Thank you update from all at Twala!

An African hedgehog with dog bites - now on the road to recovery

An important motivation for writing this newsletter is to help raise funds for good causes. My vision is for The Dalai Lama’s Cat & Other Intrigues to do more than only touch people’s hearts and minds, but also to create change that matters.

Those of you with paying subscriptions are helping support four charities - two active with Buddhist causes in the Himalayas and two animal rescue charities in my homeland of Zimbabwe.

I recently received the update below from Sarah Carter at The Twala Trust Animal Sanctuary in Zimbabwe, where we are sponsoring a community outreach program. As it is short and sweet, with some great photos, I want to share it with you in full.

Just so you know, Twala is active in the Goromonzi rural area, where communities of some of the poorest people in Zimbabwe are to be found. In a country with 94% unemployment and no social security, most people are subsistence farmers, living off the land. They struggle to afford even the basics for themselves and their families, let alone the animals that live among them.

Last week, on behalf of us all, I was able to give a further $5,000 donation to Twala to help keep the community outreach program going. My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for helping make such a difference to some of the poorest in our world.

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Dear David and Substack Subscribers,

As Zimbabwe plunges into yet another economic crisis with hyperinflation putting basic food stuffs beyond reach of many, the need for practical grassroots assistance for the animals of vulnerable rural families is crucial and our Doggy Tuesday programme has never been busier or more needed.

Thanks to your support, our community outreach programme has been able to travel into the rural areas of Goromonzi to provide free veterinary care and food for dogs in low and no income rural households. The dogs are always an essential part of rural life, guardians of homesteads and livestock and companions to the elderly and the young, and never more so than during times of extreme hardship.

Over the past months we have visited homesteads where the owners are elderly or unable to leave their homes to walk with their dogs to our weekly Doggy Tuesday free veterinary clinics, or where the dogs themselves are unable to make the journey to Twala for health or age related reasons. Our veterinary nurse, Hilary Maboreke headed off each week with a group of volunteers to feed, treat and check on the dogs registered with our programme. Talking to the owners, not only gathering information about their dogs but also about dogs in the neighbourhood that may be in need of assistance, assists with our aim to get as many dogs as possible in the Goromonzi area sterilized, vaccinated and registered with our veterinary programme that provides lifelong care.

Liam and his elderly owner

Sniper tucking in!

Smiley going to Twala for sterilization

A significant success this last month was managing to persuade the owner of two pups that guard his goats to agree to have them vaccinated and sterilized. We came across these very neglected little beings whilst dropping off food for other dogs in the area, and had already been feeding these dear little dogs for two months and checking on them regularly but initially the owner was reluctant for them to be removed from the property for the period of time it takes to get the dogs sterilized and then to recover from the surgery. Now he has agreed to have his other adult dog sterilized too, and another resident in the area has 4 dogs he would like sterilised so this is a wonderful outcome for these dogs who will now be so much healthier and happier! Building up trust through regular communication and consistency is essential to our work in this rural area.

The Goromonzi pups the quarantine centre paid for by our little Substack group

During our travels around Goromonzi we were able to rescue a beautiful African hedgehog that had been attacked by dogs. He was severely injured and the owners of the property had no idea what kind of animal he was, or what to do with him. Fortunately their neighbour has a dog registered with Doggy Tuesday, and we passed by to collect this prickly little being who is now making good progress in our hospital.

We were also called to rescue a cattle egret with a broken wing in the same area, and after 3 weeks of rehabilitation we were able to release this delicate white bird back to freedom. Two leopard tortoises with injuries were also collected by our team.

Leopard tortoise with damaged shell

Cattle egret with damaged wing

Three elderly dogs were surrendered to our ambulatory vet team – all have been cared for through the Doggy Tuesday programme for many years. The owners know that when the dogs are no longer able to provide protection for the household that we will come and collect their dogs so that they can live out the rest of their life at Twala as part of our Waggley Tail Club, providing palliative care for old and disabled dogs to ensure they have all the love and care they deserve in their final years. The gratitude and joy with which these old dogs embrace their new lives truly renews our pleasure in our work witin the community.

We are currently running a mass vaccination campaign against distemper and Parvovirus, both deadly viral diseases that kill many dogs each year.

Thanks to your support, we will be taking this campaign to outlying areas of Goromonzi which are too far from Twala for the owners to walk to us with their dogs.

The Twala vet team always gets a warm welcome when arriving at rural households, from the humans and the dogs. The bond built up over nine years is genuine and impactful, and we are all extremely appreciative of your support of this programme, which not only provides care to the rural dogs, but protects our wildlife too.

With gratitude,

Sarah and all at Twala

An African home in Goromonzi rural area

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Would you consider becoming a paying subscriber to my newsletter? Each Saturday I post an article sharing the wisdom I have learned from my own lamas. In their gentle, but incisive way, their teachings help cultivate our self-reliance, compassion and wisdom. Ultimately, they lead us on the most direct path to enlightenment.

In becoming a paying subscriber, you not only support me and my work. About 50% of your subscription money goes to charities whose founders and work I personally know, and have supported for a long time. They are charities who stretch every dollar in ways most of us would find quite extraordinary:

Wild is Life/Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery - an elephant orphanage and wildlife rescue in Zimbabwe),

Twala Trust Animal Sanctuary - the animal rescue centre in Zimbabwe,

Dongyu Gyatsal Ling Initiatives - which supports Buddhist nuns in the Himalayas, and

Gaden Relief - which supports Buddhist activities in India, Nepal, Mongolia and Tibet.

I very much hope that you may join our community of kindred spirits on this journey of compassion and wisdom.

Warmest wishes,

David