Meet the 2009 A.W.E. Group
The African Wildlife Experience (A.W.E.) is a 4 week rotation offered to students in their 4th year of studies at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, SK. These are the faculty and students who will be traveling to Uganda in February 2009
Faculty
Dr Jerry Haigh
Dr. Haigh graduated from the Glasgow University Veterinary School in 1965 and within three days was back in Kenya, his country of birth, employed as an intern. He remained in Kenya for ten years, working with a wide variety of species beyond the normal range of domestic animals. His patients included giraffe, chimpanzees, rhinos, elephants, lions and several different kinds of birds. On a few occasions he assisted his doctor wife in treating human patients. He has recounted some of the stories about these years in his 2002 book "Wrestling With Rhinos: The Adventures of a Glasgow Vet in Kenya" (ECW Press, Toronto).
In 1975 he and his wife Jo moved to Saskatoon where he has been employed at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and worked as a wildlife and zoo veterinarian, carrying out clinical and research work, as well as teaching, in many parts of Canada on species that include all three native bears, seals, moose, caribou, elk, deer and a variety of carnivores and birds. He obtained a master’s degree after working on the reproductive physiology of male wapiti in 1982 and became a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine in 1984. In 1992 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has maintained his contacts in Africa and returned there to work on several occasions, with projects in Cameroon, Namibia, South Africa and Uganda. He has also worked in New Zealand, Australia and the tiny Pacific island of Rota.
Jerry is an avid reader, photographer and theatregoer, a keen woodworker and enjoys many outdoor activities including canoeing, fishing, hunting, and golf.
Jerry's website, with more photos and stories from Africa, will be available online prior to our February 4th 2008 departure to Uganda. It can be found at jerryhaigh.blogspot.com.
Dr Joanne Haigh - van de Riet
Dr. Haigh- van de Riet was born in Poona, India, and lived for many years at Ootacamund in the Nilgiri hills of South India. She obtained her medical degree in 1964 at the Vellore Christian Medical College in the state of Tamil Nadu. After a year at the Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam she went to Zambia, where she worked for a year as a rotating intern at Kitwe General Hospital in the Copper Belt. From Kitwe she moved to Kenya and spent seven years there as a government medical officer and private practitioner. While in Meru she initiated the upgrading of the health centre to hospital status at the Tigania Consolata Mission and became its first physician.
In 1975 she moved with her husband Jerry to Saskatoon and joined the Community Clinic where she has been employed ever since. She became a member of the Canadian Acupuncture Society in 1996.
Jo has a green thumb in the garden, is an accomplished watercolour artist and a skilled craftswoman in several fields. She also enjoys reading, theatre, canoeing and camping.
Students
Cemaine
Cemaine has called Guelph, Montreal and Saskatoon home. She completed her
undergrad at McGill and has graduate degrees from the U of Saskatchewan. Her
decision to study veterinary medicine happened one day in 2004. Up until then,
her primary interest was in vaccine design and development, specifically in
proving that DNA vaccines could be effective when administered orally to the
fetus (see Tsang et al., 2007). On that fated day in 2004, she side-tracked
from her dream of developing an HIV vaccine and started down the course of
veterinary medicine. In retrospect, the decision to enter veterinary medicine
probably wasn't so unexpected given that Cemaine's childhood was frequented by
odd and interesting animal experiences, including the year that a big-mouth
bass lived in one of the bathtubs (Cemaine and her sister were in charge of
hunting bugs to keep the fish fed), the time a baby gosling imprinted on her
father and spent the following two weeks living in the pocket of his bathrobe,
and the years with the pigeon colony. Currently, Cemaine and her husband, along
with their newborn son, 2 dogs and 1 cat live in Saskatoon, where they also own
a recycling business. Cemaine's future plans include a career in academia and
introducing her son to a host of odd and interesting life experiences (with and
without animals).
Matthew Henrie
My name is Matthew Henrie. I like to say I'm from the prairies as I've
lived in various places from Raymond to Creighton to Grande Prairie to Snow
Lake. I earned an undergraduate degree in Agriculture Science at the
University of Alberta and met and married my wonderful wife Jennifer, while
living in Edmonton.
Jennifer and I have been blessed with four great kids; Ryan, Nadya,
Christian and Bethany. I am looking forward to this Uganda rotation to
learn from another culture and people and to hopefully see the world from
another perspective. A month is a long time to be away from my family but
Jennifer is supportive and as we agree, this is a chance in a lifetime. It
will be fantastic.
These past three and a half years at vet school have flown by and I am
excited to pay off some student loans when I start work this summer in
Salmon Arm, B.C. as a dairy practioner. I enjoy woodworking, cross-country
skiing, hunting/fishing, squash and biking and look forward to doing more
now that school is almost finished.
Jonathan Leicht
Jonathan Leicht is a 4th year veterinary student who was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta Canada before moving to Saskatchewan to pursue his hockey career at the age of 14. When that didn’t pan out, he turned to doing what all young adventurous men do – try everything once and see what you like. After a brief stint in the navy reserve, and two years of university, he followed his boyhood dream and traveled to Africa. The trip confirmed his passion for animals and the outdoors, and upon returning to Canada, he set out to become a veterinarian. Multiple tries later, numerous overseas trips, countless stories and many friends met, he’s almost completed his formal education. What road lies next in his path, no one can say.....!
Jennifer
Jennifer is a Winnipeg native whose primary interest is in small animal medicine. If it was possible to practice in an all-hound clinic, that’s where’s she’d be. But… the world doesn’t seem quite ready for this, so her plans are to return to a small animal practice in her home town. Outside of school, Jennifer’s interests include knitting, gardening, and travel.
Leanne Paetkau
Leanne is also a proud Winnipeg native, who enjoys getting herself into and out of tough scrapes :) Ask her about her previous wilderness adventures and she'll explain all. She has a twin sister, older sister and younger brother. Since she could walk she has been enjoying hiking, skiing, swimming, camping, canoe trips, backpacking trips, the list goes on. While it will be tough leaving behind another prairie winter, she looks forward to this trip and is excited for the adventures to come. In her spare time she reads, knits, jogs, and occasionally models for her older sister, a photographer and graphic designer.
Leighton
Raised by wolves and blossomed in the winter cold. This character has a competitive side coupled with an innate sense for adventure. At a young age he was raised on a bison farm and left the nest young to travel the nation as one of Canada’s top volleyball athletes capturing both Provincal and National elite awards. Later in life he married at 24 and is currently finishing his veterinary degree while playing at night as a muscian for a Latin Band on the side. This facet of life has received C95 radio time, excellent Jazz Festivals critic reviews, and jam sessions with musicans who have played with artists such as BB. King, Muddy Water and Arrowsmith.
Special Note:
There are a few others joining our crew, but since they have been a bit tardy in getting their bios to the designated blogger (voted to be Leanne, not by her choice as computers hate her)... they sadly do not have any information to post. Needless Leanne will continue her great skills of harassing to try and get some info out of them to put on this site.
