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March 1996 |
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Marula Puku Research Camp
March 1996
Dear Everybody,
In August 1993 we told you a story about Kangwa Muchisa, an infamous poacher, who has killed more than 1000 elephants. Mark and the scouts captured Kangwa in a sting operation. Just as Mark was about to fly Kangwa into the village for trial, we received a radio message. An infant in a remote village was dying of dehydration and needed to be flown to the clinic. Mark landed the chopper in the village, and taking the baby carefully from the crowd, he placed it gently into Kangwa's arms. The story of the poacher and the baby has become somewhat of a legend in villages near North Luangwa National Park.
Kangwa was sentenced to 5 years in prison swearing that when he was released he would kill Mark Owens. As is often the case, Kangwa was set free in late 1995 long before his full sentence was served. Of course, I worried that now Mark was in even more danger than he usually is. Though Kangwa was an outlaw, everyone said he is a man of his word.
Not long ago the radio in our camp crackled with a message from one of the game scouts. He reported to us that a villager had walked many miles to turn in a poacher, who had killed a duiker antelope. The man, he said, was outraged that the poacher had killed a wild animal; that poaching must be stopped in Zambia. The man, the scout said, who had turned in the poacher was none other than Kangwa Muchisa. Could he be our next convert? Can we trust him enough to hire him?
I wish you could see how well our North Luangwa Conservation Project is working. Seen from above we may look like some crazed ant colony that never stops. Every morning our Conservation Education officer, Lazarus Kazembe, leaves our small office in Mpika to drive over bumpy roads to one of our remote target villages around the park. In a dilapidated, one room school house, with crumbling walls and thatch roof, and using songs, games, quizzes, and supplies, sent all the way from the American Sister Schools, Lazarus teaches eager students about wildlife conservation. In Fulaza village there is a brand new school, built by our project.
Heading down another rugged road, our Community Development officers, Hammer Simwinga and Albert Chilambwe, drive to a village to demonstrate a sun flower seed press. More than 100 villagers, many of whom were once poachers, arrive with the sunflower seeds that Hammer and Albert taught them to grow last year. As the villagers crowd around in their brightly colored African prints, Hammer and Albert begin the press, and soon, cooking oil, the most prized commodity in rural Africa, where there is no butter, pours out of the spout. The people cheer. Now they will be able to make cooking oil to use and to sell. Why poach? We have helped more than 2000 families with agricultural or small business assistance.
And over there bumping along another road is Ronni Hadley, our Rural Health officer. She is training local women as Traditional Birth Attendants, so that they can teach the women in their village about family planning and rural health care. Along the way, Ronni stops to deliver soybean seeds to one of our Women's Clubs where villagers are learning to grow nutritious food for their families, instead of killing wildlife.
Deep in the folds of the Muchinga mountains, you will see Alex Haynes, our do-everything guy, building a bridge over the Mwaleshi River. The bridge will allow access into the park for our project vehicles and for the game scouts. Last year Alex built 48 houses and an operations center for the game scouts and flew the FZS Cessna 180 to find the radio collared elephants. In Mano Game Scout Headquarters, you can see the scouts scurrying around to prepare for patrol, the radio room bristling with action as messages come in from all the outlying camps, and the Women's Club members planting fruit trees.
Beyond the mountains, much farther into the Luangwa valley, you can see Marula Puku camp, where Mark is just taking off in the helicopter to locate the elephants. But on the way, he will land in a remote area of the park to deploy a group of game scouts for patrol wearing uniforms, boots, packs, water bottles, radios, and camping gear, all supplied by our project. Even deeper in the bush, you can see a long line of scouts and one wizened woman, me, as we hike the major rivers of North Luangwa to age the elephants. Later even from your high place in the sky, you can count the blisters on my feet!!
And of course, as you look over the valley you can see hundreds of elephants, congregating in large herds on the lush, sodden plains. The radio-collared family units from all over the park have come together to feed on the nutritious grasses. There is Gift and Georgia, Chimana and Chops, Long Tail, Survivor and Cheers. What you will not see from your high vantage point is a poacher. They have left North Luangwa.
It took everything from helicopters to band-aids to save these elephants. With your help, we are doing it. Thank you for giving life back to Luangwa. We are modeling the 6 programs of our project and writing a standard practices manual for each, so they can be used in other threatened areas.
Alston Watt, who headed Community Development, and her husband, Philip Watt, who was in charge of Rural Health, have had to leave the project for other commitments. We are grateful for their year of voluntary service to NLCP.
Please be aware that Congress intends to revise and weaken the Endangered Species Act. This would allow trophy hunting of endangered species and their importation into the USA. It would greatly dilute protection of Bald Eagles, wolves, grizzly bears and many others. America the Beautiful is already the number one consumer and importer of illegal wildlife products in the world!! Call your Congressional representatives and tell them that you support a stronger Endangered Species Act! Thank you.
Cheers from the bush,
Delia and Mark
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