Disaster Response South Africa Project #74631

DAKTARI in Crisis After Severe Flooding

A microproject by DAKTARI Bush School

Project Report | Aug 19, 2026
Final report after the severe flooding

By Michele Merrifield | Co-founder and Director

Dear Donor,

I’m writing to you with our final report, as we have finally completed our new bridge.

After the heavy rains, we ended up facing more damage and more costs than we could ever have foreseen.

One of our vehicles was partly under water and spent almost a month at the workshop. When we drove it there, the horn suddenly started honking by itself every now and then... that was a fun trip... not! The steering had also been damaged, and the car had a very strange smell, but thankfully, it has now been repaired.

Then came the animal enclosures, which needed new drainage, repairs and maintenance, as well as our entire camp and, of course, our internal roads, which had turned into a complete mud bath.

While dealing with all of this, we were also in contact with engineers, local companies and craftsmen to find the best and safest solution for rebuilding our bridge.

First of all, I want to say again how incredibly grateful I am for the financial support each and every one of you gave us. It truly meant everything during a time when the amount of damage felt overwhelming.

After many discussions, calculations and changes to the original plans, I am very happy to finally announce that we now have a new bridge!

As proof, I have attached a picture of our food supplier, Bidfood, driving over it for the first time!

You can imagine how relieved we were to see this, especially after spending almost two weeks carrying goods across the riverbed while the construction was taking place. Children and volunteers also had to cross on foot and be collected from the other side, so having proper access to DAKTARI again feels wonderful.

It has been quite a journey since those endless days of rain in January, but thanks to your support, our local community, the engineers who advised us and the people who helped with the construction, we have managed to recover and make DAKTARI stronger again.

Thank you once again for being there for us when we really needed it.

Your support helped us rebuild much more than a bridge, it helped us keep DAKTARI moving forward.

Sincerely,

Michele and the entire DAKTARI team

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May 28, 2026
DAKTARI Flood Recovery Update!

By Felicia Hansen | Fundraising Manager

Site visit from CSIR

Dear DAKTARI-supporter!

I’m writing to you on behalf of DAKTARI with an update mainly regarding the bridge project after the heavy rains in January.

Once everything finally dried up, we immediately started working on repairing the damage around camp. We repaired and reinforced the animal enclosures that had been damaged during the floods, making them more resilient for future heavy rains. We also had a grader come to repair and level our internal roads, which had become extremely damaged and difficult to drive on.

At the same time, we started thinking carefully about the bridge. We knew that if we rebuilt it, we needed to do it properly. It became clear very quickly that we would need guidance from someone with real engineering knowledge and experience.

We contacted CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), one of South Africa’s governmental engineering and research organisations, and explained that we are an NGO in need of help but without the financial possibility to hire a civil engineer. Very kindly, they connected us pro-bono with one of their associated engineers.
In March, the engineer visited DAKTARI for the first site inspection and measurements. Afterwards, he provided us with drawings, calculations, a full material list and even a step-by-step guide explaining how to build the bridge. We are planning to do the construction ourselves together with our maintenance team.

Unfortunately, the material costs turned out to be almost double of what we originally expected. Because our bridge crosses a sandy riverbed, a lot of excavation and groundwork is needed to create a stable and long-lasting structure, even though the bridge itself is not anything fancy.

Meanwhile, we also realised we would need equipment and machinery that we do not have ourselves. We contacted a local supplier in Hoedspruit, and incredibly kindly, they agreed to sponsor almost all the tools and machinery we will need for the construction period. It's amazing to have this support from our local community as well!

We have also asked the engineer to help us investigate whether some of the materials can be replaced with more affordable alternatives while still keeping the bridge strong and safe for the future, and he's busy with this at this very moment.

So this is where we are right now. We hope to begin construction during July, and the full process will likely take about one month as the concrete and foundations will need proper time to settle and strengthen.

Even though the actual construction has not started yet, we still wanted to share this update with you because so much work has already happened behind the scenes. During those endless days of rain in January, when it just kept raining and raining and we slowly realised the amount of damage we would face, it honestly felt overwhelming at times. Your support during that period gave us hope and helped us start moving forward again. Thank you for being with us!

Last week, a team from CSIR came for another site visit. At the same time, we happened to be running our Job Hunting Program for unemployed youth at camp. Two of the CSIR representatives were female civil engineers, and we asked them if they would speak to our students about their careers. It turned out to be one of those unexpectedly beautiful moments.
One of the engineers, Mary, shared how she grew up in poverty without electricity at home. She knew she wanted to study and create a different future for herself, so together with one of her teachers, they arranged for her school to provide candles so she could study at night. After finishing matric, she applied to university, and today she works as a civil construction engineer at CSIR and loves her work.
Listening to her story was incredibly inspiring for all of us. It reminded us that sometimes beautiful things can also grow from difficult situations, just like this bridge project.

Take care, and thank you once again for supporting us at DAKTARI. We truly feel your support every single day. Once the construction of the bridge has started, we'll send out another final update about this project!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at office@daktaribushschool.org.

Warm Regards, Felicia + the entire DAKTARI-team!

p.s We operate as normal! So if you, or someone you know, would like to visit us for a volunteering experience in the wild - please read about it here on our webpage!

Mary and Refilwe sharing their story to students

Site visit!

This will be a new bridge in the future!

DAKTARI & the team of construction engineers! :)

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Jan 23, 2026
DAKTARI reached the goal thanks to YOU!

By Michele Merrifield | Co-founder and Director

Internal roads as of now

Dear Donor,

You are receiving this email because I wanted to personally tell you that our DAKTARI in Crisis micro project is now fully funded.

This was made possible thanks to people like you who chose to support us during a very difficult time. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

As soon as the immediate danger was gone, we started planning how to repair and rebuild so we can continue our mission to educate local children to care for nature and wildlife, and to keep our orphan animals safe.

We identified three main priorities. First, to rebuild the bridge that is currently disconnecting us from the main roads. Second, to repair the internal roads so children, staff and volunteers can move safely. And lastly, to repair and maintain our animal enclosures so our animals remain protected.

We estimated the minimum cost at USD 6,900, and thanks to your support, this amount has now been reached. We received donations from 47 people around the world, and yesterday a generous donor completed the funding with a message that deeply touched us: “Sometimes nature gives and takes… for a sustainable bridge of survival. Take care.” We were very emotional when we read this.

While we wait for the river to dry further so we can safely rebuild the bridge, we are already preparing. We are in contact with suppliers for construction materials such as concrete pipes, taking measurements to build a stronger and safer bridge for the future, and we have already started repairing the roads where possible.

Once the new bridge is finished, we will share an update with you.

Once again, thank you for your kindness, your trust, and for helping us turn this crisis into hope.

Warm regards,
Michele and the entire DAKTARI team

p.s If you want to come and volunteer with ous, read more about it on our webpage HERE.

Current state of our bridge

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