One year ago, on March 4th 2013, Kenya was preparing for its national elections, and the Ewaso Lions staff was also getting ready to go vote at the local pre-school. As we were leaving Camp, we saw a small white and brown bundle. It was a little dog who had collapsed right in the middle of Camp.
He was exhausted and could barely lift his head to drink water that we tried to give him. His feet were completely worn out and he limped away from us in fear as we tried to check his body and feed him. We left him in camp with Jeneria that morning as we headed off to vote. We were not sure if he would still be in camp when we returned – but he was.
This little dog stayed with us for the next few days as we tried to learn where he came from. We found out he belonged to a warrior from Sasaab village who had migrated with his cows but his dog got left behind. Apparently he was known to be a stubborn dog!
Kura appeared in our camp on Election Day, one year ago. Kura means “vote” in Kiswahili.
We didn’t get much sleep in the first 2 weeks. The dog slept outside Jeneria’s tent at night and bark, howl and cry all night long. But the dog didn’t want to leave our Camp. We contacted the original owner who said the dog could stay with us.
We named him Kura – which means Vote in Kiswahili – due to the fact that he arrived on a very important day for Kenya.
We built Kura a doghouse, and he soon learned to feel safe at night and stopped barking. His feet healed and he put on weight. We took him to Nanyuki in the car for his vaccinations and check-up – this was definitely the first time Kura had been in a car and this little bush dog did not enjoy it!
A year has now passed, and Kura is a very important part of our camp and project. We had always wanted a camp dog, but never got around to finding one – well, one found us. He is a happy, healthy dog who keeps us entertained at all times. After long days in the field, we return to camp to have Kura launch himself at us or greet us at the top of the road when he hears our cars. Leaving shoes outside our tents is a mistake, as they often disappear. If we leave our tents open is not only a bad thing as snakes can wander in, but we may find Kura fast asleep on the bed. He alerts us about anyone that wanders in to camp or walking past camp. He also warned us of snakes including dangerous red spitting cobras.
He loves warriors – when he hears any warrior walking in the distance, he is off in a flash, greeting them lovingly. He does the exact opposite with motorbikes: he chases them off at great speeds, barking like mad.
His best friend is Jeneria, and follows him around everywhere, and sits waiting for him to return every time he drives out of camp. He is disciplined by Jeneria and Moses, spoilt by Shivani and Lpuresi and gets a lot of attention when playing with Letoiye and Ngila.
A lot of community members see Kura and cannot believe that he is a Samburu dog. We explain that with some care, food and attention, a village dog can transform in to an alert and happy dog. Leletur, one of our elders from the Wazee Watch programme said to us recently, “this is the luckiest dog in Samburu.” But we think we are the lucky ones.
We love our little camp dog and hope Kura has a happy, healthy and long future with Ewaso Lions.
Kura barks like mad at some creatures like mongooses at night. But others, like this bull elephant, don’t seem to interest him!
Kura always sees us off into the field, and is always the first one to greet us when we get back to Camp.