Beyond Borders: Veterinary Care and Compassion

In this episode of Coffee in the Barn, Gemma Campling, founder and CEO of Worldwide Vets, joins the show to share her journey from the UK to Africa and beyond. Gemma’s work spans continents, providing critical veterinary services, conservation support, and community empowerment. Her unique career path combines her veterinary expertise and her passion for animal welfare to tackle challenges across cultural and geographical borders, from Africa to Eastern Europe. 

Highlights from the Conversation: 

• Worldwide Vets’ Global Reach: Gemma explains the mission of Worldwide Vets, a charity that delivers essential veterinary care across multiple continents and how her team works with both local vets and volunteers to uplift communities. 
• Africa’s Magnetic Pull: Gemma shares her story of initially visiting Africa for a short stay but eventually establishing a career there, creating sustainable impacts through veterinary care and community support. 
• Humanitarian Work in Ukraine: In response to the crisis in Ukraine, Gemma’s organization stepped in to provide aid for animals and pet owners in war-torn regions, emphasizing compassion for animals during challenging times. 
• Empowering Vets and Volunteers Globally: Through hands-on programs, Worldwide Vets supports professional development for young veterinarians and volunteers, teaching them about wildlife conservation and practical veterinary skills. 
• Resilience and Thriving in Adversity: From her Thrive course to addressing compassion fatigue, Gemma advocates for mental resilience among veterinarians and conservationists, sharing strategies for coping with high-stress roles. 

Tune in to hear Gemma’s incredible journey of resilience, cross-cultural connection, and her mission to make a difference worldwide through veterinary care. 

Chapters

• 1:37 The Story Behind Worldwide Vets
• 6:44 Volunteer Work and Career Development
• 9:40 Humanitarian and Global Impact

Transcript

Casey Bradley 
0:00:00 
Welcome to Coffee in the Barn, where every cup tells a story. With a rotating lineup of hosts, we invite you to join us as we explore the diverse challenges and triumphs of modern life and the heart of agriculture. From the fields to the classroom, from innovators to everyday visionaries, each episode brings a fresh perspective and a new voice. So brew yourself a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's uncover the stories that shape our lives, our farms, and our communities. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:00:39 
Okay, hey Gemma, how are you doing? I'm good, thank you. How are you? 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:00:50 
Good, thanks. So, officially, this would be my first podcast recording for Coffee in the Barn, having moved over from recording on the Real P3 and that merger that happened. So, I think you're a really, really cool speaker and fitting because of what Coffee in the Barn has already set up for. So, thank you for taking the time. And I'm excited to introduce you to this audience as well, because I think as far as women go, 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:01:18 
you are really kick-ass, and I'm quite excited to share what you've been up to, for you to share that. And I don't know where to start to hook a listener, but probably let's tell the story from start to end. So Gemma, you are the founder and CEO of Worldwide. So what is Worldwide Vets? 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:01:38 
Share a little bit of World Wide Vets for us. 

Gemma Campling 
0:01:41 
Yeah, absolutely. So World Wide Vets is a global charity. It was founded in 2011 when I was actually still a vet student. And now we're registered as a 501c3 charity in America, as a non-profit in the UK. We're registered in Ukraine as a charity as well. And we provide free veterinary care to animals in 10 different countries across four continents. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:01 
That was a good summary. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:02 
You've been practicing that, right? So, World Wide Vets has been doing incredible work. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:07 
And like I said, I don't know where to start this, 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:09 
but I am going to go straight into it. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:11 
One thing that's really impressed me is, firstly, your story on how you, because you're originally from the UK, but how you sort of became integrated in the Zimbabwe in an African society. You are ex-British Army, if I'm right. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:29 
And you came over to Africa as well and lived out of your Land Rover and you didn't really know anyone here and just sort of winged it. And that I think takes a lot of courage for someone from the first world doing that. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:02:41 
So how is that story and that journey? 

Gemma Campling 
0:02:49 
Okay, so I have to correct the discrepancy. Not Land Rover, but High Lux Surf. So let's start with the reality here. 

