No no no, we didn’t forget you, although January is almost over, we are still in time to thank you for your great support last year and all the previous years! It is greatly appreciated and we are proud to have you as part of the Daktari family. We wish you all great happiness for the New Year and look forward to another year of working with you.

2011 saw our Global Giving friends almost reach our $40,000 target for the “Over 220 South African youth educated about nature” project. This year we will be introducing a new project and hope that we can count on your continued support, both financial and moral, in 2012. We in turn will bring you regular updates and exciting news from Daktari!

Last year Daktari hosted a whopping 387 underprivileged children and we hope to continue that success in 2012. From talking to international volunteers, to learning about life cycles, fun and games to three square meals a day, the children really enjoy their time at Daktari and leave with a new sense of purpose and pride in both themselves and their country. Daktari plants the seed of environmental awareness in these children, they must then nourish it and help it to grow.  Risette, the Outreach Manager (see project “Teach over 200 kids in eco clubs in rural villages”) asked the kids last week to write about their best memory, more than half of them wrote about Daktari. It is small things like this that truly touch our hearts and give us the will to continue with the work that we are doing.

Thank you again for your support,

The Daktari Team :o)

The last group of 2011

Dear Sponsors,

Thank you so much for your continued support of Daktari! We are currently working with our last group of children for 2011, and are excited to say that we have welcomed 387 children for week-long stays this year! Those 387 children had the opportunity to work one-on-one with an amazing group of international volunteers, take care of injured and orphaned animals, and make a commitment to make South Africa a better place. We couldn't do it without our sponsors, so thank you from all of us!

I also wanted to update you a bit on some special things we are able to do with the children each week. One of the coolest things we do is to take the children every Wednesday morning to Makalali, which is a private game lodge that borders our land. The rangers there take the children around behind the scenes where they are able to meet all the different people that are employed at the lodge. Before they leave they have a short lesson with the volunteers called “Job Opportunities,” where they learn about the different jobs, the type of training and education required for each, and the correlation between staying in school and making a higher salary. This lesson and the experience at Makalali are especially important in this area because jobs in ecotourism are prevalent, and the children do not usually know that they exist. The kids brainstorm a ton of questions before they leave, and have the chance to ask the employees at Makalali all about their jobs. It's also a great chance for them to look for wildlife out of the open air vehicles and they yell, “STOP!” every time they see a new animal! They are so excited when they see these wild animals for the first time.

 We have one other bit of exciting news – thanks to our Global Giving donors (spurred by a fundraising campaign from our current American Volunteer Coordinator) we raised over R30,000 to re-do the roof of our kitchen and lounge before the rains hit! We now have a tile roof in place of our old thatched roof full of holes – and now there is a dry place for the kids to spend time when it is raining outside!

It has been an incredible and exciting year here at Daktari. The volunteers, the animals, and especially the children thank you for your support! Have a wonderful holiday season, we look forward to updating you again in the new year! 

Working on the roof into the evening

In June we invited the children of the Qokiso orphanage for a week of education. These children are very far from Daktari and we thought we would also give them a chance to get our attention. This is the review we received from Mrs Bjorg Krane Bostad in charge of the Qokiso orphanage after the departure of the children.

... "Thank you so much for giving our kids such a good time. The week spend at Daktari is such a wonderful and unforgettable experience for our orphans, and it makes such a good impact on their lives.  

I asked some of them what they liked best, and Humphrey said without having to reflect: The food!!! I had a good laugh, he just loves food, and might not get enough at home for all we know.  

Mathapeto cherished the private sessions she was having with one of the volunteers, her eyes were shining talking about it.

One of the other girls mentioned the talk session about sexuality as a highlight.

And everybody loved the way they were taught and playing and having fun at the same time.

For my orphans, coming to Daktari for a week is a life changing experience.

