Heart of the Wild (Conservationist)

A cheetah on a Hollywood set with Angelina Jolie. A Jack Russell with terrible timing. And a moment in a rural hospital that rerouted two lives toward a mission bigger than fame or adrenaline. We sit down with Namibian conservationist Marlice Van Vuren to unpack how a preventable loss led to N/a’an ku sê, a holistic model that protects wildlife while strengthening the communities who live alongside it.

Marlice grew up on a sanctuary with the San, speaking their language before Afrikaans or English. That early bond shaped how she reads animal behaviour and why indigenous knowledge sits at the centre of her work. She takes us into the quiet heroics of raising cheetahs and leopards from days old, the reality of anti‑poaching in vast open landscapes, and the tools her team deploys—canines, horses, drones, and gyros—to deter and disrupt. The stories are visceral: 2 a.m. feeds, near‑misses in the field, the heartbreak of arriving too late, and the stubborn hope that gets you back out before dawn.

We also trace the long road from weekend medicine boxes to a free clinic that now sees thousands of San patients each year. Marlice doesn’t gloss over the hardest parts: addiction, landlessness, and the grind of generational change. She shares how donors took a chance, how transparency built trust, and how a lodge created jobs that reinforced conservation goals. Her message is disarmingly simple—start small, act locally, and let action compound. Purpose isn’t found in slogans; it’s built in the bush, in clinics, and in everyday choices that make room for others.

If you care about cheetah conservation, anti‑poaching strategy, indigenous language preservation, or sustainable travel in Namibia, this conversation offers a clear, working blueprint. Listen, share with a friend who loves wildlife, and if you can, visit or support N/a’an ku sê. Subscribe for more stories that turn purpose into practice, and leave a review so we can bring more voices like Marlice’s to your feed.

LINKS: 

https://www.naankuse.com/

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https://www.instagram.com/naankuse_foundation/

DONATE: 

https://www.naankuse.com/donate

SUPPORT THE RANGERS: 

https://naankusefoundation.salsalabs.org/wildliferangerchallenge/index.html?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnL0BTBEs0ZVAoUYwwLgIFmI21P54C3yCikpRK3NyNYgvx-_L3SE4wLCJPBbc_aem_tp2fHeyNBrtge7bB9yrfwA

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Transcript

A Hollywood Cold Open With A Cheetah

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You don't expect a story about conservation to start on a Hollywood movie set. But for Marlise Van Vuren, this was just one moment in the rich and varied tapestry of her career. It involved a cheetah, actor Angelina Jolie, and one very naughty Jack Russell.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

So I was called anyone like dog pooped on the carpet, and I'm the only one on the whole state with a Jack Russell with me.

unknown 0:26

Like me.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Me, Sazori.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

This incident was one of those strange, chaotic film set events that you can never predict. But it's exactly these kinds of moments that can change the course of our lives.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

So we became good friends because of poop. But uh it's amazing how your story has a river and it flows and that eventually you have rapids and you need the rapids to change direction.

Show Intro And Guest Background

SPEAKER_00 0:59

For Mali's, those rapids would carry her far from movie sets and into the wilds of Namibia. Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of No Ordinary Monday. Thank you so much for joining us. I am your host, Chris Baron, and each week I sit down with a guest whose job is far from ordinary. We're going to explore how they got there, what it's really like behind the scenes, and then I'll ask them to relive the single most unforgettable experience of their career. Before we dive in, a very, very quick announcement, just letting our audio listeners know that these episodes are also available to watch on YouTube if you prefer to see these conversations. I also craft visualizations of the cold opens that are kind of fun to watch as well. If you already watched these on YouTube and you like the format, please let me know and I will keep working to improve them. Alright, so on to this week's guest. Marlies Van Vuren is one of Namibia's most remarkable conservationists. Together with her husband Rudy, who's also a medical doctor, she co-founded Nankuste, a wildlife sanctuary and foundation dedicated to protecting Namibia's wildlife and supporting the country's indigenous communities. At Nankuste every day brings something new for Marlis. It could be rescuing injured young leopards or raising baby baboons, running anti-poaching patrols, or even hosting community clinics for the San Bushmen. But Marlies' story begins long before Nankuste. She grew up on her parents' wildlife sanctuary in central Namibia, side by side with the indigenous San people, which are one of the world's oldest living cultures. Their language is actually her mother tongue before either Afrikaans or English. That childhood shaped her view of nature, of humanity, and what real coexistence looks like. And as you heard in that intro, her life has taken her from Hollywood movie sets to running one of Namibia's leading conservation organizations. Yet the turning point came not from fame or adventure, but from tragedy, the loss of a sad child that changed everything and set Marlies and Rudy on a lifelong mission to make a difference. You're listening to No Ordinary Monday? Let's get into the show. Marlies, welcome, welcome to the show. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Very good, thank you. And you?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah, I'm very well, very well. So just tell us where you're where you're calling from at the moment.

