This is a summary of an email we received from Lynn upon returning to Thuma Forest Reserve after a holiday back in her native country of Ireland. We were becoming concerned as we had not heard from her in several weeks.

“Sorry for the lack of response but my holiday turned into a remote job. Spent 2 weeks fundraising which was good but we did not meet our target for salaries and operations. That along with family sickness and a death in the family consumed all of my time.

I am back 5 days and it has been nonstop trying to resolve urgent things. 3 vehicles off the road with serious issues, 5 serious staff health crisis (one whole day taking them to doctors and hospital but we saved one’s life so it was worth it).

Poaching has risen sharply and we are overrun with wildlife and forest crime. It is scary and we have lost 4 rangers who have resigned as they feared for their lives. (See our earlier post about how being a forest ranger is one of the most dangerous job in the world).

We have a new president and things are changing rapidly. School fees, governance, sugar etc are hit with rapid prices. Fuel alone is up 33%. Beer too for which I am not happy.

The new government is stopping any child who has not done well from going on to high school even if they can afford it. This, however, is giving us an opportunity to promote 2 excellent students to go to a top government school. The drawback is that it is much more expensive but we believe it will be worth the extra cost. Of the 10 students we sponsored last year in secondary school 8 sat for different final exams and all passed. 1 failed and will repeat and one girl has not returned to school.

Fence materials have arrived – yippee – I spent Friday in the city clearing customs and transporting them to HQ. (We will have a report in the future about Elefence’s contribution to the next phase of construction).

We reintroduced Zebras before I left and they are doing great. One herd hangs around the lodge and the other around the HQ camp. Today I saw with my own eyes for the first time eland and nyala …..so exciting. We hope to get new ones reintroduced next month and after that my dream …. leopard.

A critical issue is that fertilizer costs have skyrocketed and we are short $3000 to purchase what is need for many local families. Anything you can do will be much appreciated.” ( Note: Elefence is going to fund $3000 from our generous supporters toward this cost. Planting season begins in December before the rains come. Without adequate fertilizer the yields will fall significantly making starvation a real threat.)