As soon as the schools opened their doors, we started having meetings at three of them with teachers as well as parents – Escuela Central – with its 750 students, it’s the biggest school in Jaco, Escuela Hacienda with 62 students and Escuela Las Monas with 32 students. And just like in the past, both teachers and parents were very happy to have us back on board, offering us all kinds of help in order to continue the education program “Sharing the world with the animals” Angela Maria Lozano Lorza, the same individual who was working with us at the library during the “creative afternoons” we offered during the vacation time, has many years of experience working with and for the community, as well as being a teacher at the school Mirevea. The kids know her well, and love working with her. What we are teaching them is the concept of responsibility and respect for all manner of life, both animals and persons alike.
Angela Maria has a very interesting way of offering the presentations – after communicating with them our message, she lets the kids come to their own conclusions, and then asks them to translate all that they learned into art. The artwork can either be left at school as a decoration, or taken home and shown to the family. In both cases the message presented through the artwork gets seen by everyone, and many others can learn from what we teach. The sponsor of this program is Ms. Linda Look from the USA, the same person who has supported this program from the start, and who continues her support to this day. We are still unable to secure a sponsor in order to include the Herradura-School in our project, so this school, with a student body numbering over 800, will have to wait until we find a way to introduce our program there at least on a “part-time” basis.
A big THANK YOU also goes out to our local artist Carlos Galli, for donating to us 3 different cartoons made especially for our education program and campaign against wildlife animals in captivity. These cartoons are already in the schools and in the library as coloring sheets for kids. Check them out on the picture above – aren’t they great?
NEWS FROM OUR SPAY/NEUTER PROGRAM
March was also a very busy month for our spay/neuter program, and every week we had a spay day with DR. JOSE MANUEL JIMÉNEZ. Thank you goes also to Leo Hogan andDoris Schluckebier who assisted Dr. Jimenez with the surgeries, and also to Kristen Luke and Sarah Olmstead for being there and taking care of the patients before and after the surgery. And a special thanks also to Laleña Bennett, for offering us her home to hold our clinics – having this great place, located so close to everyone involved and set up so perfect for our needs, makes it so much easier to make these spay days happen! Also in the Jaco clinic, DRA. WENDY VILLALOBOS provides low-cost castrations for our rescues, as well as for pets belonging to low income families who cannot afford the regular price.
During the month of March, we were able to spay/neuter 64 animals!
SASY! SUPPORTS OUR PROJECT ALSO THIS YEAR!
STOP ANIMAL SUFFERING – YES! is a non-profit organization, one dedicated to locating and distributing the funding needed to support the efforts of many groups and individuals, specifically those dedicated to creating a better life for animals in Costa Rica. Once a year, SASY! organizes a big Charity Auction, and a large part of all the funds collected is distributed to other organizations, in order to help them in their efforts to make Costa Rica a better place to live for both humans and animals. Also this year, our organization received a contribution from SASY which will make it possible for us to extend our spay/neuter program to the poorest communities in our county. THANK YOU SO MUCH SASY!
We are still looking for other sponsors for the spay/neuter program – if you would like to contribute, please let us know.
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS THIS MONTH
A huge Thank You goes out again to the sponsors of all three programs in this month of March – Linda Look, Stuart Welch, Liz from Taco Bar, Leo Plumley, Hotel Mar de Luz, Cathi Brennan, Wishbone Restaurant, Paola Alvarado, Hotel Los Ranchos, and Gabriela Contreras Cordero for their regular monthly support, as well as to Licenciada Alba, Silvina Rodgers Goren, Heidi Landon, Crystal Ogden Curry, Marina Imatova, Pam Zanon, Liz from Taco Bar, Heidi & Brian Copley, Guests @ Craig & Meghan Weir Wedding, Alejandra Perez Retana, Anonymous donation left at our office in Jaco, Carlos Galli, Sybille Dockhorn, Liana Robinson, Shannon Clarke, Betty Dick, NancyLeonetti, SASY!, Wendy Villalobos and Yessenia Alpizarfor all other donations to our project this month.
INVITATION TO THE ART FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN PUNTA LEONA
Great news from Punta Leona – the hotel and club there is organizing another art festival, this one to be held during theweekend of May 18-20. And like last year, the Manager of Punta Leona and supporter of our project Boris Gordienkohas offered us a free space at this festival, as well as the possibility of presenting our project to the public, and we are very thankful for this great opportunity. We will be there Friday and Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday from 10:00 am to 1:00pm. We need a few volunteers who would like to be a part of this project. The public there will be both Spanish and English speaking, so we are looking for volunteers who can communicate in both languages. If you would like to help, please contact Katja at 2643-4012 (leave a message) or simply answer this email.
HELP FOR DUKE NEEDED
A woman from a precario (slum) Barrio Copey called us on February 13 asking for help for her very sick German Shepherd mix dog. Thinking he was just old, the owner basically decided to let him die, yet after hanging on to the barest thread of life for another 2 whole months, they started feeling bad.
The dog’s name is DUKE, and when we brought him to the clinic his weight was only 19,5kg, (about 42 lbs.) and his blood tests were shocking – he was extremely anemic, and his advanced case of ehrlichiosis had affected his kidneys, causing their near total failure. We didn’t think Duke had any chance of survival, but we wanted him to have a few good last months at Andrea and Chris’ farm.
Doris was only supposed to make sure that he was stable enough for the trip to the farm, but there was something about this dog that made Doris want to fight for him – maybe because he reminded her of Jason, one of our first and most loved rescue dogs, or maybe simply because he looked so pathetic and helpless, but whatever it was, Doris was instantly galvanized into action. She started immediately by setting him up for 6 days of non-stop intravenous fluids treatments, and little by little Duke started feeling better. His energy started coming back, and he soon gained 2 Kilos, and now, 2 months later, his weight is at 27 Kilos – 60 lbs.! He is at this writing a happy, goofy dog who loves his walks on the beach, his toys and his doggie friends at Doris and Dieter’s house. He really has surprised us all.
Unfortunately, his kidneys never will work properly, but with proper treatments and a special diet, he can expect to enjoy a fairly long and healthy life. We believe that with some effort and funds, this beautiful dog has a future. Please have a look at his before and after pictures and decide for yourself if he deserves our help.
A big thank you goes out to DR. WENDY VILLALOBOS, who never gave up on him and spent so much time providing all necessary treatments and helping to save his life.
Now we need sponsors for his special food and treatments. His monthly blood work will cost about $20, the fluids $15, the meds (Ranitidina and Ulcogant) $25 and his special food $100. If you would like to help us in helping Duke, please contact us.
Thank you for your time and support
Katja Bader