Living And Working With Cheetahs

SPEAKER_02 3:30

I'm calling from Namibia, um in the southern part of Africa, just uh above South Africa.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Amazing, amazing. So my the last time that we saw each other was um I was filming for a documentary called One Strange Rock for National Geographic, and it was one of the most amazing shoots I actually have in in memory. Um mainly because we were filming with the cheetahs. I'm not sure you've remembered. Do you remember us filming that?

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Yes, I remember that.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

It was incredible because you know we were filming this amazing story about predator prey evolution, all that kind of stuff. But we were out with you with your cheetahs. I think it was Shiloh and Odyssey. Um we had them doing with the lure, the lure training, uh and then we took them out for a hunt. The most memorable stuff is when we were filming the sort of more intimate stuff in their paddock, and just the they're just like big cats, and I couldn't get over the purr and just the their tender nature and everything. But I mean, just for you who's working with them all day, every day in some cases, like does that ever get old for you, you know, spending time with those cheetahs?

SPEAKER_02 4:41

No, never gets old. I wish I could do it, you know, the whole day. Um, they are so so sweet. And I would actually say personality-wise, uh species-wise, uh, they fall on the cats, but for me and they purr, but behavior, they're dogs. They trust you, they they are uh, you know, cats, cats are, you know, I'm so important, that's why you can't take care of me. And they're the opposite. So yeah, but I wish I can do it every day on the whole day. Um, it never gets old.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

And we were just filming, you know, maybe filming one of the cheetahs, and then the other one was just sort of curious and following us and would sort of sit next to us, like you said, just like a dog, and just sort of I think it would even start licking the cameraman at one point.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

And uh, no, they're so lovable, Run it's so sweet.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Did you are those ones, did you raise them from cubs, those particular ones?

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Yeah, sure. I know Oddy and Wonder are siblings, and I raised them. They were like a few days old. They came out of a conflict situation, and uh um yeah, I they were quite tough babies because I several several times I've almost lost them twice, where they got sick and didn't drink well, and then uh you know the dummies didn't go out as it's supposed to. And yeah, so it's a every two hours up, and then you sit for almost a half an hour with the babies for the three of them to drink, and then I sleep maybe half an hour and a half, and then I'm up again. But uh it's so worth it, and yeah, I I really love it, and it's a privilege to be able to do something like that.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah. And um just give us a sense of what a typical day might be. I know you guys do amazing, you know, as I say, you do rehab, you do um anti-poaching stuff, you do research. I mean, I'd love to know just I know a lot of people listening love animals, I'm sure. So what kind of animal stories have you guys kind of experiencing over there?

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Okay, let me just give you the summary of this week. I think that would be easier. A normal day in our lives, there's not one single day is the same. Not one. And then for all these years it's never been the same day. So um this week uh I got uh two bible jack baby jackal in, and they run about two weeks old. So it's babysitting again and both feeding and making them weave, rub their little butts, and make sure that they pee pee and and do their thingy, otherwise they just blow up and pop.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

So that's what the mother would do in the wild, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Yes, exactly. So I've got a Jack Russell, the name is Nati, she does help me raise all these babies. Um, she's raised those cheetahs that you met. Um and she uh is so happy with these two puppies. So she does the licking, but somebody has to give the milk, and that's Moa.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yeah.

Indigenous Knowledge And Language

SPEAKER_02 7:49

So I'm a jackal mummy for at least a year now. Um, and then we got a baby Lippert in. Um, she comes from the north. She the farmers found her. I don't know if uh and the the farm where she was found, they don't hunt, they are predator-friendly people. And uh they found her, I think she uh mommy must be shot. So she's small, and those little ones that has to stay, mom go hunt and then come back. Um, and for 10 days they were supporting her in the field, and she mummy never came back. So she came in and uh she's gonna go through a long process of rehab because she still needs to be fed and she still needs to more. But we've done it in the past, we've done the research, and um, 90% of them can go back into the world. Um, just not an open ecosystem. And she needs to be fully grown before she goes because we need to call her her. Um, so that is an and then we had uh a very exciting day yesterday. We had uh delegates all over the world, indigenous people from Chile, Canada, Peru, uh Kenya, South Africa, uh from all over, and then Himbas and Zungas and Munghaos and Naros from Namibia, and the uh vice president was the Ministry of Education was the so that we can have a workshop on how do we bring indigenous knowledge back to uh the core of legislation and how do we protect the languages and make sure that we keep that alive. And that was because I speak Tun Chan. So that we were hosting that whole uh shebang, the wuha. So uh it was it was amazing, and then today everybody started flying back to their countries and with all their translators, but uh and it was amazing. It was uh so this week was quite different. Um next week is just anti-poaching. We do a workshop on anti-poaching and we do a forensic course. If you do get to a poach site, how do you handle it as a a crime scene?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

So much all the I mean, all the anti-poaching stuff and and everything, like is that still a big problem that you experience, or is it you've got it kind of under control now?

