We reached our fundraising goal on "Gofundme" and we now have enough money to sponsor the 1st ever s/n campaign in South Sudan! We can now go from planning to action (or more action-based planning!). We still have a long way to go to make this happen, but the biggest barrier, raising the money for this 1st campaign, has been breached.
And now the work begins! Next step is to order some of the supplies in the US, like catchpoles and nets to catch cats--things that are easier and cheaper to obtain from US companies. We already have someone who can carry these from the US to Uganda and then someone who will transport them, by car, onward to Juba.
We will need to confirm that our Kenya-based counterparts-a vet, vet assistant/tech, and humane ed specialist/community organizer-will be available to assist. We need to purchase a long list of supplies in Kenya. We need to confirm the plans with the Ministry of Livestock in Juba and make sure their compound will be available and their staff will be ready to participate. We need to begin constructing wooden crates to house dogs and cats during recovery. We need to identify in-country volunteers to help us out with a range of tasks. We'll need to set dates and begin advertising.
As far as Animal-Kind International, we've pledged funds for 2020 to ensure that this effort will be sustained beyond the initial campaign. The supplies will remain in Juba for follow-on work; we'll have several well-trained local professionals (vets, vet techs, humane education), who will be able to organize and run high volume spay/neuter clinics; we'll have volunteers available and interested to lend their hands; and once people see the results of the campaign-500 free roaming and owned cats and dogs no longer reproducing--we will have the momentum to keep going.
We have so many people to thank for helping us reach our 1st fundraising goal. First and foremost, thank you so much to everyone who donated money to this effort. Because of you, we've raised enough to start moving from planning to action. Thank you to Project VETS, who donated some of the supplies we'll need for the spay/neuter campaign (see below pictures of 2 suitcases carried from Colorado, USA to Nairobi, Kenya). Thank you Kathrin for your amazing fundraising efforts. Thank you to our small, but powerful group of volunteers, whose energy and persistence getting us to this point has been more than impressive.
We are in this for the long run! We hope you'll consider donating to help South Sudan's cats and dogs. We'll be posting updates, progress reports, and results-as always. Thanks for sticking with us.
