News and heartfelt thanks from Twala!
Mr. and Mrs. Zakeo asked that their very old dog retire at Twala as she was arthritic. We were so happy to continue their Doggy Tuesday connection by giving them a new puppy, one of 15 dumpted at Twala a few months ago, and now assured of a loving home with all care provided by Doggy Tuesday.
It is always a joy to hear from Sarah Carter who, with her vet husband Vinay runs Twala Trust Animal Sanctuary in Zimbabwe. As Sarah writes with such clarity and authenticity, I will step out of the way and let you hear from her directly.
Dear David and your Substack supporters.
Twala has been a busy place over the past few months!
In the past few months we have had our busiest Doggy Tuesdays ever – we actually lost count of the dogs as there were so many, thronging the area outside our gate as early as 7am, waiting for Doggy Tuesday to begin at 10am.
Each week the elderly, grey muzzled stalwarts are waiting patiently beside their owners in the shade, who have been making their waggley way down the dusty road to Twala for ten years of Doggy Tuesdays. They are joined by a a melee of boisterous younger dogs hyped up on anticipation and the delicious smell of the All You Can Eat Doggy Buffet being delivered 200 litres at a time in drums on our 3 wheeler motorbike. Â Â Â Â
When the gates opened a crowd of happy dogs with tails wagging have to be steered towards the old bathtub where they are dipped to control ticks and fleas, and then on to the vet station to have their vet check and any vaccinations that are due. The vet station is cheerful chaos, with our vet nurses wading through a sea of primarily brown, big eared, long tailed rural Zimbabwean dogs on a leashes. These vary from smart collars and leads donated over the years by our volunteers, to bits of string, tree bark woven into rope, bits of material, an old striped tie, a measuring tape, electrical cable and shoe laces repurposed by owners to keep their dogs by their sides on the way to Doggy Tuesday.
The hustle and bustle of Doggy Tuesday
As always, the emotions we experience every Tuesday are mixed. There is delight at seeing our ‘regulars’, the dogs who never miss a Tuesday, and a chat with their dedicated owners who walk considerable distances to get to Twala.
Despair over yet more malnourished puppies with a high likelihood of carrying the dreaded parvo virus stuffed into wonky cardboard boxes or draped over the arms of equally thin children. Concern for dogs who have been injured or lost weight. A rush of tenderness for the old dogs with their milky eyes and arthritic feet and beautiful frosted faces who are so often accompanied by elderly owners, and who will eventually join our own Waggley Tail Club at Twala when they are ready to retire.
Darling Bully! His owner dumped him and another dog, telling us to ‘dispose of them.’ Bully had to have his leg amputated due to a horrific, untreated injury, but now he’s one of our Waggley Tail Club stars! Loved, valued and safe.
And then there’s the anxiety that there may not be enough food – when we are scraping out the bottom of the drums of cooked meat and biscuits and there are yet more dogs milling at the gate, expecting their one good meal of the week, and we just cannot bear to disappoint them.
That’s when we call for more bags of kibble from the storeroom, and spread it out on big black plastic drum lids for groups of dogs to eat their fill of good quality food, knowing that we will be playing catch up with our stocks for weeks, appealing for funds to keep the dogs fed and feeling the constant anxiety of going over budget. But, as my irrepressible father used to say, ‘we’ll just fly by the seat of our pants and hope for the best!’ Today the dogs need feeding and that is what we are here for.
There’s always Kibble when the cooked food runs out
We have such a close relationship with these dogs and their owners – we all live in the same community and have the same concerns. There is a drought this year and everyone is worried about food security, for their families and for their animals. Inflation continues to push the price of the most basic food stuffs up each month. Now more than ever Doggy Tuesday is so important in keeping the dogs that protect rural households safe. We help provide companionship and comfort to children and elderly people whose daily lives are so difficult. Control the spread of diseases such as rabies and distemper. And create a link to our community that also means that they will contact us in the event of any human/wildlife conflict situations, where we can intervene to relocate wild animals that are a danger to people and livestock, placing them in a safer and less populated environment.
