D.R.Congo
Given the constant threat of violence, Emmanuel de Merode, Chief Park Warden, Virunga National Park, is inspirational, with his uncompromising commitment to conservation and the protection of the Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and all of the species that call it home.

That risk became all too real when he was ambushed on the Rumangabo Road outside Goma (see our earlier posts when we were there) and shot multiple times.
Our thoughts and best wishes are with him as he thankfully makes a speedy and complete recovery.


An anthropologist, Emmanuel de Merode has been Chief Warden of Virunga National Park since 2008 when he was appointed by the Congolese government. He has stood in brave defense of the park against those who seek to pillage it for oil or poach the threatened animals who live there. It is unknown at this time who shot him.

Emmanuel has also led the fight against bushmeat, forest destruction, and encouraged the use of sustainable energy. Virunga National Park is home to many of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, as well as a large population of other animals, including hippopotamuses and elephants. “Virunga,” is a documentary about the brave protectors of Virunga National Park. Emmanuel is featured in the film, along with the park rangers who carry out this important but dangerous work.

We look forward to working with these brave rangers as well as the community that borders the park.

click below to see the film...

Virunga - Official Trailer 2014

This Sh*t Is About More Than Manure...

The Guardian Project (TGP) Is Expanding...

You're already familiar with
THE SHIT STARTS HERE - an agricultural micro-finance, focusing on composting animal manure into organic fertilizer, where the currency is sheep/goats, the loan is interest free, and a pay-forward component ensures the longevity of the initiative as well as our redundancy in any one area.

Well, TGP (The Guardian Project) expanded it's portfolio, beginning in D.R.Congo to include
THE BUCK STARTS HERE - a micro-finance initiative where money is lent at cost of capital only (no interest rate profit) to facilitate business opportunities.

Working out the details for The Buck Starts Here's first micro-loan.

 And beginning in Uganda and already in Rwanda as well,
THE SEEDS START HERE - an agricultural micro-finance initiative, where the currency is seeds, and the lender pays back not only initial loan but also a percentage of seeds generated from crop yield, ensuring exponential loans as well as our redundancy in any one area.

saplings will be nurtured with nutrient-rich organic fertilizer...yum!

 And because new sh*t is always cooking with our initiative, we are excited to announce that we will be working with a club of 30 school kids who have been studying bird life, forests and conservation with Nyungwe Park Ranger Cleaver.
As part of a program to increase awareness of the importance of trees, each student will receive a sapling and a rabibit. The rabbit manure will be composted into fertilizer to help the sapling grow (a great learning opportunity!) and as rabbits reproduce, one of their off-spring will be paid forward, with additional saplings, to other students, expanding this important awareness initiative.
We are excited to hear what ideas the students will come up with for other projects using the fertilizer their rabbits produce - perhaps starting their own own tree nursery.

Cleaver rocks! and we're so happy to be helping him with his wonderful idea.

"It all began with a walk in the forest..."
where we met Cleaver, one of the park rangers. Chatting during our hike, we explained our initiative. He told us about his brother, Innocent, who was a cooperative leader trying to improve the lives of his community members. A few emails, some months and 120 goats later, Innocent's cooperative is making plans for the future, thanks to increased crop yields. And Cleaver has partnered up with us to provide rabbits and plant trees with kids from a local school as part of a conservation program.

Tagging Sh*t...

Tagging New Goats Completes Our Visit…

A few hours drive takes us to the other side of the park and overnights at the rangers’ barracks and teaching centre…and views most hotel owners would kill to be able to offer.

the view from the rangers' barracks...really! Extensive tea growing operations in this part of the country. Plantations and small farmers' fields side by side.

Over 120 goats were tagged in 3 different communities over 2 days for groups belonging to 2 different cooperatives, all located along the SE border of, and VERY close to, Nyungwe National Park.
DUFATANYE (Help Each Other)Cooperative

a great opportunity to re-visit a new cooperative and a last sensitization before tagging begins...

sign here, take this tag and your goat (tethered outside) and proceed to the vet waiting on the hill...

singing marked the end of the sensitization/tagging process. And these guys can sing

DUHUZE (Together) Cooperative

Once again, sign next to your name, take the tag and your goat to the vet by the tree...

Once again, many of these farmers are ex-poachers, having moved away from illegal hunting in increasing numbers over the last 7 years.
It took some time for these men to come forward and be honest about their activities inside the park.
Now they see a different future for themselves and are sharing their ‘skills’ by assisting park rangers to locate snares, and poacher’s lairs.

another cooperative, and another tagging session. MOST of these guys were poachers so we are very impressed with their commitment to a different way of living.

Recognizing that incidences do still occur, the cooperatives agree among themselves to keep an eye on each other and each others animals for the long-term stability of the project.
If anyone is caught poaching, all his goats will be taken.
Their rules.

