Born Free

In December 2009, the Wildlife Centre was invited to the US by two individuals, both passionate about the Wildlife Centre and its work. Whilst Jason Brynes, a volunteer at the Centre on two separate occasions was keen to set up an annual fundraiser for the Centre in New York, Judy Cadman, a visitor to the Centre in early 2009 was keen to establish a link between the Centre and her local Florida based rehabilitation facility CROW. Judy was also keen to build on Jason’s yearly fundraising idea with Florida equivalents.

The trip was kicked off very professionally by Jason who organised a cocktail party in a swanky fourth floor art gallery in New York’s ‘very posh’ Upper West Side. The presentation, which covered all aspects of the Centre’s work, went down extremely well by the 70 odd people that attended. The bitterly cold weather of New York was however in sharp contrast to the humidity of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island which hit hard as I appeared from the plane….with a well deserved hangover from the previous evenings after party!! During my 8 day stay in Florida I was hosted by a number of fantastic families, both on and off the Island, and was extremely well received by a number of organisations including CROW (Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife), J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Corkscrew Sanctuary and Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife.

CROW, being our principle reason for being there was my first port of call. It is a fantastic organisation that mirrors our work here in Malawi in so many ways. It was extremely interesting to spend time with Dr. PJ, the facilities veterinarian, as it was obvious from the onset that the two facilities have a lot in common. Maybe the animals that arrive at the two Centres arrive there for different reasons but the two facilities retain similar fundamental philosophies with regards the animals they rescue; most importantly the welfare of an individual animal and its need to be returned to the wild and NOT to be kept in captivity.

CROW was just one of many organisations in the Sanibel Island area that are fighting hard to help conserve Florida’s native wildlife. I have to say, I have never been to an area before where it would appear Conservationists are winning the battle against human growth and greed, well done everyone. I have a lot of respect for all those I had the honour of meeting during my stay and I hope some of them may one day ‘hop across the pond’ to visit beautiful Malawi to see the Centre. I also hope this initial trip has created a foundation on which the Centre can build long term partnerships with individuals and organisations and has helped to launch yearly visits to both New York and Florida for the Centre which will help strengthen ties for all those interested in supporting conservation here in Malawi.

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone in the US that made my trip so memorable, especially Judy and Jason who helped arrange everything…thanks guys!!