Photos of the evening by Happy Hollow Zoo
Category: Happy Hollow Zoo | Date: Mar 31 2007 | By: admin
Vanessa from Happy Hollow Zoo has kindly sent me more photos of their very successful evening, when they managed to raise more than $13,000 to pay for the wages of my men in the Advance Force of the Congo Rangers.
I am still so amazed by the tremendous support that can come from those outside Congo, and truly feel we have stepped into a new era here in the park.
The rest of this post is from Vanessa:
To give you more of a feel for the area, this is the outside of the Historic Hotel, with the two WildlifeDirect posters outside on stands:
And inside is the entrance to the Historic Hotel Lobby:
I want to show you the array of auction items we had available:
On the left (orange) was a painting of an Orangutan, Cheyenne, at the Houston Zoo -their Pongos Helping Pongos Program. The basket was donated from a local group - Virunga Artisans Group. The Masai head piece and necklace - from Elena one of the Zookeepers. The purple and blue painting was created by our resident group of Meerkats -it was a very popular item.
And here is Mike, the auctioneer, and Elena holding up the Jaguar oil painting for the live auction portion:
Kelley and Monica bartending - this is actually a sweet and ice-cream shop at the hotel that we converted for our purposes.
Janice with one of the many animal cookies. Kerry, Zookeeper, made an incredible array of animal cookies and hand decorated all of them at night after work. They were a huge hit, in fact, guests offered to buy them! There were hippos, giraffes, crocs, kudos and a monkey with a red bum!
Oriki Theater Drummers. Awesome!!
Jonathan’s handy work at the end of the auction table;
A better idea of the poster placement:
Jonathan, I think we could have even auctioned off your mounted posters - the guests loved them and it really brought the story home.
And finally, here is Jesse, Mark and Monica.
The event was over and a great time was had by all!
Technorati : Congo, Congo Rangers, Happy Hollow Zoo, WildilfeDirect
Find out more about the work of the Advance Force
Category: Funds Needed | Date: Mar 30 2007 | By: admin
As promised, here is the video presentation that I did for Happy Hollow Zoo. It will give you more of an idea of the work that is being done by the Advance Force, including our ongoing fight to save the Hippos and the Mountain Gorillas here in Virunga National Park.
If you like the video, then please go to YouTube and say so and then hopefully even more people will find out about what we do.
Technorati : Congo, DRC, Virunga, WildlifeDirect
Great News from Happy Hollow Zoo!
Category: Happy Hollow Zoo | Date: Mar 29 2007 | By: admin
We have received such great news from the team at Happy Hollow Zoo. I am so overwhelmed by all that they have done and can’t wait to share with you all this email from Vanessa:
Hello - Good Morning!
We had quite an evening for you all last night!
The only thing that could have made it any better was to have you all there with us - I have to say, many guests commented that they felt the Rangers were with us - I know you were all there in spirit. The energy level surrounding this event was very high - wow!
I’ll give you a quick overview:
6:30 - The event started, silent auction items were available, live steel drum music filled the hotel, our Zoo Curator made several West & South Africa recipes that the guests enjoyed tremendously and the old historic hotel quickly began to fill up with guests.
7:30 - The guests were called to one area by a trio of West African drummers - they brought people to their feet and with wild cheers from all, brought the sounds and rhythms of Africa to our event. I then spoke about the Advance Force and the incredible work you are all doing to help save the animals and communities of, and surrounding, Virunga.
After I was done, Mike (husband of a Zookeeper) began the live auction and sold 5 items, which included experiences with sea otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a trip to San Diego that included a special encounter with the Cheetahs at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, a beautiful jaguar oil painting and a very tasty bottle of tequila, which was bought out right and then donated back again to be resold in the auction - that one bottle brought in $500!
8:30 - The silent auction closed and the guests scurried to get their final bids in on an incredible variety of donated items (the community was very generous and in asking for donations we had the opportunity to let many people know about the Advance Force and WildlifeDirect).
