Born Free

Category: Born Free, Born Free Kenya | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: bornfree

A growing number of Born Free’s projects place the community at the very heart of the project.  Many of these projects stem from Born Free’s Global Friends programme which has identified schools and communities located near Born Free’s wildlife projects, and provided yearly support for infrastructure and resources.  Global Friends works closely with the local schools to encourage further community support of our wildlife projects, address local issues (e.g. access to clean water, tackling human-wildlife conflicts) and create a positive learning environment for children by providing uniforms, stationery and infrastructures. The programme also provides training opportunities to members of the school staff and increase local employment through use of local materials. Currently there are six Global friends schools in Kenya.

Our Visit
Last month, Born Free Kenya team together with a group of its supporters from the UK visited the Global Friends Schools in the Amboseli catchment area. The supporters were on their routine tour of Kenya and they brought various educational toys and learning material, which were distributed to the school children.  In total they visited four schools: Ol moti, Lenkisem, Amboseli and Enkongu Narok where they were ushered with breathtaking traditional maasai dances and poems.  

As we drove through the dry bushes and on dusty roads to each of the schools, there was something unusually notable in all the areas. Most of the manyattas were deserted, there were few people on the way and countless carcasses of livestock scattered all over. This was quite visible in the Ol moti area. Unlike our previous visits, there were no community members in the school, around the boreholes and in manyattas. The number of children in school had dropped from 280 to about 200. 

All these changes have been attributed to the prolonged drought that has engulfed the entire Kajiado south. For the second year running the district has registered a ‘zero’ harvest making people rely on minimal relief food. Farms have turned into open dry fields full of dust. Livestock keeping is no longer a viable option as the community have lost most of their livestock. We were told that a bull that used to cost Ksh 20,000 now fetches as little as Ksh 1000.
 
Most of the community members have moved in search of green pastures and water. Some have moved together with their children as far as Tsavo and Kitengela areas-about 200 kilometres away. This has resulted to reduced enrolment especially at boarding schools.
Ol moti school, which was primarily revived to help less fortunate children whose parents are traditionally nomadic, continues to survive by defying the harsh condition in the area. Even with only 300kg of food left for the entire term, the head teacher Mr. Koringo was still opportunistic and hopeful that situation will go back to normal. He also believes that changing his school registration to a low cost boarding school will be finalized in time to start benefiting from the Home-grown school-feeding programme.

The District Education Board (D.E.B) has already appealed to the government to supplement food to primary schools in the district. The D.E.B chairman who is the District Commissioner (DC) of Loitokitok district said that only boarding secondary schools were on the government-feeding programme.

The DC is concerned with the current harsh situation and has vowed to help hasten the appeal to ensure all primary schools also benefit from the current secondary schools feeding programme.

And as an emergency measure the DC donated about 450kg of maize to Ol moti school to keep them going. This was in addition to about 900kg of food pledged by the BFF supporters and a significant amount of food provided by Born Free Foundation itself. 

Born Free has also been providing for the wildlife affected by this drought, including the hippos in Mzima Springs which have been suffering terribly.

As we left the Amboseli region, we were left contemplating on how soon the rains will come back to rescue the situation.

If you would like to donate to Born Free Kenya and the work they do, please dontate in the BF Kenya section to the right of this blog.

Thank you for reading,

Manoa, Born Free Kenya

No responses yet

Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: bornfree

A huge thank you to both Brenton H and Anna C who made donations recently!!As I always say, your support and donations are so appreciated - our projects could simply not work without either.So, just for you Brenton H and Anna C, please find a lovely image below of Menelik the cheetah in his temporary enclosure in Ethiopia.The time is growing ever closer that Menelik will be re-homed in a large enclosure in the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre 30km from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  We will be bringing you an update on the Centre progress very soon!!Many thanks again on behalf of Born Free Foundation (and Menelik the cheetah)!

3 responses so far

Category: Born Free | Date: May 29 2009 | By: bornfree

Thank you so much to Clare S for her donation - every donation counts and is so very appreciated.Now the Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue Centre land is secured, we hope to have some more blogs from there and the other projects very soon!All the best from Born Free and the projects we work with!

No responses yet

Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: May 11 2009 | By: bornfree

Another giant step for the Born Free Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre in Ethiopia!

They say, ‘all good things come to those who wait’, but a bit of hard work and plain stubbornness does help…

After almost two years of negotiations and a mountain of red tape, the land for the Born Free Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre has officially been given to Born Free Foundation Ethiopia. At last the design and construction of the Centre can begin!

