At Rhulani, our guests enjoy a comprehensive massage & treatment program, compiled by our spa therapist Pauline (see here). Today we get to know Pauline a bit closer. Learn how the young woman turned her passion into a career.

There is a knock at the door. "Your massage, sir!" With a warm, welcoming smile, a petite, young woman with a hint of a smile, enters the room. She carries a portable massage bed, towels, wooden sticks, bottels of oil and a CD player.

Pauline has been working at Rhulani for exactly one year now. "I am lucky because I can do what is my passion". Her awake, clever eyes are shining. Pauline speaks a strikingly accent-free English, actually unusual for this region in northwestern South Africa, where Setswana is spoken.

Pauline places the massage bed on the outside deck, puts the DVD player on the edge of the plunger pool. “I actually prefer my real first name: Mosadiotsile”, she says. This is a combination of Mosa (means "woman") and Diotsile (means "is here" or "has arrived"). Her parents chose this not-so-common first name as a pun on her surname “Mosadi”. Mosadiotsile Mosadi.

In a short time, my outdoor deck has been converted into a beautiful, private, improvised massage room. "Only two girls in my village have this name," she says proudly. She lives in a village called Supingstad, which is only 7km away. "Here, everybody knows everybody", and also some co-workers of Rhulani live here, like Moses, Girlie, Cross, and George.

Pauline invites me to lie on the massage bed, head down. "I am glad I have a short way home. I have a four year old daughter. During the day, she is in the creche, and when I am at work, she is taken care of by my mother and sister. If there is something, I can go home in the evening and check on her, if my boss Gerda allows.”

But Pauline loves the bush above all else. “I have always worked in the Madikwe Reserve”, she says and remembers: “It was in 2008. I finished grade 12 at school and had nothing to do. I was sitting at home, but I loved doing nails. One day, my school teacher told me there is an interview at Tau Lodge for a therapist. I did not know anything about therapies. But I tried. The interview was the next day. I went there without anything, no CV, no papers, no references. There were five people asking me questions. I just said that I like doing nails.”

I feel how important this moment was for her future. Pauline continues: “With little hope I went home. They promised to call me within seven days if they take me. Nothing happened. Bad luck, I thought, until my school teacher came to visit me and told me I had the job. I could not be reached by Tau because our phone signal at home was too weak. That's how my career as a spa therapist started.”

The lukewarm air and the silence around me is so soothing. I feel warm towels over my back and legs. Pauline has built up a wealth of knowledge over the years and worked in various lodges. She was temporary out of work when her neighbor Girlie, chef at Rhulani, came to her telling there was an open position for a spa therapist. Pauline started as a casual worker and got a fix employment shortly after.

“Rhulani is a great opportunity for me”, she says. “I have a chance to concentrate on massages, but in addition, I can learn many other things. I work in the office, do check-in’s, orders, GRV’s, file invoices, keep guest database up to date, do hosting for our guests in the evening. At Rhulani, you definitely have the opportunity to grow, and it is up to you to take it.”

Quiet, soothing music sounds from the CD player. I feel totally relaxed. I wonder: Does Pauline have a husband, too? "No, he is my boy-friend," she makes clear, "and I told him this year is his last chance where he can marry me." Pauline can not hide her smile.

Is her boy-friend unsure? “No, no”, says Pauline, “currently, the uncles are negotiating the lobola”. This is the price which her boy-friend has to pay to merry her, in cash or in cattle. Cautiously, I ask if she is maybe a very expensive girl to merry? “Well, I tried to squeeze out my mother, but she didn’t tell me. But my boy-friend struggles, but finally, we are building our future.”

Pauline's hands massage my calves. I feel the years of experience, the passion, and I am amazed at the power that comes from these little hands. Soon I do not remember if I'm sleeping or igf I am still awake. It is the total relax.