The secret of life lies in seeking and finding the light.
Albert Schweitzer
10 years Animalma
Dear Animalma family
Our organisation was founded 10 years ago today – a fantastic and somewhat crazy idea became a reality and an as yet unknown path opened up. I have to admit that my initial naivety about easily generating donations in Switzerland for Bolivia was quickly overtaken by reality. Fundraising is hard work, and so is ramping up a project like Animalma.
And so this path has led me through ups and downs, but from the beginning until today I have always been accompanied by wonderful supporters, inspiring encounters come at just the right moment and all the small and big miracles that we have been able to achieve in Bolivia over the last 10 years give me the strength to keep going.
Without you, dear Animalma family, all this would have remained a dream. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued support.
You are simply awesome and I celebrate every single one of you.
¡Muchissimas gracias!
In this very special anniversary newsletter, I will tell you about my last trip to Bolivia, what is currently happening in our country of assignment and what a wonderful milestone is coming up next year.
Bolivia trip 2024
Packed with my trekking equipment and around CHF 400 from the mini-campaign, I set off on a three-week trip to my second home country in July.
On the way to the jungle, I was able to meet the volunteer firefighters from Ixiamas at our last stop in civilisation. They are part of the Jaguares forest firefighters, whom we have been supporting with Animalma for two years. It was a great honour for me to meet this female-led group in person and present them with their shirts bearing the Animalma logo.
Inspired by this encounter and full of anticipation, we set off on our 10-day adventure in Madidi National Park. For two days, we hiked through the thicket with bag and baggage until we reached the Rio Madidi. We drifted down the river for six days with self-made fins and observed the wonderful flora and fauna of the Bolivian Amazon. Every evening we set up camp, lit a fire to cook and then philosophised for hours about nature and its threats, the challenges in Bolivia and listened to the rangers’ stories.
Once off the tranquility of the river, we spent another two days on foot over rough jungle terrain, which pushed each of our group of six to their limits in one way or another.
I am happy to take you on our Madidi adventure via the following gallery…
What moved me the most was, on the one hand, this incredible peace that sets in far away from civilisation and also allows the head and heart to rest. We get back into a natural rhythm, get up with the sun and are so much happier when we only have what we really need. A cup of coffee becomes a luxury, a dip in the river feels like wellness and the choir of howler monkeys is the best concert ever.
& this feeling of wandering through an intact jungle, seeing its diversity and natural balance and sitting in deep reverence under a 400-year-old tree – simply indescribable… liberating, inspiring, deeply moving.
Back in civilisation…
…we made another stopover in Ixiamas and I took the opportunity to use some of our donations to buy a 1000 litre water tank for the firefighters of Ixiamas.
The joy was huge and this equipment is extremely important for the volunteer firefighters because it saves valuable time in the event of a fire.
I handed over the remaining donations to my friend and vet Carla, realising her dream of running her own campaign to help dogs and cats near nature reserves with parasite and vitamin treatments. & thus also protect wild animals from parasites. In two days, three vets treated over 200 animals with the help of volunteers. They topped it all off with educational lessons for children at the primary school in Ixiamas.
I am happy to share with you the touching impressions of this wonderful mission in the following video:
Once again, these two examples show how much we can achieve through Animalma in Bolivia. Thank you to Katrin, Fabian and an anonymous supporter for your donations – you have made these two miracles a reality.
Of course, I also visited the Senda Verde Wildlife Refuge on this trip. I am glad that they have a consistent and dedicated team looking after the 1000+ wild animals and that their educational work in the form of guided tours is very popular with the local population. I also particularly celebrate their wild bee project, the butterfly breeding and the fact that Senda Verde sensitises its visitors to the smallest and yet so essential creatures.
We continue to support Senda Verde with basic supplies through the emergency fund:
#SOSSenda Verde – Emergency fund
Help Senda Verde through the aftermath of the corona crisis (yes, it is still being felt in Bolivia!).
The emergency fund provides food and medical care for the more than 1000 animals at the reserve.
Bolivia today
Since my return, Bolivia has literally been in flames – it is one of the worst fire seasons in recent years. 100,000 square kilometres of forest and savannah have fallen victim to the flames; according to biologists, around 10 million vertebrates have died. These are numbers and effects that are beyond our imagination and deeply shock me.
Impressions of this year’s forest fires in Bolivia
That’s why I’ve spent the last few weeks providing emergency aid to the rangers and volunteer firefighters. A first aid delivery in the form of food and petrol for the necessary logistics went to the San Matias protected areas and the Noel Kempff Mercado in September.
At the beginning of October, I received another call for help from the Noel Kempff UNESCO World Heritage Site. The rangers and volunteers were faced with a 60-kilometre stretch of fire – the only solution was to use a skidder (a large forestry vehicle) to create firebreaks.
Out of necessity, I wrote an email to all of you and am still overwhelmed: the CHF 1,000 for the required fuel came together within 24 hours!
We received so many donations that we were also able to support the San Matias reserve once again and are currently clarifying with the rangers how we will utilise the remaining CHF 1,750.
In a really dark moment for Bolivia and for me, you were once again the light that brought hope back to us. THANK YOU!
Thanks to recent rainfall, the situation has eased somewhat and the redemptive rainy season is due in November. What remains is irreparable damage to various ecosystems and species, the loss of the livelihoods of many indigenous people, anger and disappointment in the population towards the state and a government that actively promotes this slash-and-burn agriculture and whose ‘aid’ is pure farce.
To end this section with a glimmer of hope, I would like to share a story with you. It is written by Fabiola, a Bolivian woman living in Switzerland, who has accompanied me and Animalma for many years and who, inspired by my appeal for help, expresses her pain in the written word.
Tränen aus Asche, Keime der Hoffnung
Lágrimas de Ceniza, Brotes de Esperanza
English translation pending
Outlook for the coming year
& here it is at last, the milestone that awaits us next year and will take Animalma to new shores!
In collaboration with the organisation @fire, which has been training firefighters in forest firefighting for many years and sends emergency personnel to crisis areas, we are organising three two-day training courses in Bolivia next spring for rangers from various nature reserves and for our volunteer forest firefighters Jaguares.
I am incredibly proud that I will be travelling to Bolivia in April 2025 with five specialists from Switzerland to implement this preventive and sustainable measure. There is still a lot to do before then: the course content is being developed by the experts, potential sponsors are being sought, the trip and logistics are being organised and, in particular, the funding needs to be secured.
That’s why I’m sharing with you the associated online campaign that marks the start of this wonderful endeavour:
Fighting wildfires with knowledge
Forest firefighting training for rangers and volunteer firefighters in Bolivia – with the specialists from @fire, supported by Animalma
Before we set off on this adventure in April, I hope to see you in person in March 2025. Because that’s when we’ll be celebrating 10 years of Animalma at our next anniversary party – better late than never!
More information will follow in the next newsletter at the beginning of the year at the latest. Until then, I wish you a wonderful time and send you a heartfelt THANK YOU once again for all your support over the last 10 years, for accompanying us on this crazy and yet wonderful journey together.
Your Sarah
from Animalma
