Our Friends From South Africa Settle In At MacFarlane Pheasants

Dillon Seamster is the Process Crew Manager at MacFarlane Pheasants. He has been with us a little over three years. At this time of year, he is very busy getting peepers placed on all our young birds and getting them placed in pens to grow to maturity. His crew is also responsible for helping Farm Management setting up pens with feeders, huts and all the necessary equipment they need.

This work will continue until the end of September when the crew will shift gears and begin shipping mature birds to our customers. All of this work requires a solid crew and Dillon has found some of the help he needs in four of our employees, who came to our farm, from South Africa, about 2 months ago. They will stay at MacFarlane Pheasants for 10 months before returning to their homes. We hope you enjoy learning about the workers on Dillon’s crew.

Theo Du Plessis is from the Northern Cape of South Africa. The Northern Cape is South Africa’s largest Province. The ocean, dessert, and towns rich in history make it a beautiful place to visit.

Theo worked on a chicken farm and did welding before deciding to take the opportunity to work in America for 10 months. He will return to these jobs when he returns home. Though he already misses his friends back home, he is enjoying the adventure of seeing a new country and learning new skills. He really enjoys building relationships with the people on the farm and is looking forward to participating in some leisure activities in America.‘

Ruben Janse Van Rensburg is from the Eastern Cape Willomore in South Africa. It is a small historical town on the Eastern Cape, very often used as a gateway to Baviaanskloof, a gorge that lies in the valley. It stretches for over 100 kilometers between the Baviaanskloof Mountains to the north and Kouga Mountains to the south. Willomore is an easy resting place with many historical places to visit and stay.

Ruben worked with Angora goats in South Africa and will return to this work when he returns. Like anyone who loves their home country, he misses his friends and family, but enjoys the work and the chance to meet new people. He has participated in a braii, the South African Cookout we told you about in a blog post, earlier this year. Be sure to read about this delicious event!

Martin Kleingeld is from the Northern Cape of South Africa. As we learned from Theo, it is the largest Province in South Africa and rich in history and beautiful natural resources.

Martin was self-employed and doing construction work in South Africa. He plans to continue with this type of work when he returns. But, right now, he is enjoying the chance to learn new ways of doing things. He is also looking forward to experiencing some American social activities while he is here but has been too busy working and learning during the first two months. He misses his loved ones and the food from his home in South Africa.

Dane Aucamp is from Klerksdorp North West South Africa.  Klerksdorp is celebrated as the birthplace of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work for a democratic society, without racial divisions.

Klerksdorp district is a major contributor to South African agriculture. They grow maize, sorghum, groundnuts, and sunflower.

Dane worked on a game farm in Klerksdorp and also worked at an engineering firm doing surveying. Like Theo, Martin, and Ruben, he will return to his jobs when he returns home. Dane said the best part of his job here is working outside and his co-workers.

Dane got a chance to go bowling in Janesville and is looking forward to experiencing more social activities before he leaves in eight months.

We are so happy to welcome our second group of workers from South Africa. They are settling in and there is always lots of work to do on the farm, so they are a welcome addition. We greatly enjoy learning about their culture and hope each and every one of them gets a chance to experience our culture outside the workplace, during their stay!