Saturday, December 27, 2014

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND THANK YOU FROM EVERYBODY AT SI MA BO!!




Dear Friend


Throughout the year, but especially during the holiday season, I reflect on our shared commitment to not only the animals we’ve saved, but also to those who still need our help.  Our ongoing spay/neuter campaign is the only humane solution to combat the overpopulation problem of dogs and cats here in São Vicente, Cape Verde.  As you may know,  SI MA BÔ’s volunteers and donors are their greatest hope and we can not extend our gratitude enough for your prior support. 


Daily we treat victims of neglect, abuse, and trauma.  Together, we can put an end to their excruciating pain and suffering and we can not do it without your help!  





I know that you receive many charitable requests at this time of year. I hope you will find it in your heart to include  SI MA BÔ, the only advocate for animals in São Vicente, in your gift giving. I can not emphasize enough that your support is needed more than ever at this very moment. This is because the grant that we were fortunate enough to receive from the European Union for the last three years has come to an end. 


Please support SI MA BÔ using Paypal (donate@simabo.org) or by making your donation directly to our Italian account at BANCA PROSSIMA, in the name of  SIMABÔ ONLUS, IBAN: IT23 S033 5901 6001 0000 0009 584, swift/bic code: BCITITMX

On behalf of the animals whose lives will be saved by your generosity, I thank you.   


Wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays!

Yours sincerely  

SI MA BÔ

Saturday, December 20, 2014

The other side of the coin



I'm sat outside a small coffee shop in Sao Vicente, across the table from me sits a woman who is filled with the perfect combination of love, determination, sadness and hope. She has been telling me her story for an hour now, and I'm literally engrossed by it. Straight away tell her I want to help, in any way I can, Why? because when I look at Silvia there's nothing but sincerity, she believes in a better life for the thousands of street dogs and cats on this island and this hope that follows her is contagious.

Sylvia is the president for the Cape Verde NGO SI MA BO. SI MA BO in creole means ''just like you'', they are a non profit shelter and clinic for the cats and dogs on the island of Sao Vicente. The organisation offers everything from an affordable vet clinic to the local people, an incredible spay and neuter program, an adoption/rehoming program and shelter to street dogs and cats who have been injured, hurt and are not fit to return to the streets.

You know those moments when you feel like your trapped in a corner, where there are literally no options that are easy or avaliable, if not try and picture it. I've only known Silvia for 2 months, I've stood and listened and watched her face in many of these moments, and everytime she stands unbroken to the problems this african island throws at her to do her job. I would have broke many times in these situations. One evening I went to Silvias to help her with a few things, when I arrive she's nursing a cat that is very very sick, this was the first moment I saw Silvia let down her defences. The compassion, warmth and love she gave that cat in her arms as it passed away was nothing short of beautiful yet heartbreaking, I could feel it so I know the cat could too, that the cat was safe, and loved and it died in a moment when it was not afraid. That moment of compassion was as real as it comes.

As I write this its the holidays, around this time there are thousands of dogs an cats that will survive another day on the street, hunting for scraps, walking the alleys at night where humans are in smaller numbers, sleeping in pits riddled with fleas, lice and ticks, anywhere that can bring quiet and safety for small periods of time. Instead of buying people uneeded gifts; I ask that you consider making a donation to SI MA BO, to these beautiful animals that need you more than ever, these animals that want nothing more than a few minutes of your time and love. Anyone who spends time around dogs knows that they can tell you their life through their eyes, here most are filled with sadness, the most unimaginable sadness. Everyday you want them to know your different, you want them to know they can trust you, but with many too much has happened to convince them otherwise.

Last week I saw a kitten lying on the side of the road, he had been tortured and had its eyes pulled out, the week before a few week old kitten shaking in the middle of the highway as no cars stopped to move it, the week before that people were throwing dogs off piers like frisbees, the same week a guy kicking a dog in the ribs as he passed it, and only yesterday a puppy quivering and whining in pain on the side of the road, there were a least 20 people in the area and I don't know how many had passed before this; luckily I had somewhere like SI MA BO to take him. We can't paint everybody with the same brush, there are many residents of Sao Vicente who really look out for these animals.

There is a story that sums SI MA BO's approach, Sylvia was once showing us around a potential future animal clinic, someone asked her ''have you checked with the neighbours they won't mind the noise'', Sylvia's reply was 'If I worried about what other people thought about these animals they would have nothing'', SI MA BO is their only hope, and as a grassroots organisation they are doing everything right and I wouldn't have enough breath to thank them for everything they do for these animals.

Sylvia is never interested in talking about herself, after a few words she reverts back to the dogs and cats, but I chose to write about her because she represents the change thats possible on this island. Without SI MA BO the suffering, the pain, the relationship between human and street animals would be much worse, slowly she is changing hearts and minds, slowly she is changing peoples attitudes towards dogs and cats, slowly she is breaking down the wall between the human and animal, slowly she is making steps towards humans and dogs living on this island together; without the abuse, the pain and the fear. Once again it takes the efforts of a few incredible people to achieve this, the governments answer on Sao Vicente is to round these animals up and kill them, which isn't unusual around the world, but it's not ok, it will never be ok, SI MA BO are the other side of the coin, right now when its tossed it lands on both sides, with your help we can make sure it lands on SI MA BO everytime.

SI MA BO is defeating statistics..... You can be apart of that!!!!!The new year is crucial for SI MA BO, with EU funding coming to an end, they need all the help they can get, we could write about these stories of sadness all day but these are yesterdays stories, we need to move forward. I ask you deep down, please give what you can, every dog and cat on the island would thankyou!

HOPE DIES LAST

Ryan