African Dream

June 2, 2014 Jen

Powerful, dignified and awe inspiring comes to mind when I think about elephants. They are the biggest and most spectacular land animals. A big tusker can stand up to 4 meters tall and weigh six or seven tonnes. A big bull’s tusks can weigh up to 100 kilograms, and it is the elephants tusks that humans are greedy to own. These gentle giants are richly endowed with all the better attributes of mankind have forever been stalked and hunted by the uglier and darker side of man.

When we discuss ‘animal intelligence’, do we as humans take on a anthropocentric view? Are we the most important beings? Whilst we are an intricate part of this wild and beautiful world, we are but one thread in this web of life. We are all creatures of the soil, and we need to learn to honour all that leaves their mark in the sand. Sadly, we seem bent on destroying not only each other, but the environment as well. These magnificent creatures and other animals are also intricately woven into evolution’s slow magic. They are however, not preoccupied with control or destruction. Elephants reveal to us humans all the goodness in creation. They possess an inner beauty: Natures soothing breeze.

Southern African countries are a mass of teeming humanity: a canvas of brightly coloured African textiles and bronzed sunsets. This land of extremes is vibrant, garish and spicy but sadly the spacious tree lined avenues of the cities and towns are a silent witness to the corruption and greed.

However, get close to a mango grove in Zambia and the magic of Africa will leave you reeling. Where else in the world can you book into a hotel and be a witness to the migration of a small herd of elephants who return every November to gorge on the mangoes. With a low frequency purr that you can feel rather than hear, they enter the lobby, large ears fanning the breeze gently as they rumble on through. Pausing every so often, a large versatile trunk leans over sneaking a quick peek at the register offering guests a breathtaking glimpse of their compassionate and huge hearts. Wrinkle upon wrinkle of intelligence and a large mass of bubbling exuberance best describes these animals as they glide out the lobby lifting their trunks to where the sunshine hangs lazily in the cerulean sky.

Building the lodge in their path was never intended but these magnificent animals continue to seduce guests for the +- four to six weeks of the year with their regal presence. Africa, a land of extremes with it’s golden bush and limitless blue heavens is also a land of constant movement and violent corruption.

We hold the destiny of every living creature in our hands, and yet so few of us hear the silent cries of agony and the helpless pleas. The greed for ‘white gold’ has become the elephants downfall and their numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate. As the large drop of sun lingers, idle in its goodbyes, let us not allow the darkness to envelop and destroy the riches that these countries have to offer. Help to keep the African dream alive.

Rory Young is a wildlife tracker and activist who has been fighting against poaching all his life. Born in Zambia and brought up in different parts of Africa, Rory took to wildlife tracking as a child and decided to make it his life’s mission.

Rory Young has formed an alliance with Jacob Alekseyev, an American living in Zambia. Alekseyev is a former Major and Federal Agent of the US Air Force, Office of Special Investigations. Together they have worked out a plan of action to stop poaching in the Zambezi River Valley. Chengeta Wildlife is completely volunteer run and this investment will allow the rangers the much needed skills and resources to defend themselves and protect the magnificent elephants and other wildlife. Please also take a look at their facebook page where you can offer them some support.

There is hope, if we stand together. Our partners at https://www.facebook.com/lionalert described the free training we offer, “We are offering training to Africa’s anti-poaching units (APUs) in the most comprehensive, intelligent and pragmatic doctrine ever devised to bring the practice of poaching under control.”

If anyone would like to take an active role in the solution to poaching, you can now donate directly from Chengeta Wildlife’s Facebook page. So far 100% of donations to Chengeta Wildlife will support the APU training. We have no paid staff and all overhead cost up to this point have been underwritten by our board members.

You can be a part of the solution! Join our team here: https://www.facebook.com/chengetavalley

Chengeta Wildlife.org was started by Lisa Groenweg of Rock Valley, Iowa.

Chengeta Wildlife is a group of people from around the world who formed a nonprofit organization to support Rory Young and the work he does. He has skills and knowledge that the teams protecting wildlife badly need to protect themselves and wildlife. If enough funding is generated we would like to purchase tactical equipment needed by the teams. Things like night vision goggles, thermal sensing equipment and motion sensing cameras. Chengeta Wildlife is run by volunteers. So far 100% of funds raised have gone directly to the field where it is desperately needed. WE HAVE ZERO OVERHEAD COSTS!

Like Lisa, we too can do our bit to help combat the horrors of poaching. Collectively, we can ensure the continuation of Chengeta Wildlife’s ability to adequately train and equip the necessary new generation of rangers required to assist the continuation of the circle of life in elephants within their natural habitats in Africa.