Anti‑Poaching Reality In Namibia

SPEAKER_02 10:21

So for for Namibia, unfortunately, it's increasing. It's not declining, it's uh it's rapidly increasing. Um and it's because of our uh open spaces and the lack of people. That is one of our biggest, well the biggest benefit for a poach here, because these square kilometers with nobody on it, but for sure a rhino might be on there. Um so they are using that. Uh on Napuse properties, we've not had one perch. So uh we've had one attempt to come into the reserve, and that happened right in the beginning, and they've never tried again. But we are vigilant, we are 24 hours out there. We also make it vocal, make it public, bring it on.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Um, we've got canine, we've got equine, we've got drones, we've got uh gyro planes in the air, so that I I do, you know, there is days that I'm like, I'm tired of just training, training, training. Can they just give me one and I can chase them down and let the dogs fight him a little bit? But uh yeah, so especially when I mean there was yesterday another case uh not far from us where Rhino was killed. And when you get there, you're too late, you find a carcass, there's no more scent left. We can take the sink to where the people got out of a car and got back into the car, but you've lost the animal. And cases like that, that it's heartbreaking. It it's yeah, it's not nice, and makes me luckily I would never go. I go in fight mode. So I I'm um at this point that I can really tell you we are fighting hard in the media, and we do need the support. It is expensive. Um, you can't sell the wands, you can't advertise it for tourism, and your your cost is there, you need to protect them. You have to have a salary, you have to feed people, you have to have fuel, you have to have a drone and good food clothes and boots and sleeping bags. So all of that adds up. But well, at this stage, the best protection for us is to have two or three people on a rhino 24 hours.

Dyslexia, Sport, And Finding A Path

SPEAKER_00 12:45

That's a crazy amount of resources, though, isn't it? Amazing. Yeah. I mean, you can tell just the way you talk about animals that you're extremely passionate about it. And you know, we we were talking before you know we did the recording, just your path sort of leading to this sort of this mission. And you know, you wanted to be a vet, you know, you kind of went to university, you studied this, then you got into movies and stuff. Like just tell us a bit about that that part of your life.

Breaking Into Animal Training And Film

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Oh, yes, see. Uh to go back a bit uh uh so I I wasn't the best kid in school. Um I dyslexic, so I I can't read well. Uh I struggled with reading, and at that time, when I was in school, you were dumb. Um, there wasn't a title for it. I thought, okay, there's something seriously wrong with this kid, she can't read. Um, and I struggled with maps also, but I managed to actually pass school. So our problem um then started. What am I going to do after school? I wanted to become a vet my whole life. I said, I want to be a vet, I want to be a wildlife eat uh dark animals out of a chopper and and all the nice stuff. Uh but you need to be able to go to university, and you have to be able to read well uh and do good maths, which moi couldn't do. So um I did apply. I think they must have like, what this? Oh, no, you're not gonna you're not gonna get in. They I think they just looked at my my application and started laughing. So my second big love was sport. I love sport. I've uh been on the national level, very competitive in different sports, and then uh uh decided okay, let's try sports. So I went for sport, I got in. Um not for my reading and my maths, for sure not, but for for my sports. And uh I I did uh sports psych uh sports science and uh psychology, and yeah, I I knew Pretoria is not for me. I that first week I hated Pretoria, I promise you, I hated it. I got lost so many times. I every time I phoned home, they would have been like, you know, that kind of new baby, and how's this one doing? And at that time you didn't have FaceTime and emails, you had to phone, and hopefully somebody answered, and yeah, it wasn't nice. So uh I I dreaded the university. I hated it, I took it over. Um, but anyway, came back in a December holiday, um, our summer holiday for our year-end holiday, was a month, and I got home and my dad said to me, There's a Warner Brother movie that's now in Swakupmont. And I want to get one of our cheaters to play one of the main roles in this movie, and it's about this little horse and a Bushman girl, and uh that became friends, and then they were these German settlers and blah blah blah. And the cheetah was the predator in the movie, and he's hunting this poor little horse as the horse he grows up. And the problem is the people that's doing the animal department and the forming were all Americans, and uh cheetahs name was Hooters, and I couldn't pronounce his name, so they were calling him Hooters. You know, you Hooters and Hooters, yeah, so he didn't listen, then I would call him Hooters, Hooters, and he's just gonna faster and it didn't work. So my dad said, and I'm not gonna give him to them, they can't even call his name right. You have to go with. I said, Okay, I'll go with. So I went with um to Swakw, and uh I had to train the cheetah because they couldn't talk to him and he didn't listen to them, and he knew me. So I loved it. I said, okay, I'm gonna this is what I want to do. So I went into the animal training forming, and for almost six years after that, uh, we're done commercials from the VW ad to Suzuki Grand Vatar, you unai mat. There was uh the perfume ad with Shakira. I had to body double for her and Dennis Waite and Unight. I've done everything with so many celebrities.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