It is not just the bush experience and the animals that are highlights forthem, but the volunteers!  To have adults talking to them, helping them,teaching them, playing with them, giving them love and attention all thetime is for them a totally new and soul saving experience. They come fromovercrowded classrooms of 40 students, from child headed households or a family member that has taken them in without really having the means to feedmore mouths. To experience the warmth, the fun and laughter and peerguidance at Daktari gives them a feeling of self and that they matter whichthey sorely need. They come back to their village as different youngsters,they have felt valued and important and this they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

So, thank you all so much for doing what you are doing in the way you are doing it. It works wonders on hungry souls, that’s for sure!!!”…

Best regards from Sarah and Bjørg at the Qokiso Orphans Project

Links:

• Daktari latest newsletter
• Daktari's website

Dear Sponsor,

My name is Andrea, I am the new Office Volunteer at Daktari and will be updating you for the next year. Firstly I would like to give you my thanks and gratitude for your support and donations, without them Daktari would not be able to run and could not continue with the wonderful work it does with animals and children (and volunteers!)

So much has happened since May I don’t know where to start! 

Last month the local schools had exams and then school holidays, so for two weeks we had children from grade 7 and then the week after that we took in 10 children from Qoisi Orphanage in Bushbuck Ridge. It is always a real eye opener for the new volunteers when they meet underprivileged children, Daktari doesn’t just change the lives of the children, but of the volunteers as well. Seeing the children so happy with the little that they have makes us realise just what we take for granted, and makes us proud that we, and you, have taken the time and effort to help them.

The biggest change since May is that we now have a new dormitory for the children, sponsored by our donors from Germany. The volunteers all helped with the building and decorating to make it extra special. 

Our two baby Warthogs are growing up fast, they seem to think that they are dogs and spend a lot of time in Bullet’s basket! They are starting to spend more time outside of the camp now, hopefully they will soon spend most of their time out in the wild and only come back to us for visits. We’ll be sad to see them go, but will be happy that they are free, as nature intended. 

We have entered 3 photos into the Global Giving Photo Competition for August. I will keep you all updated on how it goes!!

Thanking you again for your continued support, 

 All the staff & animals at Daktari 

Dormitory

Our happy warthogs

Links:

• DAKTARI website

Dear Friends of Daktari, 

You haven’t heard from us for quite a while. It is because we have been very busy the last 3 Months and every single minute was worth it for working hard on Daktari’s goals.

First we had the GlobalGiving Bonus Days Campaign. Thanks to you, Daktari has been able to raise R 7,050.00. This amount helps us to cover the education/accommodation/food of 10 underprivileged children for a whole week at Daktari. What a great help of yours! 

In the past we honoured the child with the best results of the week with a little tree that was to be planted in the school. Now we decided to take in addition every two months the 10 best students to Kruger National Park for further wildlife- and job opportunity-experience. Well, and certainly also for a treat. The Kruger Park management enabled us to bring our ten best students every two months, free of charge, to the park. Daktari did the 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!! But we certainly cannot always ask the volunteers to pay for the petrol and the usage of the car. That is the reason why we invented a new donation-button of the GlobalGiving page. Your usual support is also for this project very much welcome.

In Mai we had our Recurring Donation Campaign with GlobalGiving. We managed to get 14 donors motivated to make a recurring donation for Daktari of a total amount of $ 239. Thank you so much for your support! Succeeding in this challenge will also give us an extra bonus of $ 500 in about 4 month when the reccuring donations will have been honored. 

We have all plans ready for our new project and the button prepared for donations to get started. “Teach 125 Wildlife-Club Kids in rural village”. Basically the plan is to do a follow up and support the wildlife clubs that have been created by the children who previously visited Daktari. 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.

The project aims to have a direct influence in schools and villages by extending Daktari’s already existing program. The aims of this program is 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. It’s a great opportunity to encourage this project by making a recurring donation!!! 

Besides all the money-talk… Daktari was cut off for days from civilization in January due to heavy rainfalls. We received two Pied Crows named Elvis and Presley which joined our family and our donkey Freddy lost by an operation his manhood to calm him down in his moods.

All in all we must say that we had exciting, successful and happy months and look forward to what comes up next. We will keep you posted and thank you so much again for your support. We certainly don’t take all your donations for granted. 

The children and the animals of Daktari send you a big hug!

