Our Passion • our Mission • our Vision
THE TEAM
EASTE is a registered non-profit (220-957) and public benefit organisation (930067581), operating from Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The name EASTE is both an acronym for: Education and Animal STErilisation, as well as being synonymous with the area in which we operate.
EASTE was founded in 2019 by Michelle Boonzaier. Michelle has spent the last 20 years in and around a variety of activities relating to animal welfare, working both full-time and as a volunteer. Sadly, the problems that existed 20 years ago, still exist today, and EASTE was borne out of this urgency, that for us to have any chance at negating these old problems, we must start thinking creatively.
Our team is made up of three volunteers, who together have 30 years of experience in animal welfare. Michelle is a certified animal behaviourist and welfarist, Glynnis Straton has a background in industrial psychology, and is a lover of all creatures wild and wonderful, and Janko Malan has a background in botany; besides being an avid dog walker, he is a passionate advocate for animal rights.
OUR MISSION
At EASTE we are committed to developing programs and projects that are effective in both the short and the long term. An immediate and pro-active step we can take to alleviate the suffering of animals, is to reduce the number of available/potential victims, and fund sterilisation initiatives.
Looking on, we focus on research and education; here we will be collaborating with social workers, psychologists, educators, game designers, software developers and many more; this is where our vision steps in.
OUR VISION
We will take advantage of the advances in technology, using them as new teaching resources in the field of animal welfare; we believe that how you teach is as important as what you teach.
Programs will be designed to increase the engagement of participants, considering learning styles and being customisable according to cultural differences, levels of comprehension and literacy, age and language. We will craft narratives within our programs to: 1) remove the disconnect, by encouraging the participant to identify with the victim, the animal, and 2) present the consequences of action (empathy) and inaction (apathy).
We will address the correlation between intentional acts of cruelty to animals, with other crimes against both people and animals. This will be challenging; but if our program helps only one animal or person from falling victim to a violent act, we believe we would have succeeded. We have an exciting journey ahead, please join us.
Animals are being abused by both the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, the weak and the powerful, behind closed doors and out in the open. They are abused because they can’t fight back.