Zabulon, our most wonderful vet, explains how/when to give the goats their meds...

They also agree that while their children will look after the goats, they belong to the entire family and no one member. That way, if the father leaves the family, the animal(s) stay with the family.
Good.

skinnamma-rinky-dinky-dink...

One of our bucks, pumped and ready to do his duty!

These young bucks are trying to figure out who gets first dibs on nearby nannies...

 

On The Road Again...

Wow!

We took another breath-taking drive, south this time, to Nyungwe National Park, to visit the Nyungwe Nyiza Cooperative, just outside the park boundary, on the northwest side. They received goats September 2013.

Jeff, Paul, and the Nyungwe Niza Cooperative leaders heading out for a few farm visits.

and, as always, our  happy little shitters

Constance enjoys all the attention paid to her wonderful farm and 'upscale' goat pen that maximizes urine/manure collection.

Marie is proud to show Paul her accumulated compost and fertilizer. She expects to double her corn harvest in the first year.

compost, fertilizer and clippings to conserve moisture, all wait to be spread in this garden.

They are also experiencing issues with baboons and even chimps that are leaving the forest to snack.
A government compensation program exists here as well.

Wow, have they also been hard at work.
241 members are, once again, working joint plots of land to maximize fertilizer benefits.
In one field they’ve planted 3700 pineapple trees, hoping for a yield of 3-4 pineapples per plant within 18 months.
Did you know that a pineapple tree will regenerate for up to 10 years, constantly sending out off-shoot saplings for further planting!

3700 pineapple trees have been planted.
with an average yield of 3 pineapples per tree over 18 months, the yield will generate up to $3,000. at market for the cooperative.

 

...and they're also growing corn and yams. Yams for eating, corn for selling, with each member keeping a small percentage for eating and seed for their own farm plots.
They expect to generate roughly $1,200. in one 5 month growth cycle before planting beans.

...looking down onto their corn field.
Farming together keeps them united and sharing.

The members are also growing corn and yams together on another plot, which they will rotate with beans next season.

And once again, we are hearing an incredible plan, another long-term vision for life improvement....
The closest market is a 4hr walk- ONE WAY!
The cooperative plans to pool profits from their joint farming and purchase vegetables, fruits and seeds to bring back to their community and start their own market.
3,000+ people in the community will be ecstatic not to have to make the long walk anymore.
As profits increase, so will their market offerings.

Brilliant!

And we had a surprise waiting for us at the end of our farm tour...

A big surprise awaited u s as we returned from farm visits. Many of the cooperative members were waiting for us with songs, dancing (of course)...

and even gifts of delicious bananas, passion fruit and tree tomatoes inside beautiful, handmade typically Rwandan baskets!

 

and, as always, those ho-hum, INCREDIBLE views on the way back to our guesthouse.

Wow!

Ahhhh, paved roads (NO potholes) winding along steep mountain ridges and parallel to ancient valley riverbeds, long ago filled with volcanic earth. EVERY last bit of land is terraced and farmed here, save for small, scattered stands of eucalyptus forests and, of course, the national parks.. And it's BREATHTAKINGLY GORGEOUS, every minute, every where! An endless stream of "wow!…wow!…OMG wow!…"

Wow!

Wow!

This incredible country, a success story other African countries would do well to model themselves after, is unlike anywhere else we've seen. And we've seen!
Next Stop…Musanze District
Genocide commemorations during this time limited our interactions but we were able to catch up with some of the Amizero Cooperative of ex-poachers, outside Volcanoes National Park as the first group of them get ready to pay forward in the coming months.

Catching up with a few of The Amizero Cooperative members...

Once again we get to hear the joy of simple accomplishments and the dignity that comes with standing up to proudly announce not just increases in crop yields but conscious decisions to make life improvements. Check out just a few.

Marie Rose has 3 sheep and one is ready to deliver in the next week or so. She thinks it might be twins!
Her crop yield of potatoes has increased from 350kg to 2000kg in just over 2 years. When she collaborated with us she was farming one acre. She has since used some of her profits to rent another acre as she has sufficient fertilizer.

Innocent
actually a member of The Porters Cooperative, who has already paid forward.
organic fertilizer from his sheep and offspring increased his potato yield from 700kg to 2000kg.
The first year it happened, he sold his potatoes at market and immediately bought a tin roof to replace his thatched roof. This is both a safety measure (against fire), more efficient, and lasts longer.
"Now I know that I can have dreams and make them happen." His next plan, with the next harvest, is to re-do his mud walls with cement.

