slip way left, next turn right. You will see the African Market on your right hand side in Ritchie road	Lots to buy Very tourist friendly Everyone there is from another country Lots of handmade ornaments
Arrive-Depart	Site	Direction	Commentary
10:30 – 10:38	Block House	In the Industrial area	Used to protect the railway Operated by 7 people Big stone walls and small windows for safety Railway goes all the way to Zimbabwe
10:40 – 10:45	Silo’s	In the Industrial area	7 Big silo’s – 45m high -37.7m in diameters-35 ton 4 Small silo’s- 45m high – all 4 take 45 ton Owned by NTK
10:45 – 11:01	Township	When you get off the N1 Highway turn left on the R101. Go straight and follow the road. As soon as you see houses on you left hand side. That is the township	Very clean compared to other townships People are friendly Neat taverns and Jazz clubs Lots

Culling of Quelea

I had a lifetime experience on the 2 February when I have learned how to cull Quelea's and the different methods of doing so. There are 2 different methods of culling Quelea's, the 1 is by fire and the other one is the one we used is poison. The reason we did not use the fire method is because it is in the bush veld and that could lead to veld fires.

OBJECTIVE; The objective is to terminate the Quelea's because they have become a problem for the farmers around the area. A Quelea colony can eat approximately 4 to 8 tons of grain per day. This causes the problem of food security. Management made an informed choice. Doing it on the most possible humane way is very important.

PLANNING; There is allot of planning going into a operation like this. Everyone got a general briefing. Everything was well organized and well thought out. The only negative thing about the planning is that us students wanted to be more involved. We also had to check for open water so that we don't contaminate the water and the animals that live there.

SITE VISIT; Learned more about the non-targeted species that were situated at the area where the quelea's were breeding.

DEMARCATE ; Before we went into the field we had first had a site briefing so that everyone knows what they should and should not do. We went into the field. The farmers started demarcating the area and we were informed more about quelea's and why they are such problem animals. Myself and the other students then started chasing all the non-targeted animals that we could find out of the marked area. The torches consist of a empty can with diesel and a cloth inside the can. That can is tied to a steel dropper that has been hit into the ground. The torches was lit up just before it became dark. The reason for the torches is so that the airplane can see which area he must spray with the poison so that he won't contaminate other places. There was also a bakkie showing the pilot where the power lines are so that he doesn't fly into them.

EVACUATION; We evacuated the demarcated area.We had to make shore that all precautions are in place. The fire trucks,first aid bags was on site. The power lines was indicated by a bakkie so that the plane does not fly into the power lines.

AEROPLANE; The aeroplane then came to spray the area. One of the guys on the ground spoke to the pilot over the radio to make shore he can see the marked area clearly. The poisons name is FALCOLAN. It brakes down your red blood sells. The antidote for this poison is ATROPINE. The dosage of the antidote that should be used for birds is, 1mg/kg. The pilot finished spraying half of the marked area then he had to go fill up with poison to spray the rest. When he finished the last part he let us know on the radio. We went home to go rest.

The next morning at 05:00 we and the farm workers were back in the field to start picking up the dead quelea's and looked for all the non-targeted animals that might be in the area. We found 1white faced owl that has died and one that we took to our wildlife centre to rehabilitate it. We also found a cattle egret and a puff adder the we took to the wild life centre for rehabilitation. We had to continue for a couple of days to make shore that the non-target animals that is infected can be saved.