Introduction

My name is Hans Dullemont, I’m Dutch and have been working as a truck mechanic in the Netherlands for seventeen years. At some stage I realized I had only been working and hadn’t seen much of the world so I decided it was time to travel. I believe you’ve only really experienced a country when you’ve actually worked there which is why I tried to find a place where I could use my skills and work as a volunteer for a longer period of time.

The Joho Company, a company specialized in working holidays, put me in touch with the Painted Dog Conservation project and before I realized I was working with a leatherman on Landrovers in the sand in Zimbabwe instead of trucks in a nicely organized work shop in the Netherlands. This made me realize there was a true need for conservation projects to have a well trained local mechanic and proper systems in place. After four months working for the Painted Dog Conservation project it was time to find another place where they could use someone like me. A good friend of mine whom I’d met in Zimbabwe put me in touch with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and soon I was working in South Africa for the Phinda Game Reserve.

The word spread and more and more conservation projects were contacting me for assistance. Some projects I could help by simply advising them via internet but some I had to visit in person like the Dzanga Sangha western lowland gorilla project in the Central African Republic.

My original goal to see more of the world has definitely been achieved, over the years I’ve worked in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Azerbaijan. But the world is big so I’ll keep on travelling to give my contribution  to conservation.

My next goal is to create the same opportunity for other mechanics and be able to assist even more non profit organizations by sending them a mechanic through Mechanic Without Borders.