One cold morning, while we were having tea, I got to talking with the rangers. Jema with his silent smile, always an assured presence. Ole Mtoto and his perpetual serenity. Obedi and his cheeky comments here and there. Moses and his rampant but jolly authority. And Manja with his far off gaze and pointed finger. We talked about a lot little things here and there and the topic gravitated towards my piercings, particularly the one I have on my eyebrow. They were very interested in why I have piercings. Manja asked me if it hurt and I responded by twisting it around. His reaction was hilarious, he freaked out! Now heres a ranger who has been mauled by a lion, faced elephants and whatnot, has his earlobes extended and he was disturbed by the twist of my eyebrow piercing Before we knew it, we were all laughing together, hysterically even. It is in those moments that I saw the men behind the uniform. The rangers, the ones who put their lives on the line to secure the wilderness for our future generations. Theyre men like you and me. Men who laugh and love and fear and rejoice and are moved into action by their passion for nature. They are men who feel the same things we feel, the same emotions we have. And what stood out for me is the fact that the rangers never ever complain and that they are fundamentally happy being in the wilderness, in their element. #WalkWithRangers breached cross-cultural divides. Not only with the rangers but also with the group of people we walked with. People from all over the world united in a common goal. It showed me that there is humanity out there and as long as there is humanity, there is the hope of saving the wild and beautiful creatures that we share this earth with.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 07:41:10 +0000
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