The year 2016 has been a year of celebrations, successes, and milestones. If you are receiving the ANAW holiday direct mail piece you will be reading about my meeting Jos Ngonyo in 2005 and the friendship between our families that continues to grow. Indeed, the network of friends is a concentric ripple that extends far beyond just our families and friends, to also include what we now have started in the name of conservation and animal welfare.
The organization we create is a reciprocal door into the countries we represent, the U.S. to Kenya and Kenya to the U.S. From the perspective of the University of Denver, this is a gateway opportunity for students of the Graduate School of Social Work to meet Kenyans in their homes and in their lives. This year, for the three groups of visiting private practice veterinarians, it is service to the communities of pet and livestock owners. For Kenyans, it is an introduction to people in North America, an exchange of ideas, aspirations, and future possibilities. ANAW is our mutual gateway.
For the animals in Kenya, it is advocacy and people communicating and doing for those that cannot speak for themselves. ANAW stopped the road construction across the Serengeti with significant help from Serengeti Watch, brings attention to the encroachment of another roadway, a railroad, across Nairobi National Park, expands Animal Welfare Clubs into the curriculum of 33 Nairobi schools, facilitates the continued efforts for adding animal welfare to the country’s national curriculum, works with the judiciary and countless others to remove trapping wire while advocating for ending bushmeat consumption.
It has been said that in life we need three things. “Someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to”. ANAW, for many of us, has become part of our lives, with the mission, and the people on both sides of the Atlantic striving to make the world a better place for all living creatures.
I wish to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Board of Directors and staff in Denver that makes the transmission of funds to Nairobi possible. From left to right, Philip Tedeschi, Bob Uttaro, David Gies, Richard Reading, Janet Rumfelt, Kristen Nelson, Professor James Nakansa (ANAW in Nairobi), Richard Male, Maria Galter, and Jos Ngonyo. Not pictured are Arielle Giddens, Nehemiah Rotich and Keith Gehring.
If you are interested in more of the particulars please visit the ANAW websites, http://www.anaw.org and http://www.anaw-usa.org.
ANAW is not eligible to be reviewed by Charity Navigators because our assets are less than $1,000,000. Until we can reach this threshold, and in the interest of staking our reputation as a reputable and worthy nonprofit organization, our 2015 Audit is available upon request, for anyone wishing to learn more about us. Also, our 990 tax returns can be accessed at www.guidestar.org.
Best wishes for this holiday season.
David Gies,
ANAW-USA Board President
David's Blog 