Kapande back to the hospital

You may remember that Lion Guardian Kapande was very ill with appendicitis a few weeks ago. (http://lionguardians.wildlifedirect.org/2008/03/18/kapandes-surgery/). Last week he went back to the hospital in Nairobi for a final check. I had to get a person to accompany Kapande to Nairobi whom he can trust because I was held up in Camp and couldn’t go with him. He is getting better and we expect him to be back on duty in the next month or so. Kapande is pledging for help from you to help pay his hospital expenses and other cost incurred because of his illness. If he were to clear this bill himself it will cost him all his Lion Guardian wages for more than a year. I am not sure of the actual bill for the hospital. I will visit him on Sunday and get to know the right amount.

Kapande’s life has had a lot of dramatic events because his father disowned him for volunteering to be a Lion Guardian last year. This led his father to send him away without any livestock, which he had been herding almost all his life. When he was a herder his payment for a year was one cow with a market value worth Ksh 10,000. This was supposed to cater for his family needs as well as his savings for the future.

Sadly, his wife too has been admitted to the clinic with birth complications. If the clinic is able to treat her problem, then there will be no cost incurred, I will send updates as soon as i get them.

We all hope that Kapande get well so that he can continue tracking lions and helping his community. Evn though he is sick, he has been reporting lion sighting around his area with the help of herders.

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Here is a photo of kapande learning how to write.

By they way, I visited the Mara tirangle blog and they are mourning the death of two lions. Here is the link to the site. http://maratriangle.wildlifedirect.org/2008/04/15/two-lions-dead/.

9 Comments

  • Fiona says:

    Antony, I’ll definitely try and help Kapande with his medical expenses.

    I am so sorry to hear of his father disowning him. Being a Lion Guardian should bring honor not shame. I hope his father comes to see how important Kapande is in the preservation of the Maasai lands.

  • Well put Fiona; Kapande needs his father’s love and support, now more then ever. Life is too short…I pray he will come to see his son in a different light very soon, for both their sakes. Antony, I made a small donation yesterday, please apply that to Kapende’s needs. I will help next week again. We are all very distraught over the deaths of these two lions as well. No doubt in my mind poison is the culprit.

  • Lisa, Seattle says:

    Antony, I just made a small donation to help kapande. Please send my best wishes for a quick recovery to Kapande and his wife.

  • sauwah says:

    i too just made a small donation to Kapande; and may he heal quickly. and good wishes to his wife also. i am sorry for the early death of such young male lions. that is the last thing we and the lions as a species needed. Hope the surviving lion will find another sub adult male to form another coalition. may God to will be with him too.

  • Christine C. says:

    Oh, poor Kapande…he certainly seems to have more than his share of trouble. Please send him good wishes for a speedy recovery and let him know how very much his sacrifices are appreciated!

  • Fiona,
    Maasai take alot of pride in their livestocks more than anything else; so when kapande decided to be a Lion Guardian, his father took him as a livestock traitor.Since lions attack their livestock and it is their only source of livelihood, the old and illiterate people see this as a reason to kill all carnivores, not just lions.

  • Sherri S. says:

    Please accept my donation for Kapande and make sure he knows how much we appreciate him and his work.

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