That's great on the CV body double for you know Shakira and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

Shakira. Well, I'm much bigger than her. She's okay. And I I was so worried they're gonna ask me to dance like her because then I can't. I'm like, oh quit. That's gonna be I can shake my hips, but to do what she does, I'm gonna dislocate something. No way. So I'm like, I got thank God they didn't ask me. I just have to look at the teeth to walk up to me, and then I have to yeah, walk around the teeth that I can do, yeah, and shake my hips a little bit, pretend I'm dancing without music. But anyway, so that's how I got into the filming industry and uh done everything, trained everything from an elephant to I've traveled everywhere with photographers to Mexico to Antarctica to had to work with jaguars and it was just amazing. I loved it. I love to do it uh still every day. I I love that to get into the like I I can't explain it just to you. It's like uh you read the animal's behavior to see, okay, is he getting it or not? Is he comfortable by doing this? And uh the the award of getting it, the animal to do it, but with just no fences, no leashes. Uh and it's not wildlife, wildlife forming. This is controlled area, controlled sets where you build a setting, you need to get a line from point A to B, uh a fully grown male line with all the protection, security, and risk. So I loved it. It's a nice adrenaline rush.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

But you didn't do like it's not like you studied this at university and when this is this is something that you're kind of like, do you think it's something that people are born with or something that people develop over time? Or what is it that makes it special?

SPEAKER_02 19:25

And I've worked with so many people to uh over the years, with that was in the filming industry. It's something that you are you have to have that six sense for it. You can't teach somebody that it's almost like common sense. You're born with common sense or not. You then sorry. I really, I really don't think it's something you can teach people. Um you can look at a situation and you can figure it out without pushing the animal too hard and to sense when something is gonna uh be wrong, something is gonna go wrong. It's that's some intuition, and there's no textbook that you can read that will teach you that there's there's nothing you have to be in a situation to be able to feel it.

The Turning Point: A Baby Lost

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Yeah, yeah. And and when you're doing the movie stuff, obviously that's where you met uh Angelina Jolie and all those guys. How was that?

SPEAKER_02 20:22

It was that was amazing, and I uh I I had a big laugh with her a few years ago. Um, and I said, Can you remember us I put flies on your face for almost a week, and then my dog pooped on her carpet. So I was called in and like whose dog pooped on the carpet, and I'm the only one with on the whole set with a Jack Russell with me. Like me, so sorry, no, for all people's places, tents uh, you know, on set you go pooping Angelina's caravan, but anyway, so we became good friends because of flies and my dog and and because of poop. But uh it it was uh yeah, if you connect the dots, it's amazing how your story uh river and that flows and that eventually you you you have rapids and you need the rapids to change direction. And uh yeah, if I ever did become a vet or didn't get bullied because I couldn't read or write well, um my life wouldn't have ended up where I am now. So yeah. So I'm very happy actually.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Yeah. You mentioned rivers, you know, your life is a flowing river, and then these rapids are these sort of like inflection points in some cases. And that takes us really nicely to the sort of, you know, um, you know, I ask every guest to come on the show and and tell us sort of significant, monumental, sort of unforgettable story. Um I wonder if you could sort of just uh you know take us back to the beginning of that story and and uh take us from there.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

So I think my our our lives, myself and Rudy, um started. So we we newly met with my dad passed away a month after we were married. He got congo fever, and uh six days later he he's he was he died, and then my mom got sick and she laid in isolation for almost a month with congo fever, she survived it.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Wow.