Volunteer teaching Maths

The children in their classroom

Links:

• Daktari website
• Daktari on Facebook
• Daktari on Twitter

I had an opportunity to spend a day and night at Daktari, visiting with Michelle Merrifield and her husband and counterpart Ian.  This was truly an eye-opening experience for me, because I did not grow up with animals in my house.  The closest thing I had to a pet was a goldfish in a tank that my brother, sister, and I foolishly tried to clean one night by refilling it in our bathtub, only to wake up the next morning to see that we had broken the seal of the tank and all 10 gallons had leaked onto the floor.  Being surrounded by wild animals of all kinds, ostriches, warthogs, a leopard, a donkey, a porcupine, etc. was an entirely new experience for me.

That said, I am so grateful to have had the chance to spend time at Daktari and to learn so much about the good they are doing in their surrounding communities.  Michelle and Ian use animals to educate children about life, caring for those that cannot help themselves (a lot of the animals came to the orphanage because they were injured in some way and left to be killed or experimented with), and social etiquette like politeness and being considerate of others.  Every week Ian drives to a school that is more than an hour away to pick up a group of eight to ten 8^th grade students.  The students spend a week “camping” out at Daktari, where they learn about wildlife, participate in classes about basic math and reading, and also discuss life issues like how to reject drugs and alcohol and practicing safe sex.  Their days are packed with activity from a dog walk that starts at 7 a.m. to dinner that is complete by 8 p.m. 

Volunteers help maintain the camp and also serve as coaches and mentors for the kids.  Michelle and Ian also live on the bush school grounds, and they have visitors there 90% of the year.  In 2010, kids were visiting 49 out of 52 weeks.  Michelle and Ian exude passion and enthusiasm for the children they serve and the animals they care for that is contagious.  It is clear that the kids and animals love them just as much.  Michelle and Ian have literally given up all personal freedom and luxuries to fulfill their vision.  Michelle, for example, moved from a big city in France to the wild, with no electricity, and the closest airport more than five hours away.  What they have been able to build and maintain is really special and unique, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to meet and spend time with them.

Dear sponsors,

Last week, Daktari was pleased to welcome Wilright, our local volunteer, for the next 4 weeks. He is working as a mediator between the volunteers and the students. He was one of the first children who came to Daktari five years ago when Daktari could only afford to invite local children for a weekend. Wilright has been really helpful during the lessons as some of the kids have difficulties to understand English.

During their week of environmental education, we also include social talks. One of them is about HIV/AID and, even with our local volunteer, Wilright, it was not that easy! During this talk, our international volunteers and Wilright contradicted each other. One of our students asked if it is dangerous for his health to have a relationship with a pregnant girl. Wilright answered that this kind of relation can ensue with disease for the man, above all if the girl is not his girlfriend. Although this is scientifically false, after long and interesting discussions with Wilright and the staff, this is a belief in their traditional culture. However, we had to tell the truth to the children. We tried to explain that sometimes cultural beliefs and science are contradictory. We understand and respect their culture however we need to explain to the children what is scientifically correct.

In all cultures, we can find beliefs that are not in accordance with science…

As a result, we figured out the volunteers really have to harmonize their speech and do not put the students in an awkward situation. It has definitely been an interesting experience that will be fruitful for the future, and making us realize that our local children need a lot of support in education in general.

Again, we thank you for your support and being a part of our project. Without your help we would not be able to achieve as much as we do.

Best regards.

Learning how to use a condom

Links:

• Daktari's website

Dear Supporter of Daktari,

The year 2010 is nearly finished and we welcomed, this week, our last group of Children.

To celebrate Christmas, we invited Children who have been with us in the past, and have created a wildlife club in their village. Along the year they have encouraged their friends, family and community to protect the environment. The message is passing through and all we have to do is to spread it to more and more children, which we will carry on to do from January 2011.

During this week we have celebrated Christmas and the joy of receiving from all of you, as we know that without your precious help, Daktari wouldn't exist. The children enjoyed the hot hours of the day in the Swimming Pool. Yes, summer in South Africa isn't under the snow but around the swimming pool!!!

The children went on a bush walk with Ian who reminded them about the trees and the animal tracks. At the time of their stay, the children had also the opportunity to experience a tracking of poachers by the South African police. Unfortunately, poaching still exists and Daktari has a lot of work to do, still, to convince the whole community of the importance of saving wildlife for their future. It was a favorable time to discuss solutions to stop poaching and everybody left with the promise to spread the word in the village.

