Dear Friends,

This story is about a boy called Peter Kagnakera; he is from the tribe of Pokot and he is (he thinks) ten years old.

Two of our rangers found him mid-May, at high noon, below a bush in the open savanna, where he had been sent to herd cattle illegally by his father at night. He had been attacked by a buffalo, and his upper thigh was fractured. He had spent the night alone, practically naked, with no food nor water, at the mercy of the wild animals. It is a total miracle that our rangers, not a Hyena, found him first. That he survived the night.

The rangers carried him to their patrol base and called me on the radio. I was in the Kutwa hills at the opposite side of the conservancy where a patrol had heard shots and found the spoor of a wounded elephant. I drove back the 45km to my house at great speed to get bandages, rough splinters, painkillers and hot sweet tea. The Eastern Pokot gate is another 10 km away. By now it was 4 p.m. He was painfully thin, bruised, in shock, clearly in great pain, incredibly brave. He spoke no Swahili. His femur was shattered. I tried my best, bandaged him as tight as I could to immobilise his joints on the bumpy road.

We sent for his family, but could not find anyone. A young man and a girl with a baby -an older sister- in the end, came. Trussed up and covered in a blanket strapped to my back seat I drove him another 20km to the Ol Moran mission clinic, but....as I was driving, half way through, the sky darkened dramatically and torrents of rain -the FIRST rain at last!- soon flooded the track- water poured in the open car from every where, the road was tricky, slippery, full of huge puddles filled with mud, the car finally slid into a submerged hole-got stuck. It took us hours to get out, and finally reached the mission in the dark, soaked to the bone. Italian doctors took over, efficient sisters-great relief. On this fateful day-that may well have changed his life- Peter went for the first time in a car, had his first injection, ate his first banana, saw his first electric light, and spent the first night of his life in a proper bed.

5th June 2009

That was three weeks ago... I sent Peter by car to The North Kinangop Hospital-the best one before Nairobi- escorted by our volunteer and sponsored student Eunice Too-a wonderful girl, who speaks some Pokot. He was x-rayed, and eventually operated by a specialist; after a successful post-operation period of three weeks, today Peter has been discharged from the North Kinangop Hospital. Eunice went to pay the bill, and to get him in a car. I could believe the change. He had a huge grin on his face. He is walking with crutches. We bought him new clothes. He has learnt some Kiswahili and has put on weight. He has made friends. He will stay with us at the Wilderness Centre - looked after by Eunice Too and Lillian Chepkemboi, who has joined our team as a nursery schoolteacher-until he gets better. We are going to teach him to read and to write.

8th June!!

In just over two days-! -Peter, who has not stopped smiling since he came back- and is incredibly eager to learn, has learnt to count to 10 (in English);and to write his name. At last we found his parents, and today he met his mother (a strong woman) and father (a known trespasser, drunkard and no good) and some of the relatives who walked to our A9 gate, and were astonished to see the difference. He was terrified we would send him back, and begged through an interpreter to be allowed to stay. Of course! The fact that he survived a terrifying ordeal must mean something. I asked-and was granted-the permission of looking after him and sending him to school!

We asked his mother to come and see him here every week until he returns to hospital for a check up in two months time.

Thank you and will keep you updated.

Kuki