AVP newsletter – No. 76 – April 2020
ELEPHANTS AND CORONA.
The year started so well, until February the first Dutchman became ill from Corona.
Yet another outbreak of Ebola in Congo. The biggest locusts plague ever terrorizes East Africa, while people are already dying by the Corona virus which is circulating around the world.
Everyone tries to keep their heads above water in their own way.
In Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum, battles break out when well-intentioned politicians distribute food.
The people are getting desperate.
Of course, people suffer first and foremost, but also the animals suffer.
DO ELEPHANTS ALSO SUFFER FROM THE CORONA VIRUS?
In Kenya, the elephant orphans are also suffering indirectly from the virus. The SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST is temporarily closed to visitors. This means much less revenue, while Sheldrick is fully dependent on donations and the 500 Kenyan shilling (USD 4.70) that hundreds of visitors pay daily to the elephant orphanage in Nairobi.
The necessary work must continue. Like the activities of the “anti-poaching team”. Poachers don’t stick to a ‘LOCKDOWN’. The elephant orphans still need support.
FRIENDS OF THE ELEPHANT had already been sounding the alarm clock several times. The Corona virus
has a major impact on elephants. The money is running out and the food won’t last. “We must not let the
elephants down!”
AUGUSTIJN VIDEO PRODUCTIONS (AVP) also tries to contribute. By putting messages in the media and by producing special films. Watching movies still continues. Perhaps even more often than ever by being forced
to stay in-doors.
In the magazine “the Elephant”, FotE – in its spring 2020 edition – devoted an article on two full pages’s to two Dutch filmmakers. Ko and Ria Augustijn have been on the barricades for years to defend the best interests of the elephants. The interesting article “talking to the Friends” was also put on Facebook by us on April 04.
AVP also produced short films that appeared on Facebook and YouTube:
”SPARROW HAWK KILLS LOVE BIRDS”
Or movies with a message like the one on Kibwezi (Kenya), where a complete or even an “intelligent lockdown”
is simply impossible.
”CRISIS – WHAT CRISIS”?
Of course our films can be ordered without any further restriction on www.augustijnvideoproductions.nl.
Without wanting to take anything away of the seriousness of the present situation, where the world seems to be almost penalized in a Biblical way for shamelessly exploiting nature, perhaps an optimistic attitude could shed
some light on the end of the tunnel.
Enjoy each other and enjoy what you HAVE.
And throw in an AVP movie.