Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Hi folks,

I recently realised that I talk a fair amount in this blog about our two wild dog scouts, Rueben and Misheck.  Given that they are critical members of our small team, I thought it would be appropriate to start the new year with a proper introduction of them, especially for those who are new to the blog.

Rueben

Rueben has been with the wild dog project since 1997 – that’s 13 years!  Prior to that he worked as a rhino scout for several years.  He knows the 3500km2 of the Save Valley Conservancy probably better than anyone else and in this alone he is an enormous asset to the project.  In addition he is an exceptional wildlife tracker, and has an uncanny ability to be able to predict wild dog behaviour.  He’s a loyal, honest, hard-working team member and is a genuine pleasure to work with.

Rueben lives in a village not far from the western boundary of the conservancy.  He has 5 children – 4 boys (all at school) and his baby girl Chiedza who was born last year.  After his wife died shortly after she was born, Chiedza is being looked after by his wifes sister…

Rueben will be taking his driving test in a couple of days – I’m sure you will join me in wishing him good luck!

Misheck

Misheck has been with the project for 10 years, and he too is an extremely valuable member of the team.  He’s a hard worker, and an excellent wild dog tracker. 

Misheck also comes from a local village.  He is married with 4 children and seemingly countless neices and nephews! At home, Misheck and his family grow maize and cotton.

Given Rueben and Misheck’s skills and dedication to the project, along with understanding the difficulties they face with trying to support such a large family during these hard times in Zimbabwe, we would like to increase both of their wages considerably this year, and be in a position to help increase their skills base (like paying for Rueben’s driving test).  We are asking for your help to do this.  Please consider either sponsoring one of the scouts on a monthly basis using the monthly donation tab on the right of this page, or making a one-off donation which we will put towards their salaries.  To do that through this blog is quick and efficient, so it will only take a moment of your time to make a huge difference to Rueben and Misheck and their families.

Given all our exciting and challenging plans for 2010 (see the last post) all of us here at the wild dog team  are going to be working extra hard this year, and we are going to need your support. 

Thank you and best wishes from Rueben, Misheck and Rosemary

Hi folks,

I got back from Mozambique yesterday – what a stunning country that is!  I will post a few photos in the next blog just to make you all jealous.  In the meantime, I wanted to share these photos of Rueben’s baby daughter with you.  He just came back from visiting his family where he took these photos.

She is called Chiedza which means ‘light’ and is the baby girl that you have helped so much through your donations of money for milk powder, after her mother died when she was less than 2 weeks old.

What a cute little girl she is.  Here is Rueben with her…

So once again a huge thank you from him and me to everyone who donated money to buy her milk.  Let’s hope we can continue to support her as she continues to grow.

Rosemary