As my trip to Namibia draws near my utter excitement becomes replaced with moments of anxiousness. This is something I have been wanting to do for many years, but it is also something that has not been done before. Everyday my brain is a whirlwind of thoughts. Will we be able to get close enough to get a good shot and get the dart with the anesthetics in? Will I be able to deliver while under such pressure, when I will most likely only get one shot, one opportunity? Eminem’s lyrics suddenly echo in my head and I can now very much relate to this feeling he’s describing.
Then I try to get myself focused on the task ahead again. Before we even get to this point we still have a long way to go. Without funding there will not be any shots to be taken, this is a very expensive undertaking. I will cover the costs for getting myself there and the employers of my current, paid, job have generously given me a month off to pursue this endeavor, but we still need all the veterinary equipment, drugs and even a dart gun, besides our food and petrol to keep us going.
Since my time at CCF, there are many questions I’ve had with regards to the health of this population and Kendall, a student who I worked with during her time at CCF, is incredibly eager to come and help with this. We spend many hours preparing lists of everything we need, going through all scenarios. She worked her butt off to get the funding needed for the veterinary research and with this is able to cover most supplies, drugs and equipment. We still don’t have a dart gun however, and we still need to cover running costs. So we start with fundraising. Now this is an entirely different ball game none of us have much experience with, luckily we now have Nicole joining to help us, if someone’s enthusiasm can keep our heads up and keep us believing we will succeed, it’s her!
I’ve never been good at asking people for money, but it does become easier when one truly believes in a cause and feels the desperation when without it you know all will fail. So we continue full blast and I’ve acquired another full time job. Every time there’s a donation we share the joy and when we achieve our goals we’re on the phone crying because of pure joy and relief. Just in time we get enough funding to be able to order a dart gun and collars as long as the rest of our supplies.
We can’t believe the generosity of people and will always be so grateful for everyone supporting us.
Now we still have to prove to all these people we can do it!
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