Building A Clinic And A Model

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Um and just the rapid started the minute we got married. It was almost like, okay, what's going on here? You know, we have to have a talk here. I thought it's gonna be this nice fairy tale, and now suddenly you take the most important person in my life was my dad. I have a really good relationship with my mom, but my dad was my stability. Suddenly he's gone. And then my mom is sick, and I thought, okay, I'm gonna lose her. And then the the wave started, and our lives changed then after my dad passed away. I realized listen, Arnhouse is not um your old man, your mega. Uh, this is where you grew up. The sanctuary was is not everything, you have to spread your wings. Otherwise, I would have been stuck there and I would have been just focused on Arnhas and like this the most amazing place. Uh, and then on weekends, I we lived in Ventuck. On weekends we would go to the farm because really really knew he will lose me alive if I don't get out of Ventuk and in the felt and back with baboons and you know, and the felt is is just for for people who don't know is like the bush, the wild, yeah. Well yeah, yeah, yeah. We will in the movie we say felt. It's felt, felt. So in the bush to get back in the bush and just you know, be with the sun people and speak Zuzma and not worry about time and and get dirty and uh any like that disconnect once uh every weekend we had to go back into the bush. And uh this one specific day uh and then the word spread that there's a doctor. So suddenly all these sung people were bringing their patients and sick kitties and to my parents' bar, and uh we would I would translate and we started packing boxes of medicine during the week, and then on weekends we would see them. And uh Saturday, one Saturday morning, there was a knock on our kitchen door, and we were having coffee and uh biscuit besides a Rusk that we dunk in our coffee, and um that's breakfast. And then a lady was standing there, very skinny some lady for baby, and she asked for help. We looked at her hospital cards. So in Namibia, patients don't have patient files with your doctor. You have a hospital card, it's like a little flip file. And every doctor that sees them or state clinic would write in it, and the treatments and diagnostics will be written in it, and they take that with them. So we opened a little book booklet and saw that the baby's been seen by a state hospital and a clinic three times before she actually brought the baby to Rudy. And um Rudy gave the baby one look and he said, you know what, this baby's not gonna make it. Uh, I think we're already too late. We have to get an ambulance out now to meet us halfway on the road and uh get this baby on oxygen and on a trip. And I I rem and I had such a it was for me now, after years later, I try to remember was it a boy or a girl? And I can't tell you. There's certain things that I cut out, I got out of the scenarios. I can't remember how I got from the ward out to the car. I I remember when I was outside with the baby. But in between, something something was lost. Uh and I yeah, I think it's amazing how our brains work just to cut out uh certain things that we don't want to remember.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

And Rudy, obviously being a doctor, he took one look at it. Was there something about the child that he could what was it about the child visually that he said it's it's it's too late?