Gemma Campling 
0:02:53 
Let's not swear on the podcast. 

Gemma Campling 
0:02:55 
So, yes, I actually traveled to Africa when I was 18. I wanted to do a gap year, and I came for what was supposed to be four weeks. Day one, I was just astounded. I love the continent. I was just totally overwhelmed by the beauty of the place, by the animals, and everything I'd ever kind of dreamed of doing with my life, 

Gemma Campling 
0:03:18 
getting involved in conservation, animal care, rescue, and also helping people kind of could be done in this location, and I was just smitten with it. So I spent a couple of years travelling through southern Africa, went off to university, did my degree for veterinary medicine, and then came back pretty much straight away, 

Gemma Campling 
0:03:37 
sat my exams to be able to practice here, but with very little essentially support behind me, you know, trying to work it out as I went along. So, yes, I did live out of my car for about five months, bed and all, and moved around Zimbabwe, making friends, treating animals, meeting clients, and helping with conservation. And the network just grew, and I love the freedom that provided me to really just focus on my career and the amazing people that live in Zimbabwe, 

Gemma Campling 
0:04:06 
who are so welcoming. You can't not be welcomed in this country. So that just snowballed into a really great base for my career. And since then, World Wide Vets has obviously pushed out a lot into helping animals in Asia and Europe and South America and so on, but really Africa was where it was started. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:04:24 
That's really cool. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:04:25 
And I think it's amazing. Everyone has this impression of what Africa is or Zimbabwe is, and media only shows you the bad stuff, right? They don't show you the good stuff. So it's really nice that you're able to come over, and I feel it's a safe country, and I'm pretty sure, I mean, you're still here and you've been here a while now, that you'd 

Gemma Campling 
0:04:43 
feel the same way. And I think that's an important message to put across, is that this place is safe, and it's fun, and it's exciting, and it's interesting. 

Gemma Campling 
0:04:50 
Yeah, it's such an addictive country. 

Gemma Campling 
0:04:52 
And Africa, you know, we send hundreds of volunteers out every year, about 400 volunteers every year, and a lot of those go to Africa. Hands down, the same experience, people just arrive here and feel at home. They arrive and they love it, they feel connected to, you know, nature in a way that they often can't do at home. And Africa honestly changes people's lives. 

Gemma Campling 
0:05:15 
There's very few people who go home and go, oh, it was OK. You know, they go home and they're like, can't wait to go back. So that's a repeat experience I've seen from other people. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:05:23 
Yeah, we've had exactly the same experiences. And I actually saw people at the airport. I went to South Africa over the weekend for a wedding and just being the person I am was chatting to a couple and the lady was an immunologist from the USA and she came over and did some work with the University of Zimbabwe 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:05:41 
and they can't wait for the next ticket back. They're like, we're going back, we didn't see enough and just real positive vibes. And I think the grand tour as well, Jeremy Clarkson, he's just released his episode on Zimbabwe. And really nice to see it's shown in a positive light for a change. 

Gemma Campling 
0:05:58 
Absolutely. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:05:59 
So, Gemma, part of what you do is you help vets develop their careers professionally. You talked a little bit about you're bringing volunteers over. Volunteers as well, that's working in the veterinary field, right? 

Gemma Campling 
0:06:13 
Yeah, absolutely. So we bring over two main categories of volunteers and people on courses. So we have our students and our gap year and our pre-vets. And then people interested in a career in either veterinary medicine or nursing or conservation, perhaps they're still working out what they want to do. And we run courses where these people can come out to different countries and work with our team, gain experience in the field, find out really what the day-to-day is like, 

Gemma Campling 
0:06:44 
and also at the same time, use their funding and their hands on the ground to be able to help with conservation. So they come out and they get involved in dehorning rhinos, they get involved in removing snares off animals, anti-poaching, horseback patrols and all that sort of thing. So it's a really great way to develop your skills and find out what you're interested in. And the other type of people we bring out is the qualified vets, nurses, technicians and so on, conservationists, and they come out on our projects and they're actually helping with sterilizations of dogs and cats. 

