The Man Who Brings Water for Elephants

Elephants:

Not all heroes wear capes and one such incredible hero is Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua. A pea farmer in a local Kenyan village, he delivers over 3,000 gallons of water to parched wild animals of the drought-stricken land of Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park. When he arrives with water after driving for hours, the elephants, zebras, buffalo, and antelope come running.

Tsavo, Kenya suffers from an extreme water shortage due to inadequate rainfall in the region. Such drought results in mass deaths of wildlife, especially elephants, who are also becoming endangered from poaching. Patrick is doing his best to save the ones that are left. He and his team rent water trucks to deliver water at least 4 trips 45 kilometres away. The water is filled in big empty concrete holes and the animals have become so used to the routine that they often wait beside the holes.

Patrick has a lot of passion for wildlife and is deeply concerned about their survival. His goal is to provide water to the animals until the land receives some rain and the drought gets over. “I started giving animals water because I thought ‘if I don’t do that, they will die’”. He simply says.

Moreover, Patrick also runs a conservation project called Tsao volunteers and visits local schools bringing awareness to children so when they grow up they can protect the native wildlife. Now he has several trucks and more locations to fill water in because when the water is in one location, animals fight for the water and the smaller animals gets left behind. Patrick makes sure that no animal goes thirsty. Not on his watch! He even travels at night risking his own life to deliver water to a dry water hole.

Patrick has a GoFundMe page where people can donate money to help him save the animals. So far, a sum of $424,956 has been raised. Patrick also suffers from kidney problem and requires dialysis on a regular basis. The money also helps him to finance his medical bills and people are more than eager to help. He’s not far from the goal of $500,000. Heroes like Patrick are worth saving.

In the midst of threats of climate change, animals on brink of extinction, water scarcity and many more, here is one man who has taken charge and is making a difference and inspiring many who sits leisurely in their home thinking ‘what one man can do?’ Well, the answer is ‘A LOT!!’.

Today, on world water day, we bring you this story. If you want to help the elephant guardian visit: https://www.gofundme.com/tsavoelephantguardian

Image Source: Pixabey