Fostine
increased crop yield from 200kg to 500 kg as well as fertilizing his fruit trees, and added the income to savings to purchase a pig. He now composts the pig manure with the sheep manure and offers free fertilizer to his neighbours kitchen gardens "because someone helped him, he wants to help others."

And yet another new development. Paul was unaware, when he leased 2.5 acres last year, that we cannot put up so much as a match stick in terms of construction. What to do with a 5 year lease?!? Well, thanks to Francois, head of The Amizero Cooperative,

Jeff and Francois head of The Amizero Cooperative of ex-poachers, heading out to our 'acreage'.

22 single mothers/widows have formed a cooperative and haves already begun farming potatoes on it. They will pay rent, at a VERY reduced rate but in keeping with our mission to provide the dignity of opportunity, not hand outs. They will each receive a sheep asap!

gotta love these little shitters!

Our newest cooperative in Musanze. With meagre funds these lovely women were each renting tiny plots of land and producing little. Believing they could be stronger together, they are leasing our land for 3 years to see if they can make a go it. We are backing them with sheep and looking forward to bountiful yields! Women Rock!

Continuing To Spread The Sh*t...

We've expanded into Eastern Rwanda, as we begin working with 2 cooperatives in communities just outside both the north and south boundaries of Akagera National Park.
Poaching has been a BIG problem here.
Nearby Akayange Village is home to Mr. Kadogo, one of the most notorious poachers known.
Twiteze Imbere Cooperative has 80 members, part of a larger community founded 5 years ago during a government relocation program.
They will all get goats.
The cooperative hopes to set an example to encourage others to join.
Gisunzu Village Cooperative has 120 members and we are the first project to approach them. They will also all get goats.
Poaching is a problem for the park at this end as well.
Baboons are problem for the farmers as they raid the crops.
The government guarantees compensation as part of a commitment to partnership between the park and surrounding communities.
In both areas there is an understanding that if any cooperative member poaches, all members will lose their goats.
A bit Draconian but it gets the message across and keeps everyone working together for common benefit.
Animal distribution will begin in the coming weeks, BOHORO, BOHORO, (slowly, slowly) in order for the price of goats not to sky-rocket!

Paul sensitizes as part of the initial introduction to the initiative with co-operative leadersoutside the south end of Akagera National Park.

 

 

Jeff works the financials...and EVERYONE marvels at his magic pen!

Skinnamarinky-dinky-dink...

 

And the next day we introduce our initiative to members of a cooperative just outside the north end of Akagera National Park. Once again, Paul works his magic and Jeff works the financials!

 

A great turn out bodes well for the initiative.

It's about listening AND contributing as we're all a team!

 

 

Notes taken by the secretary will be reiterated to the rest of the cooperative members.

Taking, and taking in, the minutes!

And a short way away, beautiful Akagera National Park, the focus of our conservation initiative.

While we are in transit from Uganda to Rwanda,
please take a moment to give thought to the 20th anniversary of a most heinous genocide - almost 1 million people mostly hacked and bashed to death in just 3 months!
Sorry for the graphic description but the truth is the truth!
It is impossible not to be moved by what many agree is the single greatest conscious act of forgiveness in human history.
The deeply personal narratives are haunting and humbling.
Perhaps it is just the trend in portraiture today, but what I found missing from the collection of solemn photographs is the vibrancy and joy that is, for many Rwandans, a reflection of the journey from darkness and despair into the light offered by the experience of forgiveness.
I had an opportunity to see this first-hand when I traveled to Rwanda for the second time 6 years ago, and had a chance to witness Truth and Reconciliation (T&R) first-hand.
I was already seated as I watched a young couple arrive on a bicycle, chatting and laughing as she slipped off and he parked the bicycle under the shade of a mango tree.
My first thought was that they are probably husband and wife, or perhaps brother and sister.
Then they sat down in front of me and I soon learned that he was responsible, along with a larger group of young men, for slaughtering her entire family.
She had managed to escape to a nearby swamp where she hid in the water by day and foraged for sustenance by night.
Their reason for initially coming to the program was the same as most.
She said her heart was beating but she was dead from living in the darkness of nightmare, loss, anger, and fear.
He said he didn't just wake up one morning and decide to kill Tutsis, but had been indoctrinated since childhood.
He lived in the darkness of guilt, shame and regret.
Both longed to move toward the light of being alive.
It was a journey filled with struggle that they consciously made together.
Many sessions before he could look her in the eye and describe, in detail, what he had done, and ask for her forgiveness.
Many more before she was able to grant it.
They were at the T&R session that day to work with other victims and perpetrators trying to move forward.
I was awe-struck.
Remember, I was here during the Bush era, a time of finger-pointing, hate-mongering and 'othering'.
Yet here was an incredible example of love and togetherness in it's purest sense.
We in the West had something truly profound to learn from these Rwandans.