Gemma Campling 
0:07:19 
We do at the moment, we're doing a big rabies vaccination push because there's rabies in a lot of these countries, infectious diseases that can be damaging to animals, but also the human population. And they do teaching on welfare and how to better handle animals. So really what we're trying to do, as well as training up students and people interested in the career is help vets give back and at the same time uplift the local communities and areas where we have a permanent base and so everyone's winning. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:07:48 
We need to really listen to that. You got me at the dehorning, Rhinos, and I've been with you when you, we darted a lion together and I forget what we did. I mean, I remember checking its teeth and we're checking its mouth or something and you're like, you really don't want to be sticking your hand in there when this thing wakes up. But once in a lifetime experiences, I mean, there's no one on the world that is going to be able to experience these types of things, all veterinary based, but just, yeah, just, I'd say like literally once in 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:08:19 
a lifetime. 

Gemma Campling 
0:08:20 
Yeah, the thing is, it's quite unusual to be able to just be able to step into someone else's career. And it's incredibly valuable. I think people love to pursue a career in charitable equine work. Let's say you love horses and you're a horse vet or a horse lover and you think, oh, I'd love to really do something there. And sometimes coming out to Egypt or India and working with horses, 

Gemma Campling 
0:08:45 
for some people that cements it. They're like, yep, I'm in, this is for me, the trauma, the long hours, you know, the language barrier, the financial restrictions, I'm down for it. And for some people, they're like, no, not for me, actually, you know, this has been a great experience, but maybe it's not how I want to actually live my professional career. And a lot of our volunteers and course trainees don't necessarily go on to do a full-time 

Gemma Campling 
0:09:09 
career and what they learn, they want to come out as part of vet school and work with wildlife and really experience, you know, what it's like being so close to these iconic animals, maybe, you know, their career path isn't going to lead them to being in the bush working with those animals the rest of their life. But it's such an amazing thing just to step out of this world that you're living in, this sort of set focus and just land in a constant open your eyes and be able to join a team that's, you know, all of our teams are already on the ground throughout the year. So we don't just go to a place with the volunteers or the students. 

Gemma Campling 
0:09:40 
We're always there, but always in the community, always helping. So it's a really great way to just immerse yourself. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:09:46 
That's really cool. And, you know, like you said, you've mentioned a couple of countries already, and it's in the name World Wide Vets. So for anyone listening or anyone who knows of someone who would find this recording interesting and would like to reach out to Gemma, definitely. It is fascinating what they're doing. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:10:03 
Don't be angry with me, but I want everyone to ask you about Zanzibar because I love that country so much and I know you operate out of Zanzibar as well. Yeah, so anyone listening to this, please ask Gemma about Zanzibar. And like I said, I don't know if I'm going to get in trouble for mentioning it, but I love Zanzibar. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:10:18 
I think it's one of the most beautiful places we've ever visited. And I know you do a lot of work out of there. You guys have just been back, which we're going to talk about your recent trip as well. But when you reach out to Gemma, 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:10:30 
ask her about Zanzibar. 

Gemma Campling 
0:10:31 
Yeah, I mean, some people say it's like working in paradise and it certainly has its challenges, but some of the places we work really are just stunning and yeah, it is like working in paradise. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:10:40 
Yeah, I love being on the beach there 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:10:42 
because you kind of like rent a dog for the day. Like while you're on the beach, you get these mangy saltwater furred dogs and they just come and join you. They're not aggressive. They hang out with you. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:10:54 
You're lying on the beach. Next thing you got a dog next to you, give him a little scratch, and then he follows you around the whole day. So that was cool. 

Gemma Campling 
0:11:01 
Yeah, there's lots of strays on Zanzibar. It's a real problem. You know, there's a lot of food going into rubbish dumps there and, you know, that kind of thing. So it's really important to look after those animals because, you know, we also want these areas to thrive through tourism as well as the local community. So it's kind of a holistic approach looking after the animals. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:11:16 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Gemma, so again, I never know where to start with you, but your recent travel. So I know when the first bombs dropped on Ukraine, you were over there on the first plane ticket that you could get. Would you share that story with this audience, because I think it's part of what explains you as a person, the type of person you are, the courage, everything that you put into it. And people were leaving the country in thousands, and you worked going towards it to get stuck in, to help. It has been dangerous. You've been in some pretty hairy situations and 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:11:59 
would love to know maybe what the motivation for you was to go over there and maybe just briefly on your experiences because I feel we could probably have another recording just on Ukraine. 