HELP US TO HEAR THE ‘WHISPERS OF THE ELEPHANTS’ (MY POEM)

Rays Of Hope

May 26, 2014 Jen

As we look around the world today, we can’t help but observe that not only are humans destroying millions of their own kind in the name of politics, power and religion, they are also hell bent on annihilating animal life and the environment. Both violence towards people and animals for many of the two legged beings has become a socially acceptable form of human behaviour and sadly, a way of life. Is it permanent? NO..I live in HOPE..that some sanity will prevail and kinder days are waiting just around the corner.

Nothing will ever beat watching an elderly elephant bull, his large ivory tusks weighing down his massive head as he romances the Zambezi river line or a herd of females with their young calves with waving and out of control trunks. These images leave an everlasting imprint on the mind. To view these magnificent animals in their natural surrounds is truly like balm on the soul and fills one’s heart with hope. Hope that we can all help to keep our Zambezi Valley free of rampant poaching.

Where there is the dawning of a new day, there is Hope. Hope is a feeling that is not always permanent, but it is a feeling that we know means, that we will all survive the darkness and bask in the golden sunrise once again. It does not take away that feeling of horror that comes with the knowledge of another elephant or rhino butchered, but it does remind us that where there is a dawn with rhinos and elephants: there is hope. Hope Dawning (my poem).

I feel sad and disgusted that humans have allowed themselves to travel on the perilous journey into the underworld. As these clouds of despair drift down over Africa, we cannot allow ourselves to be shaped by the buffeting winds. We can all play an important role during these dark times of destruction.

Ivory, when it is dead has an uneasy splendour about it. Nothing can come close to the beauty of ivory on an elephant. It has a warmth and lustre that pulses with life and personality. Ivory belongs to elephants and has no use to man. For whatever different reasons humans want to own a piece of ivory for: we all know that it comes at a great cost to the unfortunate elephant herds who supply the demand. Hundreds and thousands of these sentient creatures are slaughtered and mutilated to feed the demand. Elephants and other wildlife are irreplaceable riches and now have no where to run to and nowhere to hide. They need our protection.

The haunting cry of the ‘coucal’ is often overpowered by the the unwelcome ‘ k-k-k-k-k’, an irate bark from a machine gun. These are not random thugs after a piece of bush meat. These are highly organised gangs who poach for profit which in turn funds terrorist activities. The Rangers in Africa are often underpaid and ill-equipped as they fight to protect our precious wildlife.

Going on patrol is like doing a duty on the front line and just as, if not more dangerous. They are braced for the continual onslaught but need our help. Without donation support, they are unable to run a well oiled business. These Wildlife Warriors need comprehensive training and the resources to carry out their important work. These brave men and woman are up against towering storm clouds that threaten our wildlife’s existence. However, where there is a dawn with Rangers, there is hope.

HOPE also comes in the form of Rory Young and Chengeta Wildlife who offer first class training to the Anti poaching teams. The fate of Africa’s elephants along with other wildlife hangs by a thread. It is on this thread that we as custodians of the earth need to concentrate and secure. A project that is close to the heart of all wildlife lovers is The Tashinga Initiative whose anti poaching teams are custodians of the Zambezi Valley and more. This gives us hope for our wildlife. Let us support these men on the ground. There are many selfless and dedicated people out there who have been involved in conservation, and without them these magnificent animals would surely have been lost to the world. Each and every person dedicating some of their time to saving the elephants and other wildlife are needed and appreciated. Each and every one of them brings something different to the table, but they also bring hope.

ZIMBABWEAN ELEPHANTS

April 21, 2014 Jen

What will be the fate of the Presidential Herd of Zimbabwe?. This is a question that burns and tightens the knot in my stomach to breaking point. The cyanide poisoning of the Hwange elephants last year, was for me a dramatic turning point. Although I live far from the country in which I was born, I can no longer pretend that all is well in the animal kingdom. All is far from well. The bush, ‘the womb of the universe’ is fast on the tracks to becoming ‘The big empty.’

When I started my inner journey, a friend asked me at question ‘This passion you have for elephants, it comes straight from your heart. How the hell do you put in all into words?’

I did not hesitate in my reply. ‘I know and feel the fear from these animals. I also know what it is like to own something that others want. The only difference was that to take what we owned was done by intimidation and yes…violence, but we survived. These animals do not survive. They are killed for their ‘personal treasure’ which is then butchered from their faces. It does my head in.’