On a more positive side, the children had also the chance to celebrate the birth of Chico's baby. Chico, our bushbaby, is living free around the camp for more than a year now. We didn't know if he/she was a male/female and therefore didn't know she was pregnant. What a surprise and an existing Christmas present Chico (renamed Chica) gave us.

We thank you all for your great generosity and for keeping us in your heart and thoughts.

From the sunny South African bush, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Chico, our beloved bushbaby

Directors wishing you a Merry Christmas

The Birth of Poncho, Chico's baby

The year has been very busy for Daktari. We started the year welcoming the grade 8 children from two local schools. There were no school holidays for Daktari Bush School and we decided to work non stop, even during the soccer world cup event and the building of our new predator camp. We are, and have been, very determined to achieve what you and us believe in : Educating as many children as possible - because the future of our environment depends on our children. The success of our teaching programme is spreading over the community and we have been asked on numerous occasions to welcome children from other schools. So we did !!! When we finished all the grade 8 from Ramatau and Lepono schools, positive contacts were made with three new schools, and we have started taking their children as well. We will have reached, by the end of the year, more than 1500 children! And this all in the past five years! We have given all of these children the experience of a lifetime, and created in them an awareness of caring for wildlife and environment. 

Animals have also been a part of this success. Recently we hand raised an orphan Nyala that was re-introduced into the wild. A baby donkey was born, a baby bushbaby is taken care of by our volunteers and older bushbaby (Chico), Shiloweni our leopard has calmed down a lot and settled nicely in his enclosure. All of us, volunteers, donors, children and staff are really making an impact on the future of our environment. 

We thank you for your tremendous support and the faith you have in our work. Without you, Daktari wouldn't exist and survive.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and look forward to hear from you.

Chico and Nina

Petunia reading a book about wildlife

Links:

• Daktari website

End of June Daktari was asked by the Karongwe Conservancy to take care of Shiloweni, a leopard who couldn’t be rehabilitated into the wild. Shiloweni is a full grown leopard and has no fear for human. This is why he was captured initially when it has been found out that he also had a problem with his canines which had to be removed. An attempt to rehabilitation was done but unfortunately, Shiloweni was losing condition as, without his teeth, he couldn’t protect his prey and himself from other predator. He was also found roaming too close to habitation, putting the lives of people in danger. Unfortunately, Shiloweni had to be kept in an enclosure for the rest of his life and Daktari was offered to take care of him while educating the local children about wildlife. The first days were a bit stressful for Daktari, the children and the leopard. It took all of us a little while to adapt to each other but we like to think that Shiloweni is now very comfortable and the children enjoy watching his daily feeding.

We thank you all for your continued support toward education and care of wild animals. Your donation is always a great help and we appreciate to have you by our side. Do not hesitate to contact us directly if you have any question about our project, we will always be happy to be in touch with you.

Have a lovely day,

Shiloweni showing his missing canines

Shiloweni happy at Daktari

Links:

• Home for a leopard at Daktari

It’s a very exciting time for all South Africans as we are the proud citizen welcoming the Soccer World cup. Flags, vuvuzela and euphoria are all over the country.

There is no rest for the Daktari Team and we will miss most of this animation as nothing will take us away from our mission and own goals.

We have now finished educating all the grade 8 children from Lepono School. We made contact with another school that was also very keen on sending their pupils to Daktari. We now welcome the students from Nareng school and carry on with Ramatau School. Our reputation in the village is growing and we receive numerous phone calls from other schools or even individual local people who would also like to send their children to Daktari. We will soon have to extend our project and need to secure our funds.

Thanks to your continued support which allows us to anticipate further development toward the education of our children and protection of the environment.

Outdoor education

Links:

• Daktari volunteer experience

To our appreciated supporters,

It is now time to give you some news from Daktari and tell you about the impact of your donations.

Over 900 children have come for the week of education about their environment at Daktari and we thought we had to expand. Thanks to your donations, we have been able, since January, to start our new Youth development programme.

