Do most NGO's really care about what goes on????
Sometimes I wonder......

Quite a few people have sent me e mails and have openly discussed the massive water shortage effecting Kenya, Tanzania etc amongst other countries and how big an impact this will have on the wildlife ecosystem and of course of the world famous migration that I think every one has seen on TV documented by various national and international TV presenters and companies.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and this morning surfing the net and looking at what the big NGO’s and government organisations and even National News Papers have to say about issues such as the Mara River drying up and the impact of this drought with wildlife in general.
Hradly any information or news came up? Does that mean to the average reader all is okay - well I think from reading the bigger news papers in Kenya and looking at the websites of the top NGO's and organisations on what they are stating all must be well and merry...

The big NGO’s and government organisations & companies that directly benefit from getting income, benefits from donors which is not everyday people like most of us but from multinational businesses, the world bank, 1st world countries etc. have not mentioned at all – not even a hint at what is going on…..?
All this information is coming directly from small lodges, very small NGO’s that look for private funding or funding from single people or websites done by small groups of individuals where information has been posted on forums through information received by various means.... the bushdrums...

The only time we find out from the big NGO’s etc is when they send us all an e mail asking for money and get a poster in return….. normally when it is too late and passed by with a picture of animals dying or decaying to try and get to your wallet via your heart! I personally find it very unprofessional and a lot of ignorance that they handle the situation is such a manner.

I understand that this is a personal feeling but when you meet people that work for such companies and they have all the benefits and support that a lot of the smaller groups can only imagine and dream of having - I do find it ridiculous that they work this way!
Perhaps the big boys need to look and learn from the smaller ones.

Cody:

I can't give you a reason why the big NGO's and government departments aren't posting information on this situation.

However, I know that wildlife groups have been threatened about telling too much about what is going on with poaching, spearing, bodies found, deaths, etc. Government organizations don't want too much information getting out that would adversely effect their tourism, whether true or not. We must remember that the licenses of these wildlife groups and perhaps lodges and camps also can be yanked by the government at will so they HAVE to watch what they say.

When all is said and done, it is the government that is directly at fault - not for the drought itself, but for not dealing with issues that would help wildlife and people get through the terribly rough times. They have not dealt with setting up damns, controlling the poisons running into rivers and lakes, encouraging people to conserve the run-off of water from their homes, the charcoal industry, sand-harvesting, etc.

It is amazing to me that Kenya and Malaysia got their independence in the same year, and yet Malaysia is so far ahead of Kenya and other African countries as to their economies, lives of their people and wildlife. When will African governments wake up?

You are right Jan - maybe I am letting my frustration out on the wrong groups but I have been with them and some really are there at times to milk the system and there is a lot more that can be done....
I know how it is to live in Kenya and have the government having a indirect control over what happens - ever 2 years we were not sure if dad could continue working as he need to renew permist as well.
I guess it is just that we see and hear what is going on and when you go to a web sights like KWS that should be ontop of what is going on - you find information that is completely irrelavant to what is going on....

Agree with you completely Cody. I have hounded KWS admin for years about up to date news on their site as well as a secure donation site so that people could donate directly with their credit cards - yet nothing has been done. All they do is advertise what they do, their own accomodations, etc and not the state of wildlife they are paid to deal with.

They could be doing a much better job getting the word out of how much is needed and where, and what we, as wildlife lovers, could do to help.

Cody
As posted under another thread we had a message last week in which WWF stated how devastating it will be when the Mara dries out. It sais it's not just for Kenya and TAZ - many countries will be affected.
So at least WWF has pubished it's concerns.

As that was in video text I have no clue how widespread such a message will be and whether that message has been sent out to newspapers as well.

http://www.wwf.de/
http://www.panda.org/index.cfm?uGlobalSearch=mara+river&x=0&y=0

Asante sana Pippa.