Monday, June 27, 2011

Chipembere Rhino Foundation welcomes Freshly Ground



The heavens had blessed the parched Eastern Cape landscape with much needed rain for the better part of a week. Pans were once again full, grasses green and many tracks made impassable with the deluge of water that covered some areas of the Amakhala Game Reserve. The prospect of potentially challenging weather conditions to come was what overshadowed the team at Chipembere Rhino Foundation, with the imminent arrival of their new patron and South Africa’s best loved band, Freshlyground.
Well as they say “timing is everything” and the long anticipated day dawned clear and crisp, with the pristine and refreshed air that takes up residence after the rains have washed away all evidence of heat and dust. We could not have asked for better!
The late afternoon arrival of Freshlyground for the official “ meet and greet” was kindly hosted by Amakhala’s neighbour, the Sidbury Cricket Club – South Africa’s oldest club founded in 1899. Though it is without doubt the oldest cricket facility, the welcome itself was held at the newly built club house. A sincere thanks must go to Dr.William Fowlds and Stacy Dewey for making this location available to us. The event was absolutely faultless and the club rose to the occasion!
Freshlyground was not alone, popular lifestyle show, Top Billing, had agreed to join us and sent along a film crew and presenter to document Freshlyground’s stay at Amakhala Game Reserve, to follow their experience and new association with the Chipembere Rhino Foundation.
Freshlyground was greeted by Amakhala’s legendary “Leeuwenbosch Choir” under the guidance of ‘Ouboet’. The Xhosa harmonies and traditional dancing was enough to get the band motivated and ‘in the mood’ to dance with the chorus.
Once things had settled after the rousing performance, and our visitors had tucked into refreshments and platters of food, an informative slide show of Amakhala’s rhino population was presented along with insightful statistics on how Africa’s rhino have been affected throughtout history by poaching.
The presentation was succinctly summarised by Brent Cook, co-founder of Chipembere Rhino Foundation, outlining the extent of the escalating poaching crisis, how it has affected Amakhala directly and the threat Africa’s remaining Rhino are facing. A question and answer session followed, allowing Freshlyground the opportunity to gain a good understanding of their role as rhino ambassadors and establishing official communication between them as patrons and the foundation.
The next three memorable days were spent out in the bush observing rhino in their natural habitat, visiting the site of the terrible poaching incident on Amakhala and discussing the modus operandi of the poachers. The stunning weather conditions held up, and as much time as possible was spent enjoying the safari experience. Freshlyground conducted interviews with Top Billing in various locations on the reserve on their involvement with Chipembere Rhino Foundation, their music and plans for the future.
All of us at Chipembere Rhino Foundation wish to convey a huge heartfelt thank-you to Freshlyground. First and foremost for taking the time to care about the plight of Africa’s Rhinos, and secondly for being such fantastic down-to-earth folk!!! We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of you, and we and are truly honoured to have Freshlyground as our patron. We look forward to a long and productive association with Freshlyground in this campaign of raising rhino awareness.
None of the above would have been possible without the co-ordinated efforts and creative networking skills of Helen Turnbull, who recognised a synergy that successfully linked the two organisations together. Thank you!