Every week the local school contact a student who has finished school and suggest him/her to join Daktari for a week to help in the education of the younger children. This young person, not employed, instead of staying in the street, can now develop his enthusiasm in the protection of wildlife and helping his community.

This is a great success and we are very proud to have the local youth as part of the project, allowing them to discover and expand some interest for their environment. Some of them have already changed their future orientation and have decided to go back to school to study Nature and Conservation.

There is no doubt this has a tremendous impact to the future of wildlife and the beauty of our country and we express our gratitude for being a part of it.

Contact us if you have comments, questions or suggestion about Daktari and its mission and we will be happy to share them with you.

We thank you for your donations which are vital to us and are happy to have you by our side.

Best regards,

The Daktari Team

Links:

• Our new baby genets
• website

Dear All,

We would like to thank all of you who have given to our project through the challenge Give More, Get More. We have now received from you a total of $ 1960 matched by Global Giving at $ 438 which will give us a total so far of $ 2398.

This is wonderful and helps so much to continue the project. We could not survive without your contribution and can’t thank you enough for your generosity.

The challenge isn’t finished and we still have to the 1st of December to benefit from donor’s generosity. So if you haven’t made your donation yet, there is still time!!!

We are following the progress every day while still having the children here with us. They all know about your kindness and are very grateful for the opportunity they are given.

Lately we received an orphaned bushbaby. Although it’s a very common animal in the area, most of the children have never seen one. In the children’s village, they have all been exterminated. The children enjoy the cheerful personality of Chico the bushbaby and all hope they will eventually come back in their village. The children’s interaction with Chico is very important and shows them that animals aren’t all dangerous and can also be enjoyable to observe instead of being seen as food or traditional medicine.

We look forward to have your feedback and may be your visit?

Best regards,

Ian and Michele

Daktari is to learn to take care of animals

Daktari is also to welcome orphaned animals

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage inspires, motivates, develops and educates underprivileged children to care for the environment through the medium of a wildlife orphanage.

Each week Daktari invites children from the local underprivileged school to stay at the camp for 5 days. Whilst the children are at Daktari, they follow an eductional program about wildlife and the environment. They also take part in lessons such as English, Poilteness and Maths. A very important part of Daktari is the animals. We care for animals which are injured or orphaned and also animals which cannot be released back into the wild. These animals are used to educate the children, who help with their daily care and feeding.

As a volunteer at Daktari, I have been involved with the teaching program for the children. When they arrive on a Monday morning, an introduction to Daktari is given and then we start with the teaching program. The children help us with daily chores, which include cleaning animal camps and feeding some of the animals. Whilst following the teaching plan, we all aim to make the lessons as exciting as possible and to make sure that the children get the most out their time here as possible.

I plan to stay at Daktari for another 2 months and will then return to England. I came to Daktari in January so have been here a while! I would greatly recommend this project to anyone wishing to spend time in South Africa working with the local children. From volunteering at Daktari, you can be sure to have a trip filled with wonderful memories and experiences which will never be forgotten.

When asked what she would tell her friends about this project, Vicky said: "Incredible! You need to see this."

Dear all,

You all have been wonderful supporters of our educational project.

Thanks to your donations Daktari was able to welcome over 100 children for an education week about environment. Because of your great enthusiasm toward our work and your concern about the future of South African children and wildlife we have decided to double our target. We are now trying to reach over 220 children in the next few months. Daktari never stops!!! During school holidays, it wasn’t possible to get the children from our two local schools as the teachers were away. There is no holiday for Daktari’s team and they decided to take this leave opportunity to invite vulnerable children from a neighbouring orphanage and the children’s staff from a next-door farm. This was such an opportunity for them to get out of their normal routine and discover a bit of wildlife. This was all new to them and they went back to the orphanage with lots of stories to tell to their nannies. The children’s neighbouring farm’s staffs were happy to discover in which environment their parents are working as of course they didn’t have a clue about it.

We will invite children from the orphanage and from local staff’s again and we thank you to help us to make it possible. Your donations are highly needed and appreciated.

With your help we always feel stronger and stronger and will also go out of our way to honour your support.

Tell us if you are happy with the way we use your donations.