From Donors To N/a’an ku sê

Scale, Impact, And Hard Years

Working With Communities And Setbacks

SPEAKER_02 26:30

The baby was bloated, very bloated, like so swollen that the fingers were swollen, the eyes, and the breathing was shallow. There was a very, very faint heartbeat. So uh he just, yeah, we tried to put a drip up and we couldn't even find Obane. And uh we found the ambulance in the nearest town called Khabarvis, that's a hundred kilometers away from my parents' farm. We started driving. Ambulance never came from the front. Um we reached the town and then the mum went with us. And when we got to the hospital, um the mummy just handed me the baby and she said, You take the you take my kid in. Take my baby and so we rushed in, and then it was a Saturday, uh, very relaxed. Everybody was almost on lunch, and uh it was this very relaxed atmosphere, and we were put in a queue, which we ran past. I remember the hospital when my dad was treated, he had a plane crash a few years ago before that, and he had severe burns. I knew the hospital. Said I know casualties that direction, so we just ran past everybody. So you can imagine what Mayhem we caused. Strangers running past and didn't even listen to the nurses. There's a doctor on call, we didn't even listen to him. Straight to uh and then really put the baby on oxygen, try to put a drip up, and we got a drip up. But the baby passed away on the table in our arms and our heads. And we had to walk out of that hospital, and then with doctors and nurses screaming at us, who are we? What are you doing in the hospital? You're in a state hospital, and he handled that very well. I I'll I remember very well I was screaming like a lunatic, and the Fana Marva in me, my mate and surname is Fana Marva, got came out. Um I lost it screaming like a crazy person. And anyway, got to reception and then the nurse just said, Oh, don't worry, it's just another one. And uh that was the feature in in both of us. I remember uh Rudy when he he's worked in casualty and got the two line in South Africa, and he's seen much worse than I can imagine. Um and that day I saw my husband take a break. Because you um you don't expect a baby that was in 2001 that that little one died. You didn't expect it to happen, you know. It's uh a country that is only at that stage, I think we were 1.82 million people of dying of hunger because it was costly water, the baby was uh so malnourished that um the baby died of content. And it's still happening today, but that day when um that happened, I actually emotional. So um when that happened, we decided well the decision was made for us. Well, our river went shook, took a turn for the poo, almost a 360 or 190 degrees for sure. Um and we have to we have two choices. We either now say to the mom, oh good luck, we're gonna pray for you. And you know she doesn't have money to buy a coffin. You know she doesn't even have money to get back to where she came from. And then it's like, okay. We've done our little bit of good and then uh feel good because we opted to bring her baby to the hospital not in time. Um or and then write numerous letters to the government and complain about healthcare. What will be the you know what what will be the change in it and how long will it take and how many kids has to die. And both of us grew up with parents always pushing us to say if a problem comes you make you come up with the solution. And uh we looked at one another and said okay so what are we gonna do about this? And the decision was made we're gonna see what we can do to change the Zum people and their lively and um we started a clinic in the east of Namibia where we saw people on a Saturday out of a box and uh we got Umyan in with uh first donor and he's still the biggest donor um him and his wife Tanitinaka um they helped us to buy this empty building in this tiny little town where the most some people were living and everybody was saying why could you buy a building and give them healthcare you're gonna be bankrupt in a few months or we said we're gonna we're gonna make money out of something to support this don't worry so we started writing articles in the newspaper and Rudy was playing for uh Namibia in the World Cup uh at that year he actually played for two sport codes in one year from the World Cup. He's still the only person and he made the genius book of records and he's the only person still that has been that has accomplished this um but so we wrote articles to say curiosity rugby and rugby and cricket he played rugby and cricket in the same year for Nanobi so yeah and they had to fly him he had to fly from Zimbabwe to Australia to play cricket and then he has to fly back to Zimbabwe to play a rugby game and it was a it was amazing to see but he's yeah he deserves it he's one of those gifted people the most hardworking person I've ever met in my life yeah um incredible but anyway we write articles and we were challenging people to donate on every try or wicket or uh yeah you know uh boundary that's hit by somebody one of the team makes and then this uh a friend of ours his dad read it and he said these cap as tourists that might be interested to have in it and he introduced us to Jan Verberg and Janus Brat is now one of the partners and he came on board and from there on it was history. He bought the building a year later he came back and he said what can I do now we said can you give us uh money so we can employ a full-time nurse so that she can see the patients during the week and we can do the the serious cases on the weekends and uh he gave us money we stretched that salary over three years and on that daddy's is still there and she turned 18 now she's still at the life work amazing so she's the mother to reset at the clinic. So this donor was a he's a philanthropist or a businessman or yeah he's a Dutch uh philanthropist um he's uh in construction in the Netherlands and he started with us and then after that three years later he said okay what can we do now how do we employ people how do we get them out of that area yeah and that's where Macy Lodge started and that was the beginning this is why we gave the place such a strange name um I mean it's not good for tourism to give a name that nobody actually can pronounce um but yeah so it's got a German version and the English version and the French version and Nakuze and but for us that decision was made that day with that promise she s when we walked out of that hospital and she she said to me to me and see and when we sat at the lodge and Rudy said to me what do you think the lodge name would be and I said you know what if it wasn't for that baby that died we wouldn't have been here and so let's let's use the mum's last words and use that and she said God will always look at you but God will always protect you you have to do something with it wow and and just that I because you said it in the dialect and just just repeat that again for it slower so I can and then the English version after that because it was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

So if it was low enough say that they don't see wow yeah and you're you're fluent in in that dialect is it yeah I was it's it's my first language I actually spoke wasn't before I spoke because Africans amazing and I guess you grew up with the Sun people right from I grew up with them they were my they're still my best friends and uh yeah it's my my f family uh they're really honest people people from the the bush yeah yeah that that lives that lives with this and not and and with uh beer hearts intentions yeah so yeah and that's how it all started sorry yeah so this all started from this one experience with this with this tragedy of this little girl and and now you've got this you know um big organization you know you've got obviously a a very wildlife focused aspect you've got a very you know humanitarian focused aspect so conservation humanitarianism like how do you I mean i i i can it's kind of easy to say now because you're you know this big successful thing but along the road I mean there must have been challenges and speed bumps and you know all kinds of things no there was there was there was days that uh we didn't even know how we're gonna feed the animals that are in Rio.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

We didn't have money to buy food um for them and then a donation would come in and you we don't have money we can't pay you a salary and people would say but I don't want a salary I would just do it so that I can have board and accommodation and and if you can start paying me then and I'll accept it. And we only get the got a salary myself and Rudy maybe 10 years ago.

Purpose, Small Starts, And Action

SPEAKER_00 37:39

Really yeah but it was uh Rudy had to stay and he's still in practice um to make sure that we can survive um we've uh we've never had not one single day that we could that we said okay we are at serious serious trouble it was always a plan always a plan at least five plans for one thing never never just have one plan and then that fails you go oh you say oh damn okay what's the what's the new plan what's next make a plan what's next have you have you ever even sort of thought about even like a ballpark of how many animals that you've helped or how many people that you've helped over the course of Nankus yo that's a good question no I I think animal wise what's gonna be we work with around about 800 farmers on conflict calls um but animals who helped I mean I've I've raised around about 300 baboons that slept with me in my bed at nappies on and has gone through the process.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

