Nairobi,
Kenya: The Orphans' Project
Nairobi
is indeed fortunate to have a National Park on its very
doorstep. We visited the area often and took several hour
one afternoon to visit an Elephant Orphanage inside the
park and a Giraffe sanctuary nearby. Naturally, we had a
camera handy, and the following page is an
example
The
rearing of the orphaned elephants, even though we have
been at it for a very long time, for us remains an
ongoing learning experience and a source of wonder,
filled with moments of joy and sadness, plus surprises on
an almost daily basis. This animal duplication of a Big
Brother series is recorded in the Keepers' Diary which is
posted on the Trust's website monthly and keeps the
elephants many foster-parents involved. Following the
daily life of a newborn baby as it passes through its
fully milk dependent infancy, watching it gradually grow
through childhood, one gets to know each one intimately
as one follows its daily activities and adventures.
Friendships blossom and hit glitches, just as in human
society, joy and happiness as well as sadness and grief
at the loss of a loved one is evident, and one its amazed
by the outpouring of compassion and caring for those
younger or the less fortunate.
Just like human children, elephants feel shameful when
reprimanded for misbehavior; they take themselves off to
sulk; they harbor grudges and feel the need to settle
scores, they can be deliberately mischievous, and the
little bulls are especially competitive, always striving
for one-upmanship. We know that elephants possess
mysterious abilities alien to us, such as the programming
of a genetic memory within the womb to endow them with
elements important to survival; the ability to
communicate over distance in mysterious ways and an
unerring and uncanny ability to traverse alien terrain
surely and accurately, despite the fact that they may
never have set foot there before. There's much more to
come regarding Nairobi National Park and other
attractions.
