Daktari Newsletter January-February 2012

By Andrea Leonard

Another Daktari Baby!!On 16th February our beautiful donkey Sunny gave birth to her first child, a

bouncing baby boy! Welcome to the world little Shady! Mother and baby are both doing well :o)

Hi there! My name is Squeak,

me and my brother Bubble were rescued and brought to Daktari. The

volunteers hand raised us and on 22nd February we decided to leave our nest. We still

hang around though and get fed worms by the Volunteers!

Yummy!

You can do it Shady,

there’s a good boy

I did it mummy!!

I’m walking!!I’m so proud

of you!

Our first week in January brought us eight children from a local orphanage. They were such lovely, happy children, despite their situation. We wanted to make this week extra special for them so with the help and

generosity of friends, we arranged for them to have a game drive with Siyafunda, a wildlife research project nearby, and also a trip to

Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, followed by lunch out. The Children were so happy with their week at Daktari, with some saying

it was the best week of their lives.

Qokiso Orphanage Visit

Thank you Claudia from Siyafunda, and Brian Jones from Moholoholo for helping us

have such a great week!

We have some big news to start off 2012 - we have said our tearful goodbyes to our two lovable warthogs, Miranda and Samantha. After taking care of them for a year, in which they grew bigger and bigger, it was time for them to live their own life! They were free to go while at Daktari but loved people too much so they stayed around. That was very nice and sweet, but we raised them to release them - not to keep them as our pets forever – and with their growing tusks it was not an option anyway. Luckily we found a great new home for them with lots of space and delicious grass! On a very, very rainy Christmas Eve we loaded the pigs (with some difficulty) into the back of the bakkie. First we put their house in, and then constructed a ramp into the back. We used food and cuddles to tempt them into their house, then closed up the back and drove them to the private reserve nearby. It is a gorgeous space with lots of land and only three houses, and will be perfect for our girls. Camp seems oddly quiet without them, and we do miss them a lot. We know that this was the right decision for the animals, though, and it feels good to know that they will be happy in their new home!

We also released our Dove after it was back to full health, and we “accidentally” released our Genet Chou Chou, who temporarily took up residence in the roof of Chalet 4, before

returning to her own camp 7 weeks later!!

Our Piggie’s have flown the nest

We love our new home!!!!

Leopard Encounter!!We had a VERY exciting day at Daktari. Our awesome vet, Peter Rogers, came by to do

a check-up on our leopard, Shiloweni, and make sure he's doing ok. While he was sleeping, the volunteers quickly cleaned up his camp... 2 years worth of impala bones were removed with military precision! Everything went to plan, all the volunteers got a chance to touch Shiloweni and get their picture taken with him. We took the children to the viewing deck to watch the proceedings, and when we were

given the all-clear by Peter Rogers we took them into the camp. The children were so excited to be near to and touch a leopard!

One of the kids said, "At first I was scared... but he was so beautiful!” Shiloweni is in excellent health and now has a nice clean camp to roam around in.

It was such an amazing experience for everyone!

Outreach Programme UpdateA new school year started so also a fresh start for the Daktari Eco Clubs! We started with elections for the clubs, who would be the president, chairperson and treasurer for their club. We had at least three candidates for each position! They held their speech in front of their fellow club members, they were so nervous! After the speeches each member had the opportunity to vote for their choice. They all took it very seriously!

Joseph running for president at Ramatau Eco

Club. Voting, who is the best candidate….

Outreach Programme Update

We also had the opportunity to plant some new trees at Maahlamele school. We made holes, planted and watered the trees. So they can grow nicely into big trees. The children all worked hard and took care of the trees.The children know now why it is so important to have trees, because without them we won’t have oxygen to live!

In the picture on the right you see one of the boys, Marothi, with his Daktari tree. He took care of it for over a year now and he is really proud to show everybody his own tree!

Outreach Programme UpdateWe had lessons about rubbish and why plastic is so bad for the environment, we talked about extinct and endangered species and we also had some extra time to play some games.

We have about 40 members at Ramtau and 60 members at Maahlamele Eco Club. These are a lot of youngsters! So every week a volunteer joins me to the school to assist me with the lessons. I also have the help of 6 students who finished their matric and are selected for our new project. Really, I need that help

You can follow me and the Eco Clubs on Facebook, DAKTARI Eco Clubs.

Risette, Daktari Outreach Manager

Kids at Daktari Jan-Feb

Volunteers Jan-FebClockwise from top: Rachel from Australia,

Jackie & Noor from The Netherlands, Floriane, Jeremy & Laurie from France, Cedric

from Switzerland, Melissa & Sonya from Canada, Severine from The Reunion Islands,

Ross from Malaysia, And Karla, our new Volunteer Coordinator

from Germany

Bits & Bobs From Jan-Feb…HOLY RAIN DROPS BATMAN!With January came the RAIN! Our

dam burst, trapping us on the sodden grounds of Daktari Island by a raging river of doom! (on the plus side the rain was warm and it

wasn’t windy!!)

Using our Imaginations…As the children couldn’t go to Makalali

because of the rain, we brought Makalali to the children! Volunteers dressed up as different professions and answered

the children’s questions, before going on a “game drive” in the bar! We pretended to be animals and were “spotted” from

the game vehicle by the children. Everyone had soo much fun!!