I raised almost 300 baby baboons um and then a lot more other smaller things um so I'm I I can't tell you if if one species had 300 I think the the the bulk figure is gonna be quite big.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

So I guess it's you personally it could be thousands. And then Nankuse would even be more than that. Yeah yeah no for sure yeah and then people in the same because obviously it's two sides to Nankuse you've got a human humanitarian side as well.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Yeah so the for the humanitarian side that we have figures. So we started in the the clinic in 2003 and uh up to now we would see roughly five and a half thousand patients a year for free on basic health.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Wow yeah so in then three meals a week and a week uh plus minus 50 to 70 meals out per day three times a week um this is basically because you know the the the places where the San Bushmen live are so far from big cities and towns it's very hard for them to sort of get any help and that kind of stuff is it?

Final Message And How To Help

Host Closing And Listener Story

SPEAKER_02 40:04

Yeah and it's it's there's a few factors that play a role so you've um you've got a group of people that has they don't have land so they're not allowed to go on farmland to go and collect felt food or push felt food or hunt for survival. So they're stuck in the middle of okay saying they need to earn money to survive but they don't they didn't go to school most of them are alcoholics and drug addicts. So it's this vicious circle the kids are born in that and they think this is normal and they just stay there and they go into prostitution and and drugs and then it just everything you would give them even if it's a paracetamol they'll take it and go sell it for alcohol. So it's a it's a it's a mentally I can't say sick poor very poor people mentally and physically um and now that we've been there from 20 um three 2003 up to now we've made a massive change on moral values and education and because it's a mindset that you have to change but you can't just start in school and they don't have moms and dads or they get beaten up at home and so you have to change that. So it's it's a whole community that are now changing slowly in yeah it's generational isn't it yeah you can see the children of the kids that we've helped they are there's a difference yeah so uh but it it's an ongoing battle and yeah it's it's a it they that does break me sometimes but it's much easier to work with animals. Um animals is an open book and it's uh the more I work with people the more I love animals. And I to be totally honest because it is it's draining it's emotionally draining and uh you the with animals it's one step forward maybe one step back but not always you see the them grow and they they fight and they stick to it and they and they don't fall back with people it's one step forward ten steps back sometimes and they fall back in old terrible habits that I yeah so it's there's days that I think yes I didn't sign up for this I can't do it I'm not strong enough and I sleep cry myself to sleep because I I I just don't see the change quick enough and yeah you get disheartened and demotivated but um yeah luckily I live we live in the bush so when you walk out your house you get energy and you get recharged and nature therapy and I just like I get I get it I I know this is it's not gonna be easy nobody said it's gonna be easy and if we'd stop now we are a lifeline to a community and um not we can't stop and and I come at that decision so yes that is my toughest part is people it's not there it's animals I worry about different things survival are they hot did they get a meal are they still fine in the felt uh field and and that's it not yeah oh I didn't I hope they didn't you know get back into drugs and all of that.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Why didn't they go to it's totally different very very complicated yeah hugely complicated but yeah I mean just on a larger picture you can tell that you know the the conservation humanitarianism why is it so I'm gonna get into the sort of the why should people get into this kind of thing if people want to follow your footsteps why is it so important for people to to join this mission whether it's you know not necessarily Nancuse but just generally conservation it could be anywhere in the world I think it uh I think the question people have to ask themselves is what is my purpose?

SPEAKER_02 44:36

What's my purpose in life? Some people never get it um but if you don't get asked the question how can you know what to look for? So and and you have to search for something to feel purposeful to not just be an ordinary person eight to five job and life flies by and then what did you do? Is there anybody that's gonna remember you afterwards are you leaving a legacy behind even if it's a tiny how many people's gonna come to your funeral something like that and I was lucky to to have my purpose brought to me and made a decision at the age of 24 it's tough I could have walked away but I listened to that drive in myself to say you have to make a difference it's not and where do I start I think that is the biggest question to everybody where do I start how do I get involved I would love to do this but how where do I start start by just in your tiny circle stand out tomorrow say one good thing to somebody give them a compliment start greeting people put your phone off and then just become a gentleman or aware of what is going on around you. Pick up the cigarette butt that's laying next to a a dustbat and and then you'll realize okay listen I'm actually absorbing what's going on around me. How many people is wearing red today it's something simple. Get on a tube how many older people are standing up and you are sitting down get out of your seat and give the seat to somebody older than you so it's just it makes you feel better. And in the minute you get there then you will get kind of a purpose and if you start doing good it it you help stopping evil to thrive. And even with if it's just in your heart and in your mind it's how you heal and then nature heals you nature heals you and good things heals you.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

So yeah absolutely I mean that that was my last question is that is there's one message that you sort of want to sort of leave with listeners before we wrap up what what would that be?

