We had such high hopes at the start of 2020 that this would be the Uganda Society for the Protection & Care of Animals' year: that the USPCA would find a great plot of land and have enough money to purchase it; the year that the USPCA would finally own their own shelter and not face the threat of eviction; and the year that Haven staff and volunteers would no longer have to worry about managing in a too-full shelter. And then covid-19 happened.
But! We still have a few more months left in 2020 and that means we could still see our dream for the USPCA come true this year (and if not, we will adapt and continue trying in 2021!)
We can't give up hope, with puppies (and kittens, cats, and dogs) relying on us. [On September 9, a USPCA supporter found these 7 puppies (pictured above) in a box outside her gate. She brought them to The Haven, where they are now thriving-along with the more than 300 other resident cats and dogs.]
With only a few months to reach our 2020 goal, we're looking to you for assistance. Here is some useful information and ways you can help:
An AKI volunteer created a beautiful, informative video (see the 2nd video on that page) to help us get the message out about USPCA's predicament and the need for donations to purchase land for a larger Haven. Please watch it and share widely!
For a "deeper dive," watch the 1st video on the same page of Haven Manager Alex explaining how the USPCA managed during the pandemic, and how covid-19 has made it more imperative to expand to a larger shelter.
Our GlobalGiving fundraiser is going strong and we invite you to donate and share it with others who love animals. GlobalGiving is a perfect crowdfunding platform for us-they take 0% fees (some platforms take 15% just to host your fundraiser) and they help us reach donors that we wouldn't ordinarily find ourselves.
The covid-19 restrictions put a halt to the USPCA's search for land, but now that the most restrictive safeguards have been lifted, the USPCA is redoubling their efforts and it seems they may be looking at a few plots in the upcoming weeks.
Photo: Zambezi Working Donkey Project held their 1st AKI-supported training for Community Liaison Officers. CLOs will be ZWDP's eyes and ears on the ground, representing ZWDP in their villages, attending to donkey issues. (see The AKI Blog below for more)
New on the AKI Blog this month:
Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society-Adapting to the covid-19 world: LAWCS has come up with some innovative ways to adapt to our new world reality, and AKI has their back!
Zambezi Working Donkey Project Launches their AKI Grant: For this 1st session, Zambia's ZWDP trained 8 CLOs out of a total of 24 to be trained over the 6-month grant period. This will expand ZWDP's reach 24 times!
The Uganda SPCA Haven & the Covid-19 Pandemic: Video links mentioned above are also available for viewing in this AKI Blog post.
Friendly Audits (is there really such a thing?)
I mentioned last month that we received such an overwhelming response to our Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program (50 proposals), plus during the year, I usually hear from at least 100 other animal welfare organizations looking for support. We felt we had to find a way, if not financially, to help some of these groups.
How could we turn our backs when Ayubu sends the picture above accompanied by a message telling us that they are vaccinating dogs against rabies, entirely as volunteers, because otherwise children would be too afraid to walk to school; or when Gabriel tells us that "when I see animals (dogs and donkeys) and people being cruel with no food given to them I feet pain."
Being small, we are limited in the number of organizations we can help financially. So we decided to help by doing Friendly Audits for a few organizations to improve their online presence, proposal writing and grant management capacity, financial management, marketing, and fundraising.
And we're hoping that you'll join us: Do you have skills that could help strengthen an organization and that you'd like to use to help struggling animal welfare organizations in Africa? If so: WE WANT YOU!Send me a note, and we'll get you started!
Kindness to Animals has no Boundaries
Thank you so much to those of you who gave us a 5-star review so that we achieved a 2020 Great Non Profits award! I love what Paterne (Sauvons nos Animaux, a 2020 AKI Grantee) wrote (if you'd permit me a minute to brag): "On behalf of SAUVONS NOS ANIMAUX which is the winner of the AKI 2020 grant, Animal-Kind International is the only organization that gives the chance to African animal welfare organizations that do not have support..." If you have a moment, please go to the GNP site and write your [5-star] review.
In October's newsletter, watch for progress reports from our 2020 grant recipients, almost all of whom started their grant projects this month.
I updated almost all of our Partner Organization pages with the latest information on covid-19 status and restrictions in their country. But I received late-breaking news and a video from Ghana SPCA about their re-entry now that covid-19 restrictions have lessened. Scroll to the bottom to watch Aluizah Amasaba's video of GSPCA's rabies vaccination clinic at Dome-konca in the Ga East District of the Greater Accra region, where they vaccinated 67 males and 46 females. This is a poor community with high number of domestic animals.
Please stay safe, healthy, and happy. We'll do our part to keep you happy! We'll continue to bring you good news about how your support is helping animals in poor countries, especially in Africa, during this time when we all need some good news.
AKI donors support our 10 Partner Organizations in Uganda (2 partners), Tanzania, South Sudan, Namibia, Liberia, Ghana, Armenia, Jamaica, and Honduras; and AKI's 22020 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Recipients who work in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (2 grantees), Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Please help us get the word out about AKI by forwarding this message to friends and family who love animals.
With Gratitude,
Karen Menczer, Founder & Director
& the AKI Board
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