For a second week the kids couldn’t go to Makalali, this time we painted their

faces so that THEY could be the animals!

We’ve also become experts at digging out trucks that are stuck in mud/sand/rivers…!!

Goodbye LauraAs a leaving present to Laura, the volunteer coordinator, the boys

decided to throw her in the pool!

Tortoise Escape!!This little tortoise has taken a

shine to climbing the fence of his enclosure. I think he’s been

spending too much time watching the monkeys!!

Vulture RestaurantWe were donated a load of ostrich bones for our animals. We put the many leftover bones out into the

bush then watched as the Vultures and Marabou Stalks came to feed!

Lots of space to work!Mirabelle has taken up residence on my desk, which makes working quite difficult! It’s a good job she’s cute!!

We desperatly miss our Laura

Hoedspruit FloodsThe flooding at Daktari was nothing compared to the floods that hit Hoedspruit, our nearest town. At Daktari we were lucky that we have many dry river beds and land for the water to run off. In the town there was no such release for the water. Many were left stranded on the roof of their house and over 135 were airlifted to safety by helicopter.

Our hearts and thoughts go out to all those affected by the floods, both here and in Mozambique.

Cyclone Dando hit Mozambique on 16th January, the resulting floods ran down into South Africa causing dams to burst and rivers to swell. More storms are expected to hit Mozambique over the coming months, hopefully affecting us to a lesser extent!

Thank you to “les amis felins” who gave €100, it is much appreciated!

All of us at Daktari would like to give a special thank you to Michele & Ian’s friends for taking them away on holiday over the christmas break. It was long overdue and very much needed, and they both returned to Daktari happy and refreshed. So again, thank you, if you hadn’t taken them, they’d never have gone!! :o)

Thank you from Daktari

Another thank you to Hills for their continual support and for keeping us stocked with dog food

Thank you to Anja and Gerrit from The Netherlands who donated €250 from the Marienborn school fair.

Johnson Controls in Germany held a family day for their employees and asked them to donate to Daktari, they raised €1164 which the

company matched to make the total donation of €2328!!

Daktari has been working closely with LEDET (Limpopo Economic Development, Environment

and Tourism) recently, and in January we received a call to say they were coming to see us

as they had something for us. We were so pleased when they arrived the next morning

with 20 baby trees for our Eco Club Kids to plant at their schools!

Thank You LEDET

Ian and Michele would like to say a very special thank you to one of our great donors who invited them for a wonderful fishing trip in Zambia. This corporate donor who wishes to stay anonymous, understands how tiring it is to run a non profit organisation, while never having enough funds or good reasons to go on

holiday. This year they had a real treat and flew to Zambia for 10 days fishing in a lovely lodge. Obviously fish shall not be killed and/or hurt, and are released. Michele who initially went to get a rest, got a new addiction: Tiger Fishing!!!

A REAL THANK YOU to our sponsor for this wonderful time and to Shackletons for their wonderful place and welcome!!!

I never knew how much rest I needed until it has been given to me. I will never forget this wonderful gift which made us stronger and ready for

new challenges in 2012. Thank you for thinking of us and taking care of our health too.

www.shackletons.co.za

Daktari is always looking at different ways to develop, and make more impact on the environment and the future of our South African children. The international economic crisis has made our fundraising more and more difficult and we need some help to focus seriously on it.

We have decided to offer two long term office positions to help us achieve our goals. One position is for Marketing & Communication and the other one is for Fundraising and Outreach

programme Assistance. If you are interested in one of these long term (9 to 12 months) volunteer positions (not paid) please contact Michele at info@daktaribushschool.org

DEVELOPING AND MOVING FORWARD

Our Urgent needs for Development:

- 1 Mac Laptop (for the new office volunteer so he/she can access our Mac Network)

- 1 New office building so we aren’t so crowded and can concentrate. Estimated cost R80,000 (€8000 / £7200)

- 1 Camp extension for our leopard Shiloweni so we can safely clean his camp regularly.

If you can help with any of these developments please contact Daktari at info@daktaribushschoool.org

Shiloweni still needs more sponsors of R200 per month, to fill his big

appetite!

Tugela & Molopo need someone to sponsor them for just R200

each per month.

Caline still needs a sponsor for her & her baby Elfie, just R300 a month each.

Some animals still need sponsoring….

Can you help?

Our little cutie Tiki needs a sponsor for just R150 per

Month

In South AfricaBank: First National Bank, Hoedspruit, South AfricaSwift number: FIRN ZA JJ Branch Number: 270652Account Number: Cheque Account (Non-Profit) 62044965129Name: Daktari Wildlife Orphanage, South Africa

Donate by Pay Pal

Children ProjectEnvironmental Education for

over 300 underprivileged

children

Outreach Programme

Teach over 200 Eco Club kids in

rural villages

In Germany Bank: Sparkasse Münsterland-Ost Bankleitzahl: 40050150 Konto-Nummer: 1350 88 888. Name: Spendensammelverein Münster e.V. Reference: DAKTARI-Südafrika – Busch-Schule & Wildwaisen - Station

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How to Donate…

In The Netherlands Stichting Daktari Bush School NederlandKvK 53826736ANBI StichtingING 5254438 te Rosmalen

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Thank you to all our friends, sponsors, donors and

volunteers. Daktari would not be here without you!!

This should fool those stupid

poachers!