People And Wildlife Solutions (PAWS)

Our Boys In Red!

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:14:09 +0000

Peter and Felix, our 2 staff members, show off with great pride their new Manchester United football shirts very kindly donated by MICHAEL OGDEN, a volunteer who came to PAWS last October ‘09 for a 6 weeks stint. Michael had the shirts printed in the UK with boys’ favourite player numbers on the back! Peter and Felix are wearing the shirts at every possible opportunity I’m quite sure they’re the envy of all their friends! Thank you Michael, you definitely made their day!!

Simon Geach : 30.01.10 to 12.02.10

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:53:55 +0000

If you’re thinking of taking part, just do it and you will not regret it. After spending two weeks here it was one of the best adventures I have ever done. Clive and Roma are very welcoming and you soon feel like one big family. Hard not to learn something from Clive, he seems to know everything about the reserve and its animals. In the mornings the work is tough, but you feel like you are doing something worthwhile, that you are making a difference even if it is only a very small part. Afternoons you enjoy the beauty that you are surrounded by, whether in the landscape or the animals. Almost every day we were out on Safari, tracking down the reserve characters. The night sky is something I will never forget. It’s hard not to fall for the place’s magic. Once you had your time there you long to return, I know I do. Thanks again Clive and Roma

A New Addition In the Reserve!

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:11:10 +0000

Some volunteers have already been lucky enough to witness this beautiful cub born to MJ last year. MJ is keeping her cub close to her side as you can imagine and sightings are rare. We are yet to establish the cub’s sex, although it seems likely that it’s a female leopard. We estimate she’s about 7 months old now and this photo was taken at about 4 months old. The cub will be left to mature without any interference and won’t be radio collared until she is old enough to leave her mother, from 18 months old onwards. She is still yet to be named. We’ll keep you posted on her progress.

Bundu Bashers Named In Honour Of Volunteers

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:45:56 +0000

Due to the VERY GENEROUS donations received from the following volunteers, Clive and I felt it only appropriate that they should have one of our new Bundu Bashers named in their honour!

Mel Davies’ mean machine will be christened :                                                    MAD MEL
Kristy Ingebo & Jim Biancome’s mean machine will be christened :                      THE TERMINATOR
Juliet Quinn’s mean machine will be christened :                                                 THE MIGHTY QUINN

Since P.A.W.S’s reopening on 30th January this year, we have purchased an additional 6 Bundu Bashers to accommpany ‘The Bitch’ and ‘The Beast’ in anticipation of a busy and very productive year!! The above donations have helped us enormously in achieving the purchase of these machines. Thank you very much indeed and also to everyone of you who’ve offered your time, efforts and of course your bodies to P.A.W.S. !!

A Big Thank You To Rebecca Hennessy!

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:39:00 +0000

Rebecca, a 2nd time volunteer to P.A.W.S. last October very kindly donated the funds received from the sale of cakes she baked and sold. This was a most welcome and very unexpected surprise, so too were the very colourful scarfs and hats she knitted for Clive and I !!! The money Rebecca donated has been used to purchase lots of well needed tools and equipment used daily in the bush by the volunteers including pangas, saws, axes etc. Rebecca is joining us for a 3rd time in October this year, dedication to the end! Thanks Rebecca for all your hard work and efforts for P.A.W.S. !!

Congratulations To Mel Davis!!

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:24:11 +0000

She did it….!!! Mel finished the Birmingham half marathon in just under 2 hours! “The last couple of miles were pretty tough and my legs are rather sore today but other than that it was good fun”, says Mel.
Mel has raised a very generous donation for P.A.W.S. via sponsorship, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH to those of you who kindly sponsored Mel for her marvelous achievements!
In recongnition of her wonderful efforts, Clive and I will be naming one of our newly ordered Bundu Bashers after her to accompany our current machines ‘The Bitch’ and ‘The Beast’ !! Mel’s bundu basher will be named ‘Mad Mel’ and signed accordingly.

Position Race No. Name Gender Cat Chip-Time Gun Time
5320 10459 Melanie Female F 01:57:08 02:13:54

Mel, we can’t thank you enough and also to Matt who we know supported you all the way…..You make a great team. Well done both of you!!