In 1990 President Robert Mugabe decreed that the plus minus 450 herd of elephants that roamed on the the state land bordering Hwange should never be culled or hunted. In essence, he gave them ‘safe passage’. This was done to symbolize Zimbabwe’s commitment to ‘responsible’ wildlife management. However, this short lived promise was soon to be whipped away and scattered amongst the leaves. The ‘master of illusion’, or ‘delusion’ had been weaving his wicked magic. By 1997, his promise to this special herd was null in void as Zimbabwe lobbied CITES to sell off a stock pile of ivory to China, claiming that Zimbabwe’s elephants now had to ‘pay for their rent’. Licences were then dished out and suddenly Mugabe’s lips were stitched tight on the subject, and this herd’s protection was short lived.

Sharon Pincott, an Australian wildlife enthusiast arrived on the scene on 5th March 2001. Like an angel of mercy, she took this special herd of elephants under her wing. She has spent 13 years with these elephants…dedicating her time and love while monitoring and protecting them. Sharon founded and has run the ‘Presidential Elephant Conservation Project’ since 2001…a long uphill battle all the way. Shadows of corruption and the stench of greed have soured the air, but she had the courage to take a stance…often standing alone as she fought on the side of these elephants. These raw and violent battlefields are now including land claims that have resurfaced in early 2014. Despite a directive being issued in December 2013 by Zimbabwe’s Cabinet that offer letters be withdrawn,the claimont Elisabeth Pasalk / Freeman has totally disregarded these orders and gone ahead to build a safari lodge. She has changed the name of the Kanondo area to ‘Gwango Elephant Lodge.’ She is understood to be an American resident, and the sister of a well known safari operator.

Sharon Pincott has sadly been stunk out. After 13 years of dedication and love to these animals, she has now written her last post ‘Who destroyed the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe?’ I read this last post with my heart pounding like a 10 pound hammer against my ribs cage. As a Zimbabwean who is passionate about my country, I again feel fear as it menaces up and against me. What will become of these ambling giants who wear their huge hearts on their sleeve. I can see and smell the bush that echoes with their rumbles and pulsates with their personalities. These intelligent and sentient creatures will have to wonder why ‘their beloved friend’ has had to leave. I feel fear for them as their ‘echoes of harmony are lost in the storm of political currents.’ What an uncertain future lies ahead for them? Like all living creatures in Zimbabwe, they face the threat of falling through the ever widening cracks into chaos. To Sharon Pincott, I wish her well and can only say thank you….You truly have been an inspiration to us all. God Speed.

‘Who will watch over the Presidential Elephants?’ ( My poem…dedicated to the elephants and their human friend.) Thank you to all those incredible men and women out there on the ground…the thin line between our wildlife and ‘the big empty.’ We salute all of you.

When will us humans learn that these elephants, rhino and other wildlife need our protection. We need to ‘Chengeta Wildlife’ . Now more than ever, our rangers need help to fight the fight because ‘when the earth beings grow greedy, the animals will slowly disappear’.

Rory Young is not only a wildlife tracker and activist who has been fighting against the dark and hungry shadows of poaching all his life, he is also a prolific and exceptional writer. Born in Zambia and brought up in different parts of Africa, he learnt to treat the earth well, reading the signs and stories left by different animals and humans in the bush. He managed to blend in with the natural surroundings that had become his playground and feasting on the wonders of nature. The songs and calls of the bush speak to him. The passion for the bush never left him and he decided to make it his life’s work to combat the poaching problem.

Let’s spread the word.

Facebook: Facebook.com/chengetavalley
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChengetaTusk
Thunderclap: Let’s kick some poacher *ss
Crowdfunding: Terrorists Are Targeting Africa’s Elephants

Rangers vs Poachers

April 7, 2014 Jen

I often think back to the day when I was told that there was absolutely nothing that I as an individual could do to help in this continual fight against the evils of poaching. All to often we close our minds to the blood red streaks that mar our African landscape. While the world watches, the images of butchered animals, bodies slightly bloated and legs suspended up in the air leap out of the computer or television, eyes staring unseeingly: pleading for somebody to take notice.

