Dearest Friends, Yes I know, I know, a long overdue update!! But this does not mean nothing happened.. It means TOO much happened to allow me to even be able to sit down and write a coherent account of what is going on. It has been, was, is and it will be for a while still, just exhausting, unless there is outside help -so far NOT forthcoming despite regular appeals to all known agencies- and it is THE ILLEGAL GRAZING LIVESTOCK! Ol ari Nyiro -as we know-, is a Key Biodiversity area, and YES, has become the WATER TOWER for the Great Rift valley lakes, due to the single -minded protection of every tree, every bush, every single plant, over a generation (sob!): the waters CAREFULLY PROTECTED for THE poor BUFFALO, ELEPHANT, GAZELLES AND ZEBRA THAT HAVE NOWHERE ELSE to go here in Laikipia West ). And now HORDES, yes, HORDES of herders driving thousands and thousands of FAT livestock (there is NO drought in this part of Kenya, none at all!) encouraged (incited?) by some local leaders from other districts (land grabbing is a refined art this side of the Equator), have converged on this magical conservancy, breaking fences, demolishing walls, trashing the grass, squashing bushes, setting random fires, attacking staff, drinking at every lake, polluting the carefully protected land, after having set on fire over 50,000 acres of bush and trees in the now notorious, infamous arsons of March. They destroy, we rebuild. And keep helping the kids and the needy. Well, by now they should know: not easy to get rid of me/us. Impossible to intimidate us. Impossible. Not bragging, facts. And the reason is simple, as our close friends know: At the bottom of my garden at Kuti grow, like memories, two acacia trees that I planted on two long gone days of tears -March 1980 and April 1983-, on the graves of Paolo and of Emanuele, my husband, my son: with that action of having two living African trees growing out of their bodies, I vowed to protect this living land for ever. Tall trees they are now, where starlings nest and bees forage -and we eat the honey-, and there is nothing, simply nothing that will change my -our- resolve to keep going, no matter what. Over these long years, we have been of service. The land, the people, the plants, the animals. So, this established, with your help, Project Phoenix built from ashes new bandas, new staff quarters and new stores (well, there is still a way to go). And the LAND OF HOPE PROJECT has now blossomed, flourished, taken off in the most magical, fun, creative, worth it and exhilarating of manners. Happy children, smiling mamas and motivated youth and athletes, have flocked to the magical premises, to create, learn, eat and play, run and kick a ball. To kick it off during these holidays, with support from the invaluable friends of Maisha Marefu, we employed a team: teachers, coaches, cooks, staff, and helpers. And an Administrator/Coach: Daniel Kibaru. In addition to a model pre-school and vocational centre for youth, one of the dreams is a High Altitude Sport Performance Centre to keep youth from loitering and give them hope - a different future. As ever I let the images talk, and will be back with a year update.. We have started: well, we do need ongoing support to keep going, and we know it will come. Blessings, and thank you for helping us make a difference, in this part of the world. Kuki, with Sveva- Makena-, and the Team of The Gallmann Memorial Foundation In Ol ari Nyiro on 10th December 2014 (click on this link for more photos gallmannkenya.org/news.html
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 11:07:54 +0000
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