Gemma Campling 
0:12:10 
I think we could do all one on Ukraine. But keeping it brief, so essentially I never planned on developing our work in Eastern Europe. It was never on the radar. You know, we focus heavily Egypt, India, Thailand, Peru, Costa Rica, you know, Zimbabwe, South Africa. 

Gemma Campling 
0:12:29 
But when Ukraine kicked off, and I'm sure there's no one that would deny it, was just a global outcry for human rights, for animal rights, and all the images that were coming out of the media of people trying to leave with their animals, people having to abandon animals, animals being abandoned in houses, 

Gemma Campling 
0:12:47 
shelters that people couldn't get to with dogs starving. And you have a decision, I think, in that moment. And some of the best decisions you make in life are some of the fastest and most precious. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:13:00 
Oh, my God. 

Gemma Campling 
0:13:01 
And I had a decision. Okay, do we carry on with the work we're doing, or do we let it be, or do we actually get involved? And the only way you can make an improvement in the world or impact really is by getting involved. And everyone has a different way of doing that. 

Gemma Campling 
0:13:17 
Not everyone needs to go rushing into a war zone at all. You know, and hundreds of thousands of people donated and shuttled goods and did absolutely amazing things and I felt at that time with the team I had my role was to go into Ukraine because I've got previous military experience, I'm a veterinarian, I can provide care to those animals and advice for people moving across borders. So I flew to Poland. You can't still fly to Ukraine because it's a closed airspace. 

Gemma Campling 
0:13:45 
And ended up hitchhiking into Ukraine on a horse truck that was bringing horses out and horse food back in. And met with the Ukraine Equestrian Federation initially and started looking around the country. You know, how can we best utilize the nations, how can we best provide sustainable health? And that was due to only being with horses and that very rapidly snowballed when 

Gemma Campling 
0:14:11 
people found out I could work with wildlife, it became the evacuations of nine lions from Odessa Zoo, when people found out I had previous military experience we got moved closer and closer to the front line until we were literally taking dogs from under Russian fire, evacuating them, treating them, vaccinating them and so on. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:14:29 
Yeah, I have no words. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:14:31 
I think it's incredible and like emotional as well. And you bring up the humanitarian, I cry a bit as well, but there's a lot of people who are animal lovers and I think a lot of humans have a big soft spot. So yes, there's a humanity side of it, but who's taking care of the animals, who's getting stuck in? And I think through our own experiences of, we didn't live as, 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:14:59 
I think, severe as what you created, but we have lived through situations where people have had to evacuate, animals were left in a bad state, and definitely pulls on major heartstrings there. So yeah, hats off to you for that. I think for women in general, there's this whole dialogue and we've been speaking about it as well, like where's the space where gender equality is actually a discussion on equality 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:15:23 
and not one trying to overshadow another and where do we find the ground where we all work together, how do I be a better advocate for men but as strong an advocate as I can for women as well. And I think you're really, I don't know, an example of that, of what women can do, what they can bring to the table, and you're certainly 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:15:38 
not shouting from the rooftop for your own rights. You're just getting stuck in, you're living your day-to-day, and you're getting it done. And I, as sort of a, I feel a strong man from the third world, like to recognize and appreciate that. 

Gemma Campling 
0:15:56 
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, it's interesting you bring it up. It doesn't enter my thought process at all actually. I think we're just too busy with work to worry about stuff like that. And you know we are an equal opportunities employer, so we employ people from all around the world. All of our coordination and administration team work remotely, so we don't have an office space. We actually move around helping animals and at the same time running with charity. And then the vets are all locals from the countries where we work, so we provide local employment. And yeah, I honestly, you know, everyone has their fortes, 

Gemma Campling 
0:16:27 
regardless of their sex, their gender, their age, and their race. Everyone's got their strengths, everyone's got their weaknesses. And I think you do have to pay to your strengths, you have to work on your weaknesses. But if you're passionate about what you do, there's honestly, there's no stopping you. 