We look forward to hear from you,

Ian and Michele

Sibongile and our blind donkey

Seipati and Junior our Eagle

In august 2008 Daktari bought a Chana 10 seater vehicle to safely transport the children to and from their village. Unfortunately recently we discovered the vehicle is not registered as a 10 seater but only as a 2 seater. The business that sold us the vehicle has since closed down and we cannot be refunded or have the vehicle legally changed!!! It is now vital that we get a 10 seater or more vehicle that is legal to transport the children and volunteers every week. This is why we are urgently requesting assistance from the generous supporters of Global Giving to at least find sufficient funds for us to pay a deposit to purchase a suitable vehicle.

We thought it was time to let you know how you have made a difference to Daktari with your donation through GlobalGiving. We have now received 11 171 US $ from 187 donors. The total project is 12 848 US $ and we only have to reach another 1 677 US $ to complete the project.

To date we have already invited 75 children for a week of education about wildlife and environment and all of them are already spreading the word with their friends and family.

The two wildlife clubs are showing a very enthusiastic interest and our volunteer team is actually at the moment having a meeting with the two clubs, in their village, to give them support with their new passion. We anticipate this will help them to be more familiar with nature and develop awareness about its protection.

We thank you all, friends, family and anonymous for your fantastic support.

Ian and Michele Merrifield

Children discovering pleasure of swimming

A NOTE FROM GLOBAL GIVING:

Please welcome Ian and Michele Merrifield. They are new project leaders here at GlobalGiving and over the past few weeks we have had the opportunity to get to know them and the great work they do for their organization Daktari Wildlife Orphanage & Bush School.

Periodically over the next two months we will be sending you snapshots about Ian and Michele’s life and work. We encourage your feedback about this new form of progress update so that we can provide you with the most interesting and relevant information possible about the projects and causes you support.

We thank you for your contributions and ask you to consider donating again to Ian and Michele and Daktari Wildlife Orphanage & Bush School. Feel free to tell your friends about this incredible project!

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Who says you can't learn anything from TV?

Ian and Michele Merrifield’s primary inspiration for their 1500 acre animal reserve and environmental school was the CBS TV program Daktari (Swahili for “doctor”), a show that aired briefly in the late 1960s about a fictional animal care center in East Africa. From their respective homes in France and South Africa, Michele and Ian remember “getting deeply emotionally attached to the different animals” on the show and aspired to one day open their own animal refuge centers.

Years later, Michele met Ian on a game reserve in Africa, and bonded over their love of bottle-feeding baby zebras injured by lions and aiding orphaned giraffes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, and warthogs. In 2002, they founded Daktari Bush School and Animal Orphanage.

Hazards of Bush Living

Ian and Michele Merrifield now operate a 1500 acre environmental education facility and animal refuge center in South Africa called Daktari. Their menagerie includes leopard, hyena, giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala, bushbuck, and wildebeest, with the occasional visit from their larger neighbors, the elephant and lion.

There are some animals, however, of which the Merrifields are not so fond. Mosquitoes, snakes, spiders, and scorpions are some of their bush “friends” who co-exist in the habitat, but are not exactly the kind of visitors Daktari hopes to attract. “It is fun but everyone must be vigilant,” says Michele.

Being out in the bush also means being distant from supplies crucial to the function the Merrifield’s program, whose facilities require constant maintenance and upgrading. Ian and Michele hope to expand the program to more children and improve the infrastructure of their center. Although currently without electricity, Ian and Michele say they hope to “reduce our carbon footprint by having better power sources, such as solar power for the office and refrigeration.”

Dear Friends,

I am Nicola, a volunteer manager, writing this update about Daktari's Bush School. I must start with a big THANK YOU to all of you for your generous support. So far Daktari has raised $10,171 from 169 donors and the amount is still growing! We are just $2,677 from our goal.

Since the GlobalGiving Project Challenge 2008 ended in November we have had 35 underprivileged come for a 5 day visit to Daktari's Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage. Our last 2 groups of students from Ramatau High School both had 7 students instead of 6, this was the only way to allow all of Ramatau's grade 8 students to visit Daktari before the end of the school year. Our last group of students from Ramatau High School made a donation of R 26.50 (2 Euros or $2.69 USD) towards caring for Daktari's new bushbaby. Michele and the volunteers were surprized and overwhelmed, and almost everyone cried at their generosity.