For new visitors to this Blog (and to refresh the memories of everyone else) the history to date is as follows:

December 2006:  A Consultative Meeting on Captive Wild Animals in Ethiopia held in The Agricultural Research Institute in Addis Ababa. The meeting sponsored by United States Agency for International Aid (USAID), Ethiopian Wildlife Association, Wildlife Conservation Department, African Parks (Ethiopia) PLC, the Regional Environmental Office for East Africa at the US Department of State in Ethiopia and the Italian Development Cooperation.

At the time of the meeting, there were two cheetah and two lions in private or Embassy compounds in Addis, 18 lions in the Addis Zoo from which reports had emerged stating cubs were being poisoned, and several other lions, primates, antelope and birds in other locations around the country. Many of these wild animals were being kept in very poor conditions.

The recommendation of the Meeting was that a new wildlife rescue, conservation and education Centre be created in partnership with the Ethiopian Wildlife Department.

The Centre would provide larger and improved enclosures for existing captive wild animals and include expert veterinary care and facilities to care for captive wildlife as well as new orphaned or injured wildlife. Selected areas of the Centre would be open to the public which would offer centre-based and outreach environmental educational programmes to raise awareness of conservation and animal welfare issues.

2007:  During 2007, Born Free Foundation HQ representatives made several trips to Ethiopia to ensure the progress of the Centre, including meeting with His Excellency Girma Wolde Giorgis President of the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia who pledged his full support to Born Free Foundation and agreed to provide temporary enclosures for two captive lion cubs in the Presidential Palace grounds. 

Born Free Foundation accepted the invitation of the Ethiopian Wildlife Department to create the Centre.  President Girma helped Born Free to identify the 77ha (191 acre) site just 23 km to the west of Addis that had been previously used by a Government Ministry for many years. The complicated and lengthy land title transfer commences. The process takes a year and a half!! 

August 2007:  James Young appointed by Born Free Foundation as Country Representative and Project Director to assess and finalise the Centre site, project manage construction and establish Born Free Foundation Ethiopia in partnership with Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority.

2007-2008 Centre project proposal finalised and approved by Federal Government. Born Free Foundation Ethiopia registered as a non-profit organisation with a Memorandum of Understanding signed with Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority. Board of Directors elected, office rented, bank account set up, etc.

April 3, 2009 The skill and commitment of the Office of the President negotiates a final land agreement acceptable to both Federal and Regional Government. The land agreement grants the land to Born Free Foundation Ethiopia for an indefinite period in order to establish a wildlife rescue, conservation and education centre. The agreement is signed by Born Free Foundation Ethiopia and Land and Environmental Protection Bureau of the Oromiya Regional Government in the presence of His Excellency President Girma Wolde Giorgis.

April 22, 2009 Representatives from the two towns on either side if the Centre site (Holeta and Menegesha) meet with representatives from Born Free Ethiopia to formally demarcate the boundary of the site as the official handing over of the land.
The Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre can now be designed and constructed. Soon Born Free Foundation will be able provide improved conditions for captive or orphaned wildlife in Ethiopia.
 
Boundary Demarcation (April 22)
The boundary demarcation on Wednesday was a story in itself. I started out at 8am with Tilahun, who we employ to care for the cheetah, Sheba, in the Presidential Palace. Tilahun had whittled a stack of Eucalyptus stakes.

On our way out of Addis we collected the GIS expert from the Regional Government of Oromiya, Land and Environmental Protection Office. Next collection was Bereket the Born Free Construction Supervisor.

For the past two years, until the land title was finally agreed, Born Free Foundation has been renting a car from the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP).  Unfortunately, since this had to be returned to the EWCP in early 2009, I have been renting a Toyota Corolla! Today was an example of how I have worked the car. Laden with passengers and a trunk full of stakes, sledge hammer, machete, yellow paint and water bottles the rear shock absorbers barely kept the body of the car off the chassis.

The centre of Addis is always crowded with a mass of traffic (most vehicles spewing out clouds of exhaust fumes) and a multitude of people. However, once through the centre it only takes 25 minutes to drive to the site on a new road constructed with the assistance of the Chinese Government. We drove two kilometres past the site to the small town of Holeta. This is the headquarters for the local administration where we met with the Administrator and discussed the staff he had delegated to help with the demarcation. Since Holeta administration had no vehicle available, for the next two hours I then shuttled back and forward to the site dropping off Holeta representatives from Human Resources, Security, Land Bureau and local guards.

Finally, at 11am our party of 12 was ready and we set off in the blazing sun. To their credit all the Government representatives helped carry the stakes, paint, water and tools.

