ABERDEEN NEWS - Arpana Landheer of Kriegershoek Nature Reserve, Camdeboo Mountains also known as 'Oumies', passed away in the Groenkloof Care Centre in George on Saturday 2 April at the age of 73.
The name, Arpana, was given to her by the Indian Spiritualist Osho. It is Sanskrit for “with an outgoing purpose”, with charity as its main aim.
She had no children and no family in South Africa and was of Dutch descent from the town Wassenaar, an affluent part of The Hague in the Netherlands.
She was previously married to the late professor Bart Landheer, who amongst other illustrious positions, was the director of The Library of the Peace Palace, World Court, The Hague.
Landheer was the first Dutch female journalist of science and later qualified as a clinical psychologist. Approximately 20 years ago she relocated to South Africa to pursue her dream of supporting under-privileged children, in conjunction with nature conversation.
In Tanzania she experienced that nature reserves were established at the expense of local communities, for the pleasure of international tourists and hunters. To bring about balance, she established with her then partner the Kriegershoek Nature Reserve in the Camdeboo mountains in the Aberdeen district.
She founded the Arpana Foundation and worked with the children from the townships of Graaff-Reinet and Aberdeen. She was well respected and loved locally.
In 2016 she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a series of operations and came out a survivor. She could then return to do her work at Kriegershoek Nature Reserve. Her work was however interrupted by the Covid pandemic and other personal reasons.
Her health deteriorated rapidly from the beginning of February.
Her legal team, consisting of advocate André Knoetze and attorney Barrie de Lange of Martins & De Lange Attorneys in George, who will also be responsible for the winding up and charitable distribution of her estate, realised that their client was suffering tremendously.
They helped her to get medical attention in George where she underwent intense examinations by specialists for an entire month, which ended in an operation. She returned to Kriegershoek at the end of February, but she eventually succumbed on Saturday 2 April.
Her entire South African Estate will go to charitable causes, mostly to the Graaff-Reinet and Aberdeen communities which she loved so much.
Her ashes will be scattered in the Netherlands. An agreement has been reached that a memorial will be erected for her at The Kriegershoek Nature Reserve. Details of the memorial service will be published in the Advertiser next week.
A service is planned for Saturday of the Easter Weekend in Aberdeen. She is survived by three brothers and a sister, all living in the Netherlands.
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