I am hoping that the moderators will allow this post as I am not promoting a company as such but rather a charity organisation that is in desperate need of help.
As some of you know I am currently volunteering at Parque Machia for an organisation known as Inti Wara Yassi (intiwarayassi.org) in Bolivia. Generally there are on average 30 - 40 volunteers at the site with a minimum number of 24 needed for things to run smoothly. As of tomorrow we will have just 14.
There are 4 pumas and 2 ocelots to walk, dozens of monkeys (spider and capuccin) plus a variety of other smaller animals and a myriad of birds including macaws, amazons, hawks and falcons to take care of and we are stretched to the limit.
At the time of writing 2 of the pumas are not getting walked and one person is doing half days with each of the ocelots. The monkey people are run off their feet and everyone is exhausted.
To top it all, I went and broke my wrist yesterday which has taken me out of the equation and so my task is to try and drum up some assistance.
Please, if you are travelling now or in the future to SA, take a look at the web site and spare us some of your time. 2 weeks is the minimum but longer is ideal as the animals need time to get used to you. Yes it is hard work but extremely rewarding and at around $7 a day, very cheap!
If you are unable to offer us your time, donations would be gratefully received as low volunteer numbers also means less income.
Take a look at the web site, it really is the most incredible place to live and work and you could make a huge difference to these animals lives.
I understand that numbers are short at our sister park of Ambue Ari as well. This is where the majority of our cats are kept, jaguars, pumas and ocelots.
Please please, dont just take home photographs of your travels..do something amazing!
Using a machete as a walking stick? That's up there next to running with scissors. Though the scissors thing normally involves poking out an eye. Thankfully, Gato didn't bite you. (Then again, at 15, he might be "gumming" his way through life. Doubtful as pumas brush their teeth regularly.) I do hope you have a speedy healing process!! Throw some dirt on the wounds - that usually works. Either both arms will fall off or get better quickly.
I don't see a problem with leaving this thread on the forum. Many of us know you and know of your previous volunteer work. You would not post for promotional purposes. I plan to let it stay and I'm sure my co-mod will agree.
I wish you luck in finding people to volunteer. If I could, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Beerman and I have experience with pumas and lions and tigers and bears. (Seriously.) Wish we join you as it sounds amazing.
Thanks Isa, you are a star!
My next job is feeding a baby monkey and filing accounts....surely I can´t injure myself doing these????
Forgot, we have a bear too...but no lions. Wish you could come
Thanks Isa, you are a star!
My next job is feeding a baby monkey and filing accounts....surely I can´t injure myself doing these????
Forgot, we have a bear too...but no lions. Wish you could come
No problem!
I don't know... I've worked with spider monkeys, rhesus and baboons...The spiders were sneaky little things. Have fun!
Isa now returns this thread to it's originally scheduled topic - volunteering!
My next job is feeding a baby monkey and filing accounts....surely I can´t injure myself doing these????:
Claire,
I'm not so sure about that......paper cuts while filing can be worse than a gummy puma......
No worries, this is a good plea for assistance. I wish we could come down and help, we're very good at working with cats. Remind me to post the nice picture of us with Mustafa, a young lion we cared for some years back....he was 6 months old and a good 70 kg.......great wrestling partner!!!!
Everyone who likes animals should be doing this sort of thing when travelling. And always remember - we're all monkey people!!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!
My next job is feeding a baby monkey and filing accounts....surely I can´t injure myself doing these????:
Claire,
I'm not so sure about that......paper cuts while filing can be worse than a gummy puma......
No worries, this is a good plea for assistance. I wish we could come down and help, we're very good at working with cats. Remind me to post the nice picture of us with Mustafa, a young lion we cared for some years back....he was 6 months old and a good 70 kg.......great wrestling partner!!!!
Everyone who likes animals should be doing this sort of thing when travelling. And always remember - we're all monkey people!!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Ummm - make that and 7 months old... (Photo was in my gallery already.)
Okay - this thread is definitely returning to it's regularly scheduled topic!
I've heard about this program before and would love to volunteer there, as I'm a huge animal lover!
Hope you find new people, and I might point a few of my travelling/ volunteer friends your way.
Thanks to everyone reading this, please keep spreading the word!
Thankfully a few more have shown up bringing us to a total of 21, still a far cry from the 34 we need to function properly and we still have a beautiful puma still in need of a walk and there are more mangoes falling off the trees than we can possibly eat!
So far I have sustained no injuries from my ´secretarial´ job, but after 5 days away from the jungle and the animals I am seriously going crazy! Yesterday I managed to spend a short while in monkey park where the little cappuccins like to snuggle up in my sling.
Isa...love the photo...did you see mine of me with big toothy lion? Will try to post some of my ocelot and puma soon.
My boyfriend and I are heading to Machia early march for a month!
I can't wait!!
I sent an email and am awaiting a reply about arriving in June, as soon as I get a reply that there is space for me I can book a plane ticket from Brazil too Bolivia! And I shall be there for 2 and a half months so lots of time for the little animals to love me :D
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