By the end of the evening - friends, family, and colleagues had donated more that $11,000 and I also had over $2,000 back in my office from other donors! So, I don’t have an exact figure yet, not everyone has paid and we have a few expenses - but I can’t tell you how excited I am about how successful it all went and how generous everyone was.
It was an incredible evening…
My best to All!
Happily Yours,
Vanessa
The team:
From top left down the stairs:
Valerie Riegel (Zoo Curator), Monica Welker (Zookeeper), Jesse Welker (Sister of Monica), Violet Staat (Former Employee), Kelley Walsh (Zookeeper), Mike Leyva (Husband of Zookeeper Pat), Heather Vrzal (Senior Zookeeper), Pat Leyva (Relief Zookeeper), Kerry Dunham (Zookeeper), Elena Seto (Relief Zookeeper), Barbara Coats (Former General Manager)
Off the stairs, from right to left:
Mark Riegel (Husband of Curator Valerie), Victoria Johnson (Development Director), Vanessa Rogier (Me!), Todd Shaeffer (Facility Manager where we had the event, and husband to me!), Adam Hyde (Zookeeper)
This was just about all the people that run the Zoo and even some that used to work here, who came back for more!
Thank you so much everyone for all that you have done. Your money will go far in paying the wages for many of my men, and for that we all here are eternally grateful. I am so proud to now be part of such an amazing group of people.
As we say here in Congo, Nous sommes ensembles. We are together.
Elie
Technorati : Congo Rangers, Happy Hollow Zoo, WildlifeDirect
Our Running Costs
Category: Funds Needed | Date: Mar 28 2007 | By: admin
Here you can see me with Joseph Aloma in front of the vehicles we have for the Advance Force. We do actually have four vehicles but for now, due to lack of funds, only three of them work.
And it is only by a little bit of tinkering, a push start, plus the Grace of God, that the vehicles that we do have keep on going.
Recently I did a video presentation for the folks at Happy Hollow Zoo, who were kind enough to sponsor my work here, where I talked about the needs of the Advance Force.
Eventually we hope to have sponsorship for all of the 49 men who work for the Advance Force, and I’m pleased to say that Joseph Aloma is already fully sponsored by Stratton Elementary in Colorado.
Once more of our rangers are sponsored we will have funds not only to pay for their uniforms and patrol rations, but to help with the costs of running and maintaining our vehicles, and hopefully one day we may even be able to fix our forth vehicle!
Some of my men who are looking for sponsorship are listed down the right hand side of this blog, under ‘Sponsor My Rangers.’ Shortly I will also post up the video presentation that I did for Happy Hollow Zoo so that you can find out more about the work that we do here in Virunga National Park, Congo.
Technorati : Advance Force, Congo, DRC, Sponsorship, WildlifeDirect
Park Invasion near the Nyaleke Patrol Post
Category: Out on Patrol | Date: Mar 26 2007 | By: admin
If you leave the large town of Beni by heading east, you will shortly enter Virunga National Park. This area is controlled by the Nyaleke Patrol Post, where recently there was a land invasion into the park by the local people.
They had only been in place a couple of days and had already started to put up shelters.
Our Communications Officer was sent in initially to talk to the people, but when they refused to remove the Advance Force had to intervene.
This is another of those times when our job is very difficult as it is so very hard to turn the people away. Extreme poverty is a reality here in Congo and these people, most of them displaced by the war, came with the intention to cultivate the land. But if we are to ensure that the wildlife here are protected, we have to limit the number of villages and towns that are allowed to exist within the park’s boundaries.
Once we had managed to remove all the people by putting them into trucks headed back towards Beni, we then had to set about burning all that was left behind.
It is necessary to do this as we do not want any of our animals here to catch human diseases.
As a fine for entering the park we impounded all of their bicycles, which also acts as a temporary intervention to stop these people from coming back straight away.
These bikes will be taken to the Court of Justice in Beni.
