Kapande’s sick

Today I, once again, have bad news, but this time it isn’t about dead lions. This time it is one of the Guardians; Kapande, from the Lenkiloriti area, is very sick.

This morning, as I do every Sunday, I left camp early to visit all the Guardians, collect forms, and make sure everything is going well for the guys. When I got to Kapande’s boma, I found him there. He was too sick to speak or barely move. His family was very upset and had been looking for a car to take Kapande to the clinic in Mbirikani town. His family and I loaded him onto my motorbike. He was too weak to hold on so his family tied him to me so he wouldn’t fall off.

I drove him to the clinic where they diagnosed him with a severe case of appendicitis. If he doesn’t have surgery soon, he will die. I have come up to camp only briefly to gather some things. I am going back down to Mbirikani town clinic to travel in an ambulance with Kapande up to a Nairobi hospital. Kapande doesn’t speak any Swahili or English so he is going to need someone he knows and trusts to be with him explaining what is going on. We just hope the ambulance can get him to Nairobi quick enough to get the surgery he so desperately needs. I’ll keep you all posted.
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Here is Kapande, at our camp in January, looking at the Guardians’ favorite book

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