A litter of beautiful kittens dumped at our gate with their mum - as sad as it is, at least through Doggy Tuesday the owner knew where it was safe to leave them.
In the first months of 2024 we have rescued and relocated 13 African rock pythons from the Chinyani rural area where we are situated, releasing them in national parks that require hours of travel on atrocious roads to access the parks but where we know they will be safe.
A rescued python with a broken jaw being rehabilitated at Twala
We have rescued genets, the lithe little nocturnal spotted and striped predators with fabulously long and fluffy tails who find easy pickings - and the wrath of humans - at the many local chicken farms. Also rescued were owls, who are discouraged from roosting in rural homesteads due to the many superstitions associated with them in Africa; orphaned monkeys whose mothers have been killed for raiding what sparse crops have survived the drought, and many other small mammals, reptiles and birds.
We brought in this young genet who had been trapped at a chicken farm. Despite all the trauma, he was successfully released in a safe location.
The goal of Doggy Tuesday is to ensure that everyone benefits; the dogs, the cats, livestock, wildlife, and humans. Through a decade of consistent and authentic interaction with our rural community, we are able to do so much more since that very first rabies vaccination campaign that led the start of Doggy Tuesday.
Since then we do even more than offer free lifetime veterinary care and supplementary feeding programme for hundreds of rural dogs, and some cats. We have also started a children’s pop up library. This is a peaceful and happy space under the trees where young dog owners have a fruit and sandwich snack, draw pictures and colour and sing.
Story time at Doggy Tuesday. Young dog owners spent a happy afternoon colouring and reading with our voluntters, and of course, their dogs!
At the pop-up library. For some children, this is the closest they will get to a school.
The most popular activity is to bombard each other and their dogs with blowing bubbles and to go home with stickers and a lollipop. It’s a few bright hours in a week that will be about household chores, walking long distances to collect water and firewood, herding livestock and frequently not having enough to eat. In many cases there is sporadic or nil attendance at school.
And then there is our community outreach for elderly dogs, and elderly or unwell dog owners, or those in remoter areas who simply cannot make the journey to Twala each week. With a truck piled high with dog food, a tin bath for a mobile dog dip, a metal chest full of veterinary medications, frequently a dog kennel or two balanced on top of it, we head out at least twice a month to these rural households. The dogs and the owners are always pleased to see us and our volunteers love these trips too. It gives them a true insight into life in rural Zimbabwe and brings a greater understanding of our work and our community.
Volunteers Lou and Carrie in charge of the Doggy Tuesday snack station! People come from around the world to support Twala by volunteering.
Thank you for the support so generously given to our community work – it ensures that we keep our promise of providing a lifeline for a lifetime for these brave, loyal and dedicated dogs who are able to live with and protect the people they love whilst having access to the care they need through the Doggy Tuesday programme.
In what is a very difficult environment for so many, your kindness enables a constant community connection, a positive impact on the people and the animals who live around Twala, and a great deal of happiness.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Sarah and all at Twala
Hi Readers,
David here. I like to publish Sarah’s letters in full - she writes them so beautifully and always accompanied by photos which bring home the immediacy of how we’re helping.They really speak to my heart - and I hope yours too.
Raising funds for Twala, and our other charities, is one of the main reasons why I write this newsletter.
If you are able, our little community here on Substack would love to welcome you as a paying subscriber.
What you get each Saturday is an article or story from me, sharing the wisdom I have learned from my own lamas. More important in some ways is what you give: love, compassion and hope, manifest in the most practical ways, as Sarah illustrates above.
I very much hope that you may join our community of kindred spirits on this journey of compassion and wisdom.
Warmest wishes,
David
These posts are perhaps my favorite of all. Sitting here.in arizona with all that I need and so much more, I cherish the heart-felt connection with rural Zimbabwe through our intermediary, you, David. Lines of practical loving kindness crisscrossing the planet. Thank you!
As an animal lover, and especially a lover of cats, I would like to donate something each month to the animals cared for at Twala. How might I do that? Also, I loved the photo of the mom cat and kittens surrendered to the Twala shelter. Thank you for caring for them. I am sure they are spayed and neutered - what happens to them, then? Blessings on your loving kindness.