Valentina Piscopo : 10.10.09 to 23.10.09

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:37:52 +0000

My two weeks at paws were definitely not enough to learn from Clive’s immense knowledge about nature and wildlife, not enough to fully experience everything PAWS has to offer! It was enough to understand how meaningful our work was and what wonderful people and caring hosts Roma and Clive are, and enough to make you miss it all once you leave! Wishing you had spent more time there! I learnt a lot from the work we undertook; skills that you don’t get to learn everyday in an office! Brilliant getaway and adventure! I am writing this after having worked in four different project and I can confidently say Paws was the best! For its perfect blend of hard work in the morning, time to relax and then incredible safaris tracking leopards or hyenas on foot! The accomodation gives you the right thrill of living in the bush with all the comodities you need though! (I have never had a better shower in all my life- and with a view!) Our group became very close too, made great friends - and we were all sad to leave! Definitely come back one day! “

Tanya Tivey : 12.09.09 to 25.09.09

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:25:28 +0000

So many words sprung to mind when I thought about writing this review of my time at PAWS. Amazing, inspiring, interesting, challenging, fantastic however for me the word that describes it best is BRILLIANT!
I arrived at the beginning of September for a 2 week stay at PAWS. What attracted me to the project was the variety of work and adventure that was offered. I really wanted to do something tangible to help the big cat’s conservation and this project definitely meets that objective. Clive & Roma where the perfect hosts, bringing a great mix of knowledge, direction and comfort (especially when on the first night I reckon I got about 2 hours sleep in-between the roar of Lions and whooping of Hyena’s!) to a lone traveller.
Each day was an event and a trip into the unknown, some days we could be Hyena or Leopard tracking, others fence clearing and bone and poo collection. Whatever the activity, there was a real sense of expectation of what we would see or do next. I can truly say it was a pleasure to wake up early to a beautiful Africa morning sunrise and from Day 1 to the end, I enjoyed every single second. In my group of 5 were people from very different backgrounds with some in the midst of 9 month world trips and others, like me, travelling alone. I think the rotation of roles to make breakfast; lunch and dinner (under the watchful eye of Roma & Clive!) really helped the team fuse together well. If you ever want to feel like you have really made a difference whilst being rewarded by Leopards and Cheetahs prepared to allow you to watch and work with them then PAWS is the place for you. A return visit is a must on my list of the things to do and I will be watching with interest the internet updates on the progress being made at Okonjima (most importantly that MJ’s cub is a boy!!!) Thank you Clive & Roma (and my favourite SKINNY BOY) for a ‘BRILLIANT’ experience.

1 Year On & Racing Ahead…

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:47:49 +0000

Can you believe P.A.W.S. launched just over 1 year ago on 16th August 2008. From very humble beginnings P.A.W.S. is steadily gaining speed and slowly but surely starting to make progress within the vast 22,000 acre reserve that surrounds us! A daunting task we know but Rome wasn’t built in a day as they say! We are on track to make a difference to this beautiful land and restore it back to its original state, the plains of old and once more return the cheetahs back to their natural environment!

Clive and I would like to say a MASSIVE THANKYOU to each and every one of our P.A.W.S volunteers for whom without you none of this would be possible! Your commitment, willingness, energy and enthusiasm has been amazing and we are truly grateful. We have just reached our 100th Volunteer, an impossible dream at our start last August. So far with your help we have cleared :-

65 km’s of old cattle fencline
50 acres of sickle bush including an area for the forthcoming primary school for the children of Okonjima’s staff
An unspeakable amout of Cheetah poo and bones from within the AfriCat Cheetah camps
A variety of reserve maintenance jobs including errecting fences for the AfiCat Foundation, assisting with the annual Africat Health Checks and so much more….!

Our volunteers have also accompanied Dave from AfriCat on countless cheetah and leopard Rescues and Releases and witnessed first hand the conflict between farmer and predator alike. A truly amazing and unique experience.

Here’s to the next installment of P.A.W.S. and to another successful year! Once again thank you all so much for your commitment, from Roma, Clive, Peter and Felix!

Running For P.A.W.S.

Roma Muccio-Johnson — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:19:50 +0000

Melanie and Matt Davis joined P.A.W.S. as volunteers in July of this year and threw themselves into everything with 100% enthusiasm, positiveness and energy! They were a super couple to have at camp and a delight to host! They have VERY kindly offered to sponsor P.A.W.S. by running the EDF Energy Half Marathon taking place in Birmingham on Sunday 11th October 2009. Any monies raised for P.A.W.S. will contribute towards the cost of 2 new Bundu Bashers that are greatly needed and will work side by side with our current machines that some of you may already be very familiar with, The Bitch and The Beast! Clive and I want to take this opportunity of wishing you all the very best of success in the Marathon, and can’t thank you both enough for your generous support of P.A.W.S.! We hope you cross the finish line without too many aches and sores! Good luck from the P.A.W.S. Team!

For anybody wishing to contribute or sponsor Mel & Matt here are the details : Donations can either be made into my paypal account: melanie.davis6@btinternet.com or cheques can be sent to: Mel & Matt Davis, 10 The Rosegardens, Halesowen, West Midlands, B63 4JE (made payable to Melanie Davis). The EDF Energy Half Marathon website is : http://www.birminghamhalfmarathon.com/