A campaign to help a former Highsted Grammar School pupil continue her volunteer work in South Africa has been launched.

Rachael Pfeiffer was just 18 when she first went to Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre where she spent a life-changing three months as a volunteer, looking after baby rhinos, tending to lions and caring for cheetah cubs.

Her experience with abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife had such a profound effect that it became her life’s goal to return to continue with the work she had found such a passion for.

Now aged 25 and following six years of hard work and training, she has been back volunteering at the centre since May last year.

She has been asked to stay on for another three years but is due to leave in February when her visa expires.

To be able to remain in Moholoholo and to continue running the clinic and supporting an international volunteer programme, she must find enough money to qualify for a new visa.

“South African visa laws are very strict,” she explained.

“I am not allowed to receive a salary but I must prove that I can financially sustain myself throughout my time in South Africa – visa regulations equate this to £2,000 a year.”

The voluntary work is no holiday.

Rachael works long hours, is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has little free time.

She often works through the night, treating an injured cheetah, hyena, or lion, or settling in an orphaned rhino, impala or giraffe.

She often has to cope with the horrors that humans have inflicted – animals that have been caught in snares or orphaned as a result of poaching.

The living conditions are basic, the weather extreme and encounters with snakes and spiders are common.

Her mum Wendy, of Gregory Close, Sittingbourne, said she worries about her daughter but not because of where she is, just the hours she puts in.

“Since 2008, I knew that was where she would end up,” she said.

“It’s a passion she has for the place and the animals. I miss her dreadfully but I know she’s doing the right thing to be doing.”

Rachael has received sponsorship from family and friends and would like to hear from local businesses to raise the required amount.

Anyone who would like to help should visit https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6136i0