Almost a year since the last update: Yes, of course that's way too long, but rather than waste space listing all the reasons for the delay, we'll get on with it. In November we flew to Cambodia to look in on our School project, then on to Kenya to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphans at the Trust's Nairobi Nursery and Tsavo East Ithumba facilities. Spending time with the little pachyderms in the Bush and also feeding them their milk bottles etc. was of course thrilling and will stay etched into our memories forever. But we were also delighted to spend a little time with Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, her daughter Angela and Angela's husband Robert Carr-Hartley, while in Nairobi and with Richard Moller our congenial host in Tsavo East. We learned much from Richard particularly concerning the endless battle to combat poaching, snaring and other problems Tsavo faces. These extraordinary people and the over 40 care givers, from various tribes, who look after the orphans with such dedication and love, we hold in the highest esteem and we'll continue to support their work as much as we are able. From last December through March we were occupied with our move back to California. Now that this seemingly endless time consuming inconvenience is behind us, we intend to spend more time on the foundation's projects. As mentioned in the previous posting, last year we met Dr. Birute Galdikas of Orangutan Foundation International and now that Dr. Birute is in California we hope to reconnect and discuss a possible trip to Borneo to visit her charges, the now over 300 baby Orangutans. We recently received photos of a newly rescued little orphan, a male, whom Dr. Birute named "Steppenwolf". He was featured as an orphan of the month on OFI's site Perhaps we'll get to meet this little fellow, well we'll see. By now the IMAX 3D "Born To Be Wild" film about Dr. Birute's and Dr. Dame Daphne's lifelong efforts, has received a number of awards and is the most successful non-commercial IMAX release to date. In fact there may be a follow up film in the works. The film is now available on DVD and features many extra video clips and special footage. We encourage everyone and particularly those with young children and/or grand children to get a copy and enjoy this amazing film as well as learn about the dangers facing these orphans. If you are touched "as we suspect you will be" by the film, please consider sponsoring a baby orangutan at: www.orangutan.org or baby elephant at: www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org It doesn't cost very much and also makes a very special gift for a child. JK & JMK
