Two years ago, Dana and I took a trip to South Africa for his dream trip. Mind you, I definitely wanted to go, but this was something he had been dreaming about since he was a boy. To this day, this trip has changed my life – FOREVER! And that’s a pretty long time….forever!
All of the great memories I had then, came rushing back to me when Dana showed me the – just released today – the Auction list for Dallas Safari Club. HERE I AM! Front and Center – well sorta front, and maybe not center, but Quagga Safari’s used my VERY FIRST EVER hunt as a feature to their auction with all proceeds going to Dallas Safari Club’s charities. HONORED YES!
When we took the trip, I posted a picture of our Giraffe, which now is a piece of artwork in our home. Boy, did that ever cause a whole laundry list of controversy. And without going into that diatribe, I will say, to each his own and most of those who bitterly opposed me, did so without knowing the entire truth – only relying on what they hear in the media – which by the way is full of half truths.
The real reason I decided to hunt on the very last day of our trip was because of the picture below. This is a school located about 40 miles from Quagga. M-PayPouli is how you say it – I have no idea how it’s spelled. Count the kids…..there’s 117 of them registered in this school. They live here. They don’t see their parents every night and they are only funded for 50 kids. They don’t complain because they don’t have an X-box, the latest iPhone or electronic gadget….
They smile because they got suckers…..that’s right…Blow Pops to be exact. The candy was merely treats. The rest of what we gave them was ALL of the meat from our hunt. That is why I shot this impala. It was for the kids. During that week in africa we provided these kids with 2500 meals – protein, when otherwise all they get to eat is braipap. -It’s a porridge, pasty and really does not look appealing. It’s hunters like us and hunter’s $$ that provide these kids the basic necessities they need.
I am proud beyond measure to help these kids. I even made a video documentary of our trip. – You can check our visit to the bush school here
Here’s my up close and personal photos with my hubby Dana (right of me), Etienne- My PH (professional hunter), our Friend Larry in the back and our Tracker Franz. I took this impala with one clean shot and when we approached it we saw that he had a thorn stuck in his eye and that he was going blind.
So yeah, today I’m smiling – thinking about little Gavin, who is two years older now, but back then was going to school and had nothing to sit on. I’m thinking about the smiles and the hugs these kids gave us and the common courtesy and respect they showed to us. I think all kids need to visit this school. They could learn alot – out of the mouths of babes…..
Have a great weekend everyone!