Daktari newsletter March/April 2011

1. DAKTARI NEWSLETTER MARCH/APRIL EDITION Written by Rodolphe Demeestere

2. OUR WONDERFUL NEW ANIMALS Daktari is pleased to inform you that it has two new tenants: ELVIS and PRESLEY the PIED CROWS!!! They have been given to us by Moholoholo rehabilitation center who wasn’t able to release them due to their broken wings. Thank you my friends for welcoming us! It is so nice to be part of the family…

3. MARCH/APRIL INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS Robin – Tessa – Dominique – Marjolein - Barry and Anita from The Netherlands Craig From Australia Aurelien from France

4. PONCHO & NINA ADOPTION!!!! Poncho and I are so excited as we found a wonderful God Mother from Switzerland. Her name is Pat and she was a volunteer last year. As we never met her, we are now dreaming of visiting the mountains of her country. We’ve been told that we could do skiing there and eat lots of delicious chocolate. We started to pack our bag but Chico, our mother, got very cross with us and told us to wait to grow up a bit. In the mean time, with Pat’s support, we are getting lots of worms, yogurt and all sort of treats. We wait for your visit Pat before we can visit your country!!!

5. SURGERY IN THE BUSH Something definitely had to be done !!! I have been sexually harassed and it was time to get a break. Thanks to Provet Wildife Services who gave Daktari a special price to put a end to Freddy’s perversion!!! A bush operation was made under the tree and Freddy went to sleep while the magic tool was taken out!!! I wasn’t allowed to assist but everybody was around to give spiritual love to Freddy. He was a bit sore when he woke up but what a relief for me !!! Thank you also to Karen Bain who sponsors my Freddy!!!!

6. SAD DAY AT DAKTARI We are sad to tell you that we lost one of our most beautiful animals, Snaky the Brown Snake-Eagle. Snaky was caught by a Honey Badger during the night. Unfortunately, we came too late... However, we know we can’t go against the law of nature and all keep a really good memory of our wonderful Snaky.

7. CHILDREN AT DAKTARI

8. Daktari Children in Kruger National Park The Kruger Park management have enabled us to bring our ten best students every two months, free of charge, to the park. Daktari did our first excursion with the children coming from Leoma School. The volunteers sponsored the petrol of the car to make it possible. It was a real success!! The kids were lucky as they saw elephants, rhinos, buffalos, lions, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, zebras, and different types of antelopes… The children also visited Satara and Olifants camps and had an idea of all the job opportunities in Game Reserves.

9. March Global Giving Challenge Daktari wants to send a special thank to the people who supported them for the Global Giving bonus days campaigns. Thanks to you, Daktari has been able to raise R 7050 which means more goodies for me hopefully!!! Daktari really appreciates your support!!! For the one who couldn’t give at that time… watch out for the next Global Giving campaign in May. Yes, they will send you emails again.

10. Global Giving Recurring Donation Campaign Two weeks ago we had the visit of two lovely ladies from Washington DC. They wrote a post card on the website about Daktari, you should have a look at it by following this link. They work for Global Giving and explained me all about the recurring donation campaign that will take place from the 2ndto the 20th of May. Recurring donation means that you can decide to give to Daktari as little as 10 $ (€ 6.84 - £ 6.07 - R 67) per month for as long as you want. It’s very easy, quick and you can stop when you want. We will tell you exactly how to proceed by email in the next few days. Honestly, think about it !!! What is $ 10 per month ? For Daktari it feeds two underpriviged children for a day, and I get the left over ….

11. Global Giving Recurring Donation Campaign And…. If Daktari gets the most people to sign up for recurring donations they will get $ 500 bonus. If they are the one who gets the most donors, they will get an additional $ 1000. And…. If they the highest donation amount…. They will get an additional $ 1000 What do you think Eeyore ? Will they go for it and support Daktari in this challenge ? Please, Please… let’s get many recurring donations so they could all be proud of me and my fundraising competences… How can you say No to me ? I am the sexiest warthog in the world!!!!

12. Our new project on Global Giving : Teach 125 Wildlife club kids in rural village Risette, Kirsten and Rodophe have worked very hard to put together this new project. I know it because when I go to lick their ears at night they say to me « Leave me alone Chico, I’m tired and need to work on the new project ». So my baby Poncho and I had a closer look into this project… Basically what they plan to do is to follow up and support the wildlife clubs which have been created by the children who previously visited Daktari. At the moment they are left alone as Ian and Michele do not have any spare minute to support them. Daktari feels very bad about it. The project will employ one person who will go every day of the week to dynamise and assist the 5 wildlife clubs of the village.

13. Our new project on Global Giving : Teach 125 Wildlife Club-kids in rural village The project aims to have a direct influence in schools and villages by extending Daktari already existing program. They start this program to educate underprivileged children about the benefits of recycling, reducing pollution and anti-poaching; to provide guidance and tools to apply successfully for Eco-tourism jobs; to enable the schools to obtain the South African Eco-label; to organize trips to wildlife sanctuaries. You can donate to this new project by following this Link It’s a great opportunity to encourage this project by making a recurring donation !!!!

14. More Solar Equipment for Daktari Last month Ford Marketing donated enough money so we could afford to upgrade our solar equipment. Our solar supply was still not sufficient for our needs. Paolo from Sky Solar Systems donated his engineering, knowledge and transport to help us to re-think our installation. We also got the wonderful support of Deltec who donated 14 batteries. Without these donations, we would have never been able to afford such a strong equipment. We are proud to use green energy and be a good role model to our children. Also this way we will reduce our petrol and generator expenses tremendously. Thank you so much Sky Solar Systems and Deltec.

15. WAYS TO DONATE Teach 125 Wildlife Club kids in rural villages Vehicle-Project Vehicle to transport underprivileged children Children - Project Over 220 South African youth educated about nature Global Giving U.K. (tax deductible in the UK) Global Giving U.S. (tax deductible in the US) You can click on any of the logo according to your country and the project you chose to donate to

16. MORE WAYS TO DONATE In South Africa In South Africa (tax deductible in South Africa) - AND THROUGH OUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT - In South Africa Bank: First National Bank, Hoedspruit, South Africa Swift number: FIRN ZA JJ Branch Number: 270652 Account Number: Cheque Account (Non-Profit) 62044965129 Name: Daktari Wildlife Orphanage, South Africa 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

17. Thank you to all of you. Friends, donors and sponsors. And thank you to all the volunteers who help us to be as good as we are.