Tebogo drove 500km on rocky and rutted roads to meet with the leader of the government funded "conservation" group who placed the wire, only to be stood up repeatedly over days. His hope for open discussion and potential collaboration was extinguished. He returned to the Delta wanting to speak with the national park captain overseeing the region within which the mowana lives - hoping he may have jurisdiction to authorize removal of the wire. The captain was on leave and upon returning said he would contact Tebogo for a meeting.
After a few weeks, the Department of National Parks Captain contacted Tebogo and listened to his account of the 11 month process of pasting the Mowana, MJ, with the concoction and the subsequent healing that had occurred prior to the mesh wire application. (Remember that before initiating his rehabilitation program Tebogo had specifically engaged with the Captain to share his plan and receive his support).
The Captain arranged a meeting with himself, Tebogo and Master (the leader of the wiremesh conservation group). Tebogo described the Captain as “helping me a lot” by facilitating and mediating this meeting which was “not an easy thing….., a very difficult experience.” The end result was the decision that Master was to remove the wire from the Mowana, which has been done. When Tebogo drove to check on her, he saw that all of the nails had been left behind and all of the regrown branches had, unfortunately, been broken off or were dead. Tebogo will remove the nails, clean the wounds and paste them with the concoction to prevent infection and support her to rejuvenate once again. Given the events, this is the best possible outcome and demonstrates what a true cooperative community ecosystem and its ripple effects can yield.
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