…..annnnnnnd I am late again. Luckily, I can backdate posts so future me doesn’t think I was slacking off.
With my office finished, I actually was able to get back into some solid work and have a nice comfortable place to do it. I have been going through all of the data that the teams in Karingani collect on the ground – I gather it from multiple sources, clean it up, plop it into the correct excel sheets that Zoe created and start analysis on it. Sounds simple, but there is a lot more to it than just that. For one thing cleaning it up can be a verrryyyyy interesting (and tedious) process. You want to see how much ammunition was used for training, management purposes, etc so you think you can just search the word “shots” or something similar and find all the messages about what was shot and how much… however, then you realise there is a common typo of turning “shots” into “shits” so now you have to search through all of the messages for shits as well… it is a process.
Many people do not realise that data is the backbone of these operations and projects. How many animals are collared? How far did X, Y and Z travel for the month of February? How many kilometres did the security team vehicles travel? How much fuel did they use? How much fuel do we have stock left on? How much rain did each section get for the month? Karingani collects loads of data on as many different aspects of reserve operations, security and conservation as possible. But why is that so important? Well, for one, when you need to request funding for something, the investors and donors giving that money want to know where their money is going. Everyone knows that having a helicopter is a “game changer” for reserve security. But what does game changer mean, how do we know that is actually making a difference? Because we quantify it. We have the numbers, stats and graphs to prove it. Deployment time substantially decreases with a helicopter, and I can show you the numbers for exactly how much that time decreases. Decreased deployment time means higher rates that our scouts coming into contact with potential poachers. Higher arrest percentages. Game changer with the numbers to prove it. I am now the one behind the scenes vetting, organising and making that data available to present to the necessary management, donors and investors.
On Friday, our good friends Jo and Barry came to spend the weekend with us! We had a ton of fun staying up way too late, drinking way too much wine and playing lots and lots of TAC. IT is so special to be able to have a home that we can share with our friends for visits!
Saturday, Jo, Barry and I went to Pondarosa for the Boots and Bridles Fun Day event. I cannot tell you enough how proud I am of Akira – she was simply amazing!! You have to remember that she is still a baby at only 17 months old… I brought her down to the arena and this was the first time she had seen a bunch of other horses in the arena, some of whom she has never met before. Also, even potentially scarier still there were people SITTING on those horses making them have a very odd shape to them. When we first got down to the arena, she was a bit nervous at first, not sure what to make of it all, but very quickly got over that and decided to trust me that I would not bring her into a bad situation. We walked around and checked out all of the obstacles that were set up. Some of them, like the water crossing and the loud clanging metal pole in a bucket, took a few extra moments of checking out before she realised they were not going to eat her. After that, she was an absolute professional! We did the whole obstacle course many times and she was so brave and so willing to try everything.
In between, we waited on the edge of the arena in the shade for the other horses to have their turns and she waited so calmly and patiently. I am absolutely so in love with this girl!! I have had some pretty amazing horses throughout my life, but there is something unique and special about the bond I have with Akira. She is so loving and cuddly and also so incredibly smart and willing. She just wants to please. After the event was finished, I asked one of the other participants that drove their horses over to Pondarosa if we could try loading in the horse box since Akira had not been in a box since she arrived in December, and she loaded up perfectly, no problem! She was like “Yeah, mom, and now what?” I love her. Jo also got to join in and took Fantasma around playing and trying out all the obstacles with him. It was such a great day!
adventureiswild.com 