Buckaroo takes ‘Apprentice’ to new, much kinder, level
Art photographer and philanthropist Marlene Neumann has come up with a new concept in corporate team-building in which participants get their hands dirty by helping beleaguered dogs and their owners in needy communities around Chintsa East and Brakfontein.
She has based the idea on The Apprentice reality television show in which contestants form teams, assign each other tasks and run various events before a member of the losing team is “fired” from the show.
Neumann, who founded the Buckaroo “for the love of dogs” campaign three years ago, started the project by revamping the East London SPCA before turning her attention to rural townships, where she and an army of volunteers feed and sterilise dogs in conjunction with the SPCA.
“It’s like The Apprentice in that corporate teams take on a role and have a time-frame to do a task, but in this case they get involved hands-on in the Buckaroo Campaign – and no-one gets fired!”
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch at her Centre of Photography and Light studio and gallery in Vincent, Neumann said most companies had corporate social responsibilities to fulfil, but her concept was more meaningful than simply writing a cheque or donating dog food.
“This way the whole company gets involved. It is a team-building exercise, but it’s not about go-carting or paintball, which don’t really help anyone. This expands awareness and gets people to roll up their sleeves.”
Newly formed teams are given a month to raise funds to sterilise dogs, buy or build kennels, source dog food bowls and collars and raise 450kg of dog food.
“Once they have done that they spend a morning with me in the rural townships and do what I do. They dip and de-flea dogs, de-worm puppies, put cream on dog’s ears to stop fly bites and help me carry the food they have raised.”
She said her brand of team-building not only gave participants an opportunity to work with their colleagues towards a greater good, but also narrowed the gap between them and the people who live in poor communities, thereby raising social awareness.
“Many of us have no idea how other people live.
“I started by helping dogs that were underfed or sick or tied to a chain, but some of their owners have no food themselves, so we help them too.
“This is holistic team-building with a greater cause, and not just the top guy writing a cheque.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za