@Kimberly Crossland I started writing this but somehow it disappeared... I love Kenya and the people there but even more so I love elephants. I have a dear friend who is Maasai and was asking about their view of elephants. He said that they fear them and also spear them with poison when they enter their farms, destroying their crops. Elephants are losing their land to farms, and they are doing what they have always done... look for food. I have been there the past 2 summers and have met with various elephant research teams. A study was done to determine if any natural crops would deter elephants. The one that stuck with me was sunflowers. Elephants do not like the smell or texture, so they stay away. I approached the elders and presented this info. The Maasai do not see a need to sunflowers, but they told me if I came up with some ideas and taught them, they would try. I have been trying to raise some donations to purchase sunflowers seeds in Kenya (so far $200 worth) and write a curriculum and training manual. In January we will start planting in the Lemuk conservancy. As the project grows and we earn more money we will expand until the whole Mara is covered. I am incredibly thrilled and honored to do this. I do not expect it to be easy but I am willing to put in the work if this will make a difference for the Massai and the elephants. This is my website: Promoting harmonious coexistence between Maasai people and elephants | Elephants in Bloom

@Kimberly Crossland That would be amazing!! Thank you so much.

@Kimberly Crossland I am ok but my brother is not. It's the weirdest thing. He somehow developed a different bacterial infection in each foot. The tissue in his foot literally died. His feet and legs are black and really gross. He has his fourth surgery tomorrow. Thay have removed all of the necrotic tissue and are doing skin crafts to try to save his feet and legs.

@Kimberly Crossland thank you for checking. My brother is still in the hospital. He had 2 procedures last week. One to harvest tissue for a graft and one to clean the wound and start the skin grafts. He still can't walk or bear weight but he does have a wheelchair so he can at least leave his room.

Awesome. I've thought about starting one.

I'm really open to anything. The last sprint really helped me so I'm sure another one would be equally fabulous.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAEW-JTvUSj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==