Technorati : Beni, Congo, Conservation, DRC, Virunga, WildlifeDirect
Shooting Practice with the Rangers
Category: Life in Mutsora | Date: Mar 23 2007 | By: admin
There is a shooting range at Mutsora where I regularly help to train the Congo Rangers with their shooting skills.
The range is very basic, but it is necessary that our men practice as much as is possible as when they are out on patrol, they will often encounter poachers with weapons.
Because of the war, there are a lot of weapons in Congo and it is possible to purchase an AK47 for just $20.
And so we too must be armed so that we can protect the wildlife here in Virunga National Park.
Technorati : Congo, DRC, Mutsora, Virunga, WildlifeDirect
Welcome to my Home!
Category: Life in Mutsora | Date: Mar 21 2007 | By: admin
I wanted to share with you some pictures of me at my house in Mutsora.
Above you can see me in our living-room, next to my stereo, which I listen to most evenings when I’m here as it is a good way to find out all the news from across Congo.
And below you can see my wife, Beatrice, relaxing at the end of the day in the porch to our house.
I am often away from my family when out on patrol, and so it is always good to get home for some rest and, of course, some great cooking.
Technorati : Congo, DRC, Mutsora, Virunga, WildlifeDirect
A Fight for Land
Category: Out on Patrol | Date: Mar 19 2007 | By: admin
While out on patrol we found this sign put up by local people.
It reads that the work of ICCN takes away people’s rights to cultivate the land within the park.
Our job is about finding the right balance between the wildlife and the communities living here, and for the moment it is a daily struggle to protect the habitat of the animals of the park.
During the war, the population in and around Virunga National Park rocketed due to many displaced people coming to the area to try and make a living. This has put much pressure on the fishing communities along Lake Edward, and due to poor fishing methods they are now cultivating large amounts of land within the park. The same is also happening with other villages which border the park.
We had to remove this sign because it goes against the conservation efforts of all of us here working for the park.
Technorati : Congo, DRC, Virunga, WildlifeDirect
A Wedding in Mutwanga
Category: Life in Mutsora | Date: Mar 13 2007 | By: admin
Following the birth of Samantha, I want to also share with you the photos from the wedding of one of our men from the 2nd Troop, Kambale Mulewa, and his wife Jeanette Muhongya.
The ceremony started at seven in the morning in the Catholic Church of Mutwanga, which is just outside of the park at Mutsora.
And was followed by a small tour of the town in the ICCN vehicle.
It’s a small journey of a few kilometres, but it gave everyone a chance to see the bride and groom and join in with the festivities.
Below you can see a video of the tour when it was outside the Hotel de la Neige (The Hotel of Snow), where visiting guards stay when they come to Mutsora for training.
And here you can see me with Mulawe, helping the bride down from the vehicle.
Afterwards we went to the house of Mulawe, and asked for God to bless the new couple.
And then we gave gifts to the bride and the groom.
The ceremonies were followed by lots of dancing, which continued for the rest of the day.
And here you can see us with Will from the WildlifeDirect team, looking at all of the photos of the wedding.
And here I am with Mulawe, the once happy groom and now happy husband.
Technorati : Mutsora, Mutwanga, WildlifeDirect
A new member to the team!
Category: Out on Patrol | Date: Mar 09 2007 | By: admin
Some of the Advanced Force and I escorted the WildlifeDirect board from Mutsora to Ishango on Tuesday evening. Not only was it necessary for us to travel with the group as their journey continued after sunset, but it was also an honour to be with them on their first day in Congo.
Early Wednesday morning while still in Ishango, Benoit Kisuki, the Second in Command of Virunga National Park, gave a talk to help boost the morale of our men.
It was a great speech, and afterwards the spirit of our men was lifted.
We then waited by the airstrip in Ishango to see the board off.
Below you can see me sharing a joke with Safari, whose wife gave birth to a daughter this Thursday.
They are both very happy and have named their newborn daughter Samantha, after Samantha Newport from the WildlifeDirect team.
Felicitations Safari!
Technorati : Congo, DRC, Ishango, Safari, Virunga, WildlifeDirect
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