My Story

My Story

Vanina Harel

My story starts in July 2012, when I graduated from University with a degree in Biology. By then, I had to make my mind up about what I was going to do with my life and I obviously still had no idea.

Going through my potential options with my degree I considered research, conservation, management, business… I even went on a summer course on International Management. Then I went to Brazil in the middle of the untouched Pantanal on a farm where they were doing eco-tourism. It was a very interesting experience and I had a lot of time on my hands to think about what was really important to me and what I really wanted for myself. Setting up some priorities, I knew I wanted to do something relating to nature, to be able to travel, to work outdoors and make a difference in some way to help conserve our natural world. Having always been into photography, I started filming and got more and more experience in the filmmaking industry. This particular field being so under-developed in my country, it was never a realistic option for me, until I realized I loved documentary filmmaking and using my creativity to show the beauties of the natural world.

This YPO internship settled perfectly in my schedule. At first, I was more looking for specific filmmaking experience as I have already done quite a bit of volunteering for conservation organisations. However, when I started learning more about the situation of the rhinos and how critical it actually is, I realized my participation in this program was essential.  As one of the young people of the world today, I feel a strong responsibility to raise global awareness and mobilise our generation to make a difference and help win this war against poaching. Our rhinos are not just South African, they are incredible creatures of our planet, and having observed them for a week, I have just fallen in love with them. It is crucial to educate the people who buy rhino horns so they understand the harm they are inflicting on these animals, just because of greed. It is just unacceptable to see a whole species get whipped out and not do anything about it. What is happening today in Africa is a global issue and every single person around the world should feel concerned about it and take action now. Can we just let these magnificent creatures go extinct because some people believe it will cure them? If our rhinos go extinct today, what species is going to be next? And if we just close our eyes and let it happen, in what kind of world are our children going to be raised? We are the generation who can make a difference and we have the responsibility of doing it now.