Each boundary point was identified and a stake driven into the ground or at some points an ‘X’ painted onto an old tree stump or rock. Each marker was then recorded with a GPS waypoint. The site boundary has no path and in places is steep with thick undergrowth that had to be cleared.

One of the main advantages of the selected site is that it has been used by a Government Ministry for many years, so there is no complication for land use rights. During the demarcation process, two of the four farmers who use small areas of land bordering the site for crops or grazing, joined the group and asked the Government staff questions in the local Oromifa dialect. The Government staff explained the Wildlife Centre project and boundary. In two places the local farmers had started to cultivate land within the site boundary. The farmers apologised and were delighted to learn the Centre would not be a flower farm. Flower farming is one of the new agricultural favourites in Ethiopia with rows of polytunnels springing up to the west and south of Addis Ababa to be within easy reach of the airport and the European markets. Although flower farming provides much needed employment, the farmers told us that they take too much water and often bring in labour from outside the community. The farmers were pleased to learn that the Wildlife Centre would look to employ the local community where possible as well as utilising their goods and services. The Centre will have a café that will buy local vegetables and bread.

The site boundary is 5.7 kilometres long (3.5 miles) and the demarcation took 4 ½ hours. I suspect carrying stakes up and down in the midday sun at 2,500 metres (7,500 feet) was rather more exercise than most of the Government representatives had taken in a while!

If you think you can help or would like more information please contact Andrina Murrell at andrina@bornfree.org.uk.

If you would like to donate to the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation & Education Centre, please visit http://www.bornfree.org.uk/shop/acatalog/New_Year_Appeal.html

For more on the Centre and Born Free Foundation, please visit www.bornfree.org.uk

4 responses so far

Category: Born Free | Date: May 08 2009 | By: bornfree

Born Free and the projects we support would like to thank Bishop O for the kind donation of $50!!!

Thank you, your help is so appreciated and goes a long way to helping the projects in this blog keep wildlife in the wild!

Keep checking back for some exciting news about the Born Free Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre!!!

No responses yet

Category: Born Free | Date: Apr 28 2009 | By: bornfree

Born Free has two sanctuaries situated on Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Both these sanctuaries have fully equipped education centres. Our education program has been running since 1999 with the opening of our first sanctuary the Julie Ward Centre. We work closely with schools from across the country and with our local communities. Our education program gives children an opportunity to learn about Born Free and its principals and to see the amazing wildlife of the Eastern Cape roaming free on Shamwari. Through the Born Free Global Friends Campaign and corporate sponsorship we are able to help five schools in close vicinity to the sanctuaries with much needed equipment and infrastructure.  With our community projects we hope to empower people by giving them necessary skills to generate income and we are currently training locals from Paterson as field guides.

Education is very important to us as it is the only way that beautiful animals like the ones we have in our sanctuaries will stop ending up in the conditions in which they are found. All the rescued lions and leopards at our sanctuaries are ambassadors for other captive wild animals living in horrific conditions. Born Free/Shamwari has a very dedicated and dynamic education team who works closely with the animal care team and often assists with the care of the animals.

Christine Le Roux, Education Manager
My name is Christine Le Roux and I truly am the luckiest person alive as everyday from 8am to 5pm I get to live out my dream. Environmental Education is my biggest passion and I am so privileged to have a job that allows me to live out this passion each day. It is great working for an organization such as Born Free which allows me to make a difference in the world.

 My duties include the running of the education program and I am responsible for ensuring that a valid conservation educational experience is offered to all students and that sustainable community projects are run. I am also in charge of the Global Friends Campaign in South Africa and I approach companies for additional sponsorship for the schools as we have to share our funds with five schools.

This year is very exciting for me as in April I will have officially been working for BFF/Shamwari for a year. I will also be starting with a project that very close to my heart known as Eco-Schools. Eco-Schools is an international program that encourages schools to live sustainably, manage resources wisely and improve environmental management. It incorporates environmental learning with the school curriculum. Each of the schools will choose one of the five themes (Healthy Living, Resource Management, Nature and Biodiversity, Heritage and Culture or Local and Global Issues). They then have to do a project and lesson plans relating to the theme. For more info on Eco-Schools visit there website at: www.wessa.org.za/eduecoschools.asp

I will be updating you all on our blog with all the fun and exciting things our education department gets up to!

Matthews Dingaan, Education Assistant Julie Ward Centre
My name is Matthews Dingaan and I am the newest addition to the Born Free Shamwari Education Team. I love being outdoors working with children, teaching them about conservation and why wild animals should be kept in the wild.  I like helping out with the animal care team as that way I get to care for the animals which is also a great passion of mine. I am happy to be part of the team and I look forward to influencing the lives children in a positive way.

