For the very first time, the members of the Karanambu Trust held their meeting at Karanambu. There was great excitement in the air as we greeted Dr. Lucy when she arrived from the States. Dr. Lucy Spelman is the Secretary of the Karanambu Trust, she is also an internationally renowned wildlife veterinarian, but most importantly, she is our very dear friend. Lucy has been coming to Karanambu to help Diane with the wildlife for the last 15 years.
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| Diane & Dr. Lucy |
Major General (retired) Joseph Singh, the Chairman of the Karanambu Trust arrived the day before the meeting. To many here, he is not only a role model, he is a hero. Rarely do you meet someone whose kindness matches his intelligence, whose commitment and work ethic set the bar for others to follow. We are so fortunate to have Joe leading our team!
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| Major General Joseph Singh addressing the communities |
Sydney Allicock is the liaison for the local communities in the North Rupununi. He is also the Chairman of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB). Sydney too is recognized as an extraordinary leader and example of true commitment and dedication to his community, his heritage and to a sustainable future. He recently was named the 2010 Anthony Sabga Public and Civil Contributions laureate.
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| Sydney Allicock |
The other distinguished members of the Karanambu Trust who were unable to attend in person, Dr. Godfrey Bourne, Father Malcolm Rodrigues, Patrick McTurk, Michael McTurk and Mary Stefanini joined us by skype.
We began with a briefing to the local communities on the mission of the Karanambu Trust and the progress that has been made in the last 5 months since we arrived on site.
We discussed how to preserve and protect these beautiful Wetlands and the Savannah of the North Rupununi. We called upon both the Elders and the Youth to work closely together. Uncle Fred Allicock, one of the original pioneers in conservation in the Rupununi, attended the meeting and spoke directly to the youth about the need to protect and care for the 125 square miles of Karanambu.
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| Diane & Uncle Fred |
We toured Salvador's Garden and very proudly showed off our produce!
Then we went on to the Volunteer Housing which is being completed in preparation for the arrival of the Peace Corps Volunteers.
As we waved goodbye to our guests,
we were energized, filled with pride, enthusiasm
and optimism; committed even more deeply to the preservation of the North Rupununi Wetlands, Savannahs and the Wildlife that live here.
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| 2 Jabiru Storks on the Sandbank |
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| Jabiru in Flight |
Our two orphaned Giant River Otters at play
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| Philip & Belle |
And our very own Hero
DIANE
"The Best Cherisher of the Beloved Beasts"
Hi, Andrea and Salvador.
ReplyDeleteMany apologies for our delay in saying hi.
We both love following the blog and with the Jabiru picture on today's entry (which we both believe is National Geographic worthy), I thought I would send a quick message to let you know that I still plan to send the butterfly books for Kenneth with a longer note. You can let him know that his pupil Mark has continued to increase his birding skills and for the past two days has been participating in the National Backyard bird count. Our avian community seems to enjoy the 8 different feeders and the 2 heated birdbaths that I bought for Mark's birthday. He also now has a pair of binoculars at work and calls me regularly with the latest adventure of the red-tailed hawk, peregrine falcon, crows, nuthatches, titmice, and others who live in downtown D.C. outside his office windows.
We hope that your families made it there for the holidays and that you had a wonderful time together. Is there anything that you could use at the Ranch that we could include in a package that would not create customs/shipping issues (first aid or other supplies, flash drives or SD memory cards, burnable CDs or DVDs, or something special for Diane (maybe to fatten her up a bit--she looks even thinner in the recent pictures))?
I still tear up when either thinking about or describing Karanambu to our friends (or strangers) and dream of returning to visit. Thank you again for the life-changing experience and hospitality. Hopefully our household snake will have taken up residence elsewhere by that time!
Salvador--your garden looks fantastic! Our backyard will be available for planting around the end of April or early May, in case you are in the neighborhood. I still search here routinely, without success, for my beloved bora beans but it looks like I may have to come for a visit to enjoy them again.
Our love to all of you. Catherine and Mark