I cannot sit and do nothing. I feel their pain and anguish and beg all of you, ‘courage does not always need to be a huge roar.’ I started jennysjumbojargon in November 2013 with the thought of putting into words through poetry about the continual attack on these animals. I describe the pain and torment that these creatures must feel: this flanks me, the acrid smell of gunfire and the metallic taste of blood that clogs my throat. This is not a violent storm that has bullied its way into the African bush. This is a dark menacing chaos of greed, corruption and destruction. These ruthless killers are turning the African bush into a wild sweltering inferno, flames devouring any animal with tusks or horns. These animals are being hemmed in by a force of angry heat and unrelenting attacks. At the rate these pachyderms are being poached, mortality shadows them and it does not matter how large or small their personal treasure.

I would love to be in a position to stop the demand. All I can do is to share work done by others, support all the wildlife groups and leave that enormous part of the problem to those that have clout. Yao Ming and Jackie Chan are doing amazing work to raise awareness in the Asian countries on the plight of the African elephants and rhinos.

And then of course we have the good men on the ground. Those bush warriors who put their lives on the line to ensure the safety of the wildlife.

It is a life changing experience for the rangers who are witness to the ‘desolation’ long after the poached animal has unburdened its enormous wrinkled body into a spiritual updraft of lightness. Sadly for these animals death does not always come in a single violent stroke.

“I found that the very people who had knocked back the poaching in the 90’s were now old, or were replaced with younger, less experienced people who had grown up after the liberation wars and counter insurgency operations of my generation and who had had no training or experience in the very skills needed to win. Very few could track properly and almost none knew how to follow-up poacher spoor as an effective team. Furthermore, the will to win was gone and there was no money because there was also no publicity about what was happening.”

Africa needs many more teams on the ground, doing the actual anti-poaching work. Without them there is really no hope.

Rory has already volunteered much of his time in providing much needed training to wildlife protection teams, but violent groups in the region have now started to look to the ivory trade to fund terrorist activities. Rory is now seeking to implement a full time, comprehensive training program and provide the rangers with the resources they need to carry out their important work.

Chengeta Wildlife.org was started by Lisa Groenweg of Rock Valley, Iowa.

Chengeta Wildlife is a group of people from around the world who formed a nonprofit organization to support Rory Young and the work he does. He has skills and knowledge that the teams protecting wildlife badly need to protect themselves and wildlife. If enough funding is generated we would like to purchase tactical equipment needed by the teams. Things like night vision goggles, thermal sensing equipment and motion sensing cameras. Chengeta Wildlife is run by volunteers. So far 100% of funds raised have gone directly to the field where it is desperately needed. WE HAVE ZERO OVERHEAD COSTS!

Like Lisa, we too can do our bit to help combat the horrors of poaching. Collectively, we can ensure the continuation of Chengeta Wildlife’s ability to adequately train and equip the necessary new generation of rangers required to assist the continuation of the circle of life in elephants within their natural habitats in Africa.

Some people may think it is too late, but where there are elephants and other wildlife….there is hope. Let’s all give a growl of thunder. (My poem)

WILDLIFE RANGERS

March 31, 2014 Jen

As I sit in the comfort of my lounge..in the UK, my mind is constantly wandering to the far reaches of the sun kissed land that feeds my soul, and a land that I love so passionately. The horrors of poaching and animal trafficking leaves an ugly taste in my mouth and an even uglier scar on the land. These horrors of poaching invade my life through the social media network that even governments are unable to control and each and every time another elephant and other wildlife is poached, I feel like I have been kicked in the stomach. What can I do to help has been a constant chirp in my ear? What started as a slow wave of destruction has now reached tsunami proportions as wave after wave of attack leaves desolation in it’s wake.

The African bush, the womb of the continent has taken a perilous descent into the underworld leaving brushstrokes of blood and tortured scenes of desolation deep in the shadows. Death however, does not only stalk the wildlife. It also shadows those brave rangers who face unprecedented onslaughts from ruthless and well armed criminal gangs, who are determined to leave with their booty. In the deep stillness of the African bush, unquenchable greed has turned this beautiful bronzed land into a raw and violent battlefield.

Going on patrol is like doing a duty on the front line and just as, if not more dangerous. They are braced for the continual onslaught but need our help. Without donation support, they are unable to run a well oiled business. These Wildlife Warriors (My poem) need comprehensive training and the resources to carry out their important work. These brave men and woman are up against towering storm clouds that threaten our wildlife’s existence.

The earth will provide plenty: but never enough to fulfill man’s greed and these courageous men are fighting to stop our bush from becoming a no-mans land of external waste.

Let us all salute these men and women and celebrate the power and resilience of the human spirit.

CHENGETA WILDLIFE is completely volunteer run and this investment will allow the rangers the much needed skills and resources to defend themselves and protect the magnificent elephants.