Sidney Clay, Animal Care Assistant
My name is Sidney Clay and I have been working for Born Free/Shamwari for over 6 years now. Until very recently I was involved in the Education Department but felt that I needed a change in focus after such a long time. Education still remains very close to my heart and I help out with the education team where ever I can. I have been living in the Paterson community for many years and I am well known by the people. Because I am part of the community and have a great understanding of how think and work I act as the community liaison for the Born Free/Shamwari team.

For more information on the work Born Free undertakes rescuing big cats from horrific conditions in zoos and circuses, please click here

Tags: big cats, education, rescue, Shamwari

No responses yet

Category: Born Free, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Apr 20 2009 | By: bornfree

A big thank you to all those of you that have followed and commented on the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre blog in recent weeks. It makes such a difference to receive your feedback!

2 responses so far

Category: Born Free, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Apr 14 2009 | By: bornfree

In August 2006, I arrived at a Catholic Mission 3 hours drive from Lilongwe, in a small area of Malawi called Mua, my purpose of being there was to find a small menagerie of animals that were reportedly being housed in small dilapidated cages.  It was not long before I stumbled across the sad array of animals within the zoo; it contained an extremely obese baboon, an attention-seeking blue monkey, a terrified porcupine, a sad looking crocodile (as sad as a crocodile can look!!), pythons in a deep dark pit and a variety of small antelope and birds of prey. Although extremely depressing to see, all the animals had been rescued by the founder of the Mua Mission Cultural Centre, Father Bouche, who had arrived at the Mission in the mid 70’s and had accepted many wild orphaned animals in over the years, out of pity.  They had all been victims of the illegal bushmeat and pet trades in and around his area.   

When visiting the Mission for the first time, it was always obvious where Father Bouche’s passion and talents lie; the Cultural Centre, its dancers, its carvings, a small lodge and now recently opened Museum are impressive to say the least; they are a true testament to the diversity of Malawi’s tourism potential, a true gem of an attraction for both local and international visitors.  And so, over the past two years the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre and the Mission have been discussing ways in which the zoo could be dismantled, the animals relocated to the Wildlife Centre and the zoo replaced with a new facility; a facility that would not require animals in captivity, that would complement the cultural centre and its educational activities and that would provide a tranquil environment in which locals and tourists could explore and learn about cultural, wildlife and environmental links. 

After many visits to Mua, my visit two weeks ago was by far the most enjoyable.  Travelling to Mua with two boxes was one thing, travelling home with two boxes and two successfully darted animals was another, our baboon and blue monkey had taken their first steps back to a more ‘wild’ life.  First stop, Lilongwe, where they would be placed in quarantine and later introduced to large open topped enclosures with their own kind. 

But for our yellow baboon, Aide, there was a special treat in store.  Two days prior to the Mua rescue the Centre had rescued a young baboon called Chimpy (yes Chimpy!!) who was being kept on a two metre length of chain at a private residence within Lilongwe.  After a lonely existence on her own for many years, Aide would now spend quarantine and possibly the rest of her life with her new baboon friend, Chimpy.

This relocation of just two animals from the Mission to the Centre, marks the first step in a transitional process that will see all the animals removed from Mua and the zoo replaced with an alternative attraction for both local Malawian and International visitors.  A process that will require funding.  The Born Free Foundation have once again stepped in and have agreed to fund the relocation of the animals and committed funds to the development of a ‘Sensory Garden’ within the existing grounds of the Cultural Centre. Financial support has also been provided by Body Shop that has allowed the Centre to build two new enclosures at the Centre which will enable the centre to rescue some of the remaining birds of prey and porcupine. 

Thank you to both Born Free and Body Shop for helping to make this first (and future) rescue/s happen.

Lee Stewart
Operations and Development Manager

Tags: baboon, blue monkey, Born Free, Lilongwe, rescue

3 responses so far

Category: Born Free | Date: Jan 27 2009 | By: bornfree

Thank you so much for your donation for the projects on the Born Free blog!!  Your support and of course donations are so important to all the projects and to keeping wildlife in the wild in Africa.

We’ll be back with more blogs very soon!!

All the best,

Andrina

2 responses so far

Category: Born Free | Date: Jan 12 2009 | By: bornfree

Many thanks to Eileen H for the $60 donated to Born Free Wildlife Direct projects!!

Don’t forget that you can sign up to receive Born Free’s Wildlife Direct blog via email - just put your email in the box at the totp of this page and you will receive each blog produced (and no spam!).

Thank you, Born Free 

No responses yet