Leoné grew up in a civic-minded family and was exposed to charities and their needs from an early age through the involvement of her parents and their support of civil society. Leoné became inspired with the ‘power’ of camp when in 2002 she was introduced to the camping model of the then Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps after Paul Newman’s safari visit to Botswana, a meeting with Wilderness Safaris and Paul’s vision of a unique camp experience for children with health challenges in Africa. ‘Camp Footprints’ was founded in 2008 and Leoné’s vision is to create opportunities for children who have been denied the joy of ‘normal’ childhood play to reach beyond their illness and challenging life circumstances and discover confidence and a new world of possibilities. As Chairperson of Just Footprints, Leoné oversees the overall operations of the organisation, liaising with donors, initiating fundraising projects, ‘connecting’ the various existing and potential stakeholders and nurturing these relationships.
Motivated by her vision to create opportunities for children with special needs to achieve their full potential, Leoné was instrumental in establishing the Hope Ithemba Trust in 1999. As Administrator of the Trust, Leoné is responsible for all aspects of running the Trust which focuses on children with special needs and financially supports intervention programs for children with disabilities.
Leoné is also on the Board of ‘Children in the Wilderness,’ the community outreach programme of Africa’s widely acclaimed ecotourism company Wilderness Safaris, whose ethos is to develop and influence young environmental leaders to care for their natural heritage. The Children in the Wilderness programme is an environmental and life skills educational programme for children which aims to facilitate sustainable conservation focusing on the next generation of decision-makers, inspiring them to become the future custodians of Africa’s wildlife heritage.
In these 3 roles Leoné is able to live out her vision of fostering independence and personal growth in children; empowering them to reach beyond their limits and discover above all – hope.
Ed Jooste or ‘Doc’ as he is fondly known in local and SeriousFun’s world of camping is a retired cardiac anaesthesiologist. He has been the Camp Doctor at Camp Footprints since its founding in 2008. Doc heads up the Medical Team and has been an active participant in the growth of Camp Footprints and all aspects of the medical care at camp.
Ed’s long career in the medical field has given him an in depth insight into the challenges faced by medical professionals across the country. He is a great example of a Camp Doc who brings humor and laughter to camp medical operations.
I have been so fortunate to have been involved within the NPO sector for many years originally working with 5 charities who collaborated to raise funds and share resources and expertise for the good of the collective and their beneficiaries. This collaboration then extended to 10 charities covering a range of challenges from children with life threatening illnesses, disabilities, HIV research, feeding schemes, adult cancer, environmental issues, animal protection and community support. As I engaged with these different charities, I was exposed not only to their successes but also their challenges and tribulations which was a great learning curve. I had the opportunity at this time to also plan and coordinate many great exciting fundraising events and projects. Then a career move into charitable resource mobilization marketing followed by joining the enterprise development team at an FET College managing and providing job coaching the learners from different backgrounds and challenges going into the work place. The skills I learnt here have come in handy in the training of our young adult camp crew to support and mentor our campers. The experience I garnered through these various roles has been invaluable and has stood me in good stead in my current role of Camp Director.
I can with honesty say that I am loving the environment that I work in and enjoy seeing the difference that we as the Just Footprints Foundation leadership team make at our community outreach programmes and camps and the joy we can give them at camp especially for children with disabilities who are very close to my heart. I treasure every moment having these amazing kids at camp.
I am happily married to my high school sweetheart Carel who is a Professional Photographer and together we have two beautiful children my daughter Monique and my son Dylan.
I can with honesty say that I am loving the environment that I work in and enjoy seeing the difference that we as the Just Footprints Foundation leadership team make at our community outreach programmes and camps and the joy we can give them at camp especially for children with disabilities who are very close to my heart. I treasure every moment having these amazing kids at camp.
I am happily married to my high school sweetheart Carel who is a Professional Photographer and together we have two beautiful children my daughter Monique and my son Dylan.
I am a mother of two and married to my best friend. I am a blogger with a great deal of passion to make a difference in our beautiful country. I have extensive experience in a variety of volunteer work and the NPO world. I have known from a very young age that I want to help people and get involved with various community, uplifting programs.
I worked for over eight years for Department of Social Development at a centre for abused and abandoned children, youth and juveniles under the age of eighteen. I was working in the finance department but found myself in a very active roll on the multidisciplinary team of the centre. I got the opportunity to organize events for the children and dignitaries coming to the centre, which included Mr Thabo Mbeki, Mr and Mrs Sisulu, Mr Mandela and several other dignitaries. One of my proudest achievements at the centre was being the coordinator and main organizer for the centre library for the children, which was built from scratch, the library is still running to this day.
I was actively involved in several other projects and campaigns to uplift and assist citizens in our country.
To complement my passion for my community, I proudly joined the Just Footprints Foundation team as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator in 2017. I enjoy meeting and training new crew members. I find it an absolute privilege to be able to travel to different parts in South Africa to work on our outreach programme where a real difference is being made.
I am looking forward to many more exciting intentional adventures with Just Footprints Foundation.