Gemma Campling 
0:16:43 
As I'm sure my family will share with you, if you really love what you do, no one's going to stop you jumping in. No one's going to stop you succeeding. So you've got to find that real passion and push through with it. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:16:53 
Pretty much in a nutshell, what you're saying, it doesn't matter about gender or or race or where you're from. If you've got, you know, drive and a vision and get up and go, nothing's going to stop you. 

Gemma Campling 
0:17:04 
Yeah, absolutely. I was just saying, you know, we all have our we all have our strengths. 

Gemma Campling 
0:17:07 
We'll have our weaknesses. I feel it's like a lifelong search and trying to work out which is which and how to make one a forte and how to push one and how to prevent the other. But yeah, absolutely. 

Gemma Campling 
0:17:24 
You know, if you're 100% passionate about what you do, there's absolutely nothing that can stop you achieving your goals because it becomes your passion and your drive and your purpose. And it doesn't matter how far away your goal is or how many stepping stones you've got to take to get there, 

Gemma Campling 
0:17:40 
it just becomes easy. So I think finding what you're passionate about is really important. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:17:46 
Yeah, that's your why and your drive behind it. So I'm glad you said that because of everything that we believe with Unstoppable and that initiative. And then I'm just going to lead that into probably our last little discussion is you guys do a course and I know you did a course in Victoria Falls called Thrive. What's the Thrive course about? 

Gemma Campling 
0:18:06 
Yeah, so essentially Thrive is a seven-day course that's really two main goals. It's a retreat and a reset but it's also an educational experience where we have lecturers come from America and also from Southern Africa and take people through the process of self-assessment, self-development, self-improvement. We talk about managing different mental health challenges, 

Gemma Campling 
0:18:37 
be that burnout, be that compassion fatigue, and how to really handle those challenges and make them your superpower and come out the other side with the strength and better development. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:18:52 
That's really cool. And that's going to link really, really well with the Unstoppable. So we've got a lot of chats to have. And, again, just, Gemma, I think we're going to start wrapping it up. But, again, a huge congratulations on the award you've just been given. And I would like to put you in the corner and back on the podium for that one. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:19:11 
You've just been to China. What was that award, and what was that about? 

Gemma Campling 
0:19:15 
Yeah, so I just got nominated and awarded the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Future Leader Award for the year. So essentially it's for, I guess, leadership and taking what's essentially the first 10 years of my career and doing something quite unique with it and really special and providing guidance for peers and making an impact in the world around me. So it's a big honor because to me, that kind of work is just day to day. 

Gemma Campling 
0:19:44 
And then we, you just do what you, what you can every single day and you see where you can move and how you can help more people each and every day. It's really special to be recognized. Yeah, really special. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:19:54 
And a cool, a cool adventure as well, getting out to China. Gemma, so that was a lot of the podcast recording unpacking I think you as the person which I would love to get you back on and then we can maybe open up some really good chats and target focus discussions on what we're seeing in the world how I personally believe narratives need to start changing 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:20:17 
I you know don't feel that whether it's a third or first we'll be having the right conversations and a lot of people are trying so narrative changes A lot of people are trying. So narrative changes, resilience, what people are doing, and maybe a couple of lessons in what you've learned and what you've seen. 

Gemma Campling 
0:20:37 
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm happy to come back whenever you want me to. So thanks so much for having me. It's really to share our experience and what I do and, you know, the impact we're making in the world and how people can get involved with it. That's a really great experience, and it's how we connect, 

Gemma Campling 
0:20:52 
and it's how we energize and we were able to do more. So I really appreciate coming on to the talk. 

Philip Johan Odendaal 
0:20:55 
Excellent, thanks so much Gemma. Excellent, thanks so much Gemma. 

Gemma Campling 
0:20:57 
Thanks so much, take care.