While schools were on break at the beginning of December, for Christmas and summer holidays, there was no break for the staff and volunteers at Daktari. For the first two weeks of December Daktari took in 2 groups of orphans from Qoisi Orphanage in Bushbuck Ridge. Although Daktari's Bush School focuses on educating underprivileged children we volunteers found the orphans' visit eye opening. Senior, our cook, made extra helpings for every meal. Daktari's volunteers often bring small items as prizes for students. Sometimes these prizes are suitable for students that are much younger than Daktari's regular grade 8 students. Before the last set of orphans left, we packed up all of these items for younger children, including stuffed animals, colouring books and toys and made a collection for the younger orphans at Bushbuck Ridge, giving everyone a warm Christmas glow.

After Christmas we had a group of 9 students, who are the children of the staff of a nearby nature reserve. It was great for the children to be educated about their local environment and to have the opportunity to learn about the types of work their parents are doing. In the future we are hoping to include a trip to a neighbouring reserve within our weekly program. This would allow the children to see a larger variety of animals and learn more about the different types of employment available on nature reserves.

Now, in the last week before school resumes Daktari has 6 members of Daktari Eco-Zone attending our Bush School. Daktari Eco-Zone is an environmental club started by school children who had completed their week at Daktari. These children were so inspired by Daktari's environmental education programme that they wanted to share their knowledge and new found passion with their friends and local community. Four of the 6 visiting students were founding members of Daktari Eco-Zone and they had been asking to return to Daktari all year. The other 2 students were part of the group who had joined this environmental club without having visited Daktari.

Thanks for your support and I promise to write again soon.

Nicola Coady

Eco-Zone students preparing for their bushwalk

Dear supporters of Daktari,

The GlobalGiving Challenge ended on the 21st of November and thanks to you, we now have a permanent spot on the American GlobalGiving website. We raised a total of $ 6915 from 127 donors which is going to be a tremendous help in covering the costs of welcoming children to DAKTARI.

For the last two years, we have welcomed over 250 children for a full week of environmental education at DAKTARI Bush School. We needed more funds to continue our mission and YOU made it possible!!! Already this Monday morning we picked up 7 underprivileged children from the “Ramatau” school and they are now all busy discovering and studying about environment. They have already been on a guided tour to meet our animals at the orphanage. Tomorrow morning, like every morning and afternoon, they will, with the help of the volunteers, feed and care for all of our animals. The children were all very happy to meet Lizzy our duiker who was saved by some of the other children from the same school 8 months ago. They also met Rusty, the young Nyala, for whom Mildred, an underprivileged student, raised R 49.50 to help toward his food.

Inter-acting with the animals is the best way to create feelings and compassion for them. Our goal is to get as many children as possible to visit DAKTARI Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage. These children will be taught about the importance of the environment and also about the job opportunities that exist in game reserves, thereby improving their future quality of life.

We want to express our sincere gratitude for your donations which makes a real difference in the life of our local children. The project is still online on GlobalGiving where you can always make a contribution or encourage your friends and family to become a supporter of DAKTARI.

Ian and Michele

Dear Supporters,

We are so proud of you. Because of you, because of your concern, because of your determination, we won a permanent position on the Global Giving website.

As of today, 78 of you gave a total of $ 4685!!!! This is an incredible donation for Daktari and we are celebrating our success with the children.

You inspired us so much we are now hoping to reach first place, raise the largest amount of donations in this challenge and win a bonus of $ 4000. We are only $ 1500 away from the top, so we strongly believe that you can still impress us!!!

Thank you so much for keeping an eye on our progress and encouraging your friends and family to support us.

Ian and Michele

Dear all,

We would like to say a very special thank you for your tremendous support with this exciting challenge. We have been overwhelmed by your reaction. Many of you have answered our call for donations and we can't express enough gratitude for your terrific response. We thank you all for caring for our environment and the future of our children. We still need a few more donors and donations to reach our goal and we trust you are all doing your best to help us achieve our target. Thank you so much for being involved from wherever you are.