March Newsletter - Sarah W. in Kenya

March 2008


The month of March has been a very busy one for me. I have spent everyday of the week except for Sundays working at the Animal Orphanage and Safari Walk. Because of spending so much time at work I have been able to take many pictures of my animals and friends and wanted to share some of them with all of you. Hope you enjoy!

This adorable animal is my newest baby at the Orphanage. She is a Lesser Kudu, a member of the antelope family, and around 3-4 months old. Although it’s hard to tell from this picture, she is incredibly small, about the size of small dog, with her head barely reaching the height of my knees! She arrived on a Sunday when I wasn’t working, so on Monday when I came the guys at work all said to me “Sarah, did you know you gave birth yesterday?” She doesn’t have an official name yet, but she responds to my voice and follows me around the nursery area whenever I’m there.
Here is a picture of me and Julius, my brother who I mentioned in my last newsletter. On this day he and several of the others guys were working on a pipeline connecting water between the Safari Walk and Animal Orphanage. For a period of over two weeks we could only get water from one tap at the Orphanage, which became extremely tiresome because obtaining water from that one tap often meant climbing over multiple fences to carry the water to the desired destination. The management decided that a trench and pipeline connecting the two places would be more efficient, so the guys spent an entire week digging. Ironically, water has come back to the Orphanage on its own, without the pipeline, therefore the project has been abandoned. That’s sometimes how things work around here.

This is one of my favorite coworkers Samuel with two of our lion cubs. Yes, those big animals are cubs! Sammy does a lot of work around the Orphanage from fixing fences to animal care. On Sundays or days when I can’t come into work he is the one who takes care of my babies for me, making sure they all get their milk on time and come into the nursery at night.

Here is a picture of me in my work overalls with Kofi, a chimpanzee who was staying at the KWS vet office for one month. Kofi was rescued from Rwanda and was on his way to a chimpanzee sanctuary in Kenya. We had him for a one month quarantine to ensure he was fully healthy before moving onto the sanctuary. Kofi had his own private caretakers from the sanctuary, but his keepers and I became friends and they allowed me to visit him often during his stay with us. Kofi understands more Swahili than me! He also offered his hand for a greeting handshake whenever I came to see him.

My last picture is of my beloved buffalo, Bob. Bob has been with us at the Orphanage since he arrived around 3 weeks of age in early December last year. He is most recently recovering from a very serious digestive problem that left him weak and near dying. He is a little fighter and has pulled through rather quickly, now returning to his annoying antics of following me so close that he hits the backs of my knees causing my legs to buckle beneath me. Bob is my most loyal child, running to greet me whenever I am in sight and making it his personal job to go anyplace I do, even if that means right next to the lion or hyena cages.

It is the memories and stories like these that I have shared with you that make my time here in Kenya so wonderful. I am reminded everyday of how blessed I am to be able to experience God so fully in the simplest activities of everyday life.