SPEAKER_02 47:10

Pew um I can be selfish and focus on Locos see I would I would say help help spread the word help um bring our message of a holistic conservation model that's working in Namibia spread the word it's working here come and see it and maybe you can take something from it back home or to another country or just a tiny bit of it can give you that kick start that you need to start something of your own. I need the word to be spread out there to say listen this is a solution for the way we are living now this could work to help stop what we are destroying totally I mean are you saying that are you optimistic because we look around and you know there's some great work being done but at the same time there's also a huge amount of damage being done.

SPEAKER_00 48:09

Like are you optimistic that we can sort of overcome this part of our civilization for lack of a better word?

SPEAKER_02 48:17

I I think this is this is like almost the start of NAPC where you see this massive problem but if you say okay we are too far down the line we're not gonna if we do this it's not gonna change. You're like it's not gonna then you're also just sitting there on the sideline criticizing and saying or you're turning a blind eye I think it even if we are so far down the line we can still turn it around even if we can't turn it around totally you can make a difference in a small scale but start you have to start somewhere and this is where I think we we need to not focus only on the problem we have to be solution oriented not complain constantly come up with solutions and and be happy with what we have and change it change it and get it back.

SPEAKER_00 49:14

Yeah okay brilliant thank you malice um I always like to end with um what's what would you like to plug?

SPEAKER_02 49:23

Obviously you know I've got a Nankus how how do people support you how what would you like to plug um how do we support they support us visit us visit us follow us social media yeah get to Namibia um if you can't follow us on social media uh get involved we've got so many campaigns on social media on Instagram and uh where we uh sale it's now with this and this and you uh we've been around for so long you can trust that the money is gonna reach the community or what you donate it for with transparent um it's open um books so but I would say travel travel and visit it's the best for yourself yeah well thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me and and tell me your story and share all your experiences um I uh it's been such a great conversation thank you I really appreciate it thank you for thinking of us and keep in touch thank you and that is a wrap on this week's episode a huge thank you again to Marlies uh for sharing her story with us and a thanks to you all as well for listening and watching.

Next Week’s Tease And Sign‑Off

SPEAKER_00 50:43

If you'd like to learn more about Marlise's work or find out how to visit or support Nan Cousin you'll find all the links in the show notes or on our website noordinarymonday.com and as always you can find extra clips and visuals from this episode across our socials Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and of course our No Ordinary Monday community page on Facebook where you can join the conversation, ask questions and share your thoughts about the show. Alright so time for this week's listener story segment. If you'd like your story featured here head to the website and click on the listener story page. You can record a short voice note or write it up using the form or you can email hello at noordinarymonday.com with listener story in the subject line. This week's story is from an anonymous listener. I thought it was pretty funny so I wanted to share with you guys. So there write when I was 18 I was working at a department store in Sydney right in the centre of town. One afternoon a woman came to my register with an item marked for a third off. Lucky for her when I scanned it the till showed half off but apparently she didn't see it that way. She frowned and told me that I'd made a mistake, insisting that she wanted the discount that was on the tag. I tried explaining that she was actually getting a bigger discount half off instead of a third but she shook her head and said completely serious no, one third off is more than a half off because three is bigger than two. At that point I called my manager because I could feel myself about to burst out laughing. He came over and politely explained the mask again and she argued with him as well. Meanwhile I was standing behind my manager hiding my face tears streaming down from trying not to lose it. Somehow we made it through the transaction without breaking the manager gave me a nod to finish the sale and that's where I made my fatal mistake. I tried to ease attention with some small talk. I smiled and asked what she did for a living. She looked me dead in the eye and said I'm an accountant I found that story so hilarious because it really reminded me of that old fast food hamburger story in America I think it was where one of the chains decided to introduce like a third pounder rather than a quarter pounder trying to give uh their customers like basically more for the same price as McDonald's to compete but actually had the opposite effect because their sales crashed because all the customers thought a third pounder was far less than a quarter pounder. So yeah just goes to show. Right so for next week's episode we are switching gears quite literally with Rury McDonald, a motorsport engineer who's helped design the engines that powered Mercedes's incredible Formula One streak. He takes us behind the scenes of one of the most intense moments in his Formula 1 career the double engine failure at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2014. It's a crazy story that you don't want to miss, especially for any F1 fans out there, so hit follow or subscribe now so you don't miss out on this episode and more. And that's it for this week. If you enjoyed today's episode and feel like doing your nice deed for the day please take a few seconds just to leave a five star rating review and tell a family member or friend. You have no idea how much it helps us. With your support we can grow the show attract more extraordinary guests and inspire new listeners. This show is independently produced hosted and edited by me Chris Barron thank you so much for listening have a great Monday everyone and we will see you next week