Month: October 2019

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

by Simran Jayasinghe

Last year for Christmas, Kiran, Svara, and I decided to donate to a wildlife organization. I chose to foster and animal through The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust after reading about them in an issue of National Geographic.

Kiko, the orphan giraffe I fostered! (Image by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust)

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, based in Nairobi, Kenya, was founded in 1977 by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick. It was founded in memory of her husband, David Sheldrick, famous naturalist and founding Warden of Tsavo East National Park. The Trust was built to help provide help to animals and struggling wildlife, and help preserve and protect the wildlife in Kenya. Daphne sadly passed away in 2018, and the trust is continuing on in the hands of her husband and children.

The trust’s main focus is their Orphan’s Project. The organization is best known for operating the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. They rescue orphaned and endangered animals, who would not survive on their own. A good number of these animals are victims of poaching. The trust takes these animals in and provide the necessary medical assistance they need to have the best life they can. Then, if they are young and still dependent on keepers, they are kept in their Nursery. They have elephants, rhinos, and even a giraffe under their care. The main goal is to get the animals to a point where they can survive on their own, and eventually reintegrate them into the wild. Sometimes, the trust gets to see orphans that they raised come back with their families after being released!

You can now donate money to ‘foster’ one of these orphans, and get updates about your animal, read their keepers entries, and more!

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust also has an Ariel Unit, Canine Unit, De-Snaring Team, Rangers, and Mobile Veterinary Units help prevent illegal activity (livestock grazing, charcoal burning, poaching, etc.) , can help alert the trust and aid injured animals, and help protect the environment and wildlife.

To visit The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s website, click here.

Follow them on Instagram at @sheldricktrust .

Summer of the Monkeys – Book Review

By Svara Jayasinghe

Cover of Summer of the Monkeys by goodreads.com

Summer of the Monkeys is a realistic fiction book by Wilson Rawls.

One summer in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, a Jay Berry Lee, a 14 year old boy, unexpectedly finds a tree full of monkeys. Jay is very curious about the monkeys because they had never been seen before. Jay is puzzled until his grandpa informs him that the monkeys are circus trained and have escaped. Whoever safely returns the monkeys to the circus will receive a certain amount of money for each one. Once Jay finds this out, he wants to catch the monkeys for the money. His dream is to have a pony and a gun. But, since his family doesn’t have much money, his mom and dad can’t afford it. If he managed to catch the monkeys and turn them in, he would be able to get his pony and gun. At first this is his plan, but then his grandmother gives him an idea. Instead of using the money to buy something for himself, he could use the money to put Daisy, (his younger twin sister) through surgery to fix her crippled leg. Now Jay is torn, not knowing what to use the money for, his pony and gun, or Daisy’s leg. But first, he still has to catch the monkeys. Jay thinks that it will be a piece of cake, but it is not as easy as he imagines.

What happens next? Does Jay catch the monkeys? If so, what does he use the money for? Read the book to find out!

I would rate the book an 8 out of 10. I would rate it an 8 because it is funny, sad, adventurous, and thrilling. The only thing I think could have been better, was there could have been more detail and explanations at times. Overall, it was a good book and I suggest reading it.

The Huntington Library

by Svara Jayasinghe

On the weekend of the 24th-25th of August, my family and I drove to Pasadena for the weekend. On Saturday (24th), we decided to do a little sight-seeing at the Huntington Library. The Huntington Library, is a museum that consists of many different buildings including gift shops, art exhibits, rose gardens, etc. Its official name is The Huntington, Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Most of the land the library is situated on used to be the home of Henry and Arabella Huntington. The European Art Gallery, part of the Huntington Library, used to be the mansion that Henry and Arabella lived in.

(Image by the Jayasinghe family.)

Henry E. Huntington was born February 27th, 1850. Henry was an American railroad baron, who owned the Pacific Electric Railway. He also enjoyed collecting art and rare books. He and his second wife, Arabella, developed most of Los Angeles. Before Henry and Arabella died, they both signed papers to turn over their property to the city, to become a public museum. They left specific instructions in their wills so that the property would be preserved and maintained the way they envisioned. Henry died on May 23 1927, and Arabella died on September 16th, 1924. Their estate was then turned into what is now, The Huntington Library.

by Kiran Jayasinghe

We made our first stop at the Huntington library. The library includes a giant collection of books that were all bought and kept by Henry Huntington. The library also houses several exhibits, such as one of the first printed Gutenberg Bibles. We also took a look at the contract Henry and Arabella Huntington signed to make the library into a public attraction.

(Image by the Jayasinghe family.)

Then we walked to the Huntington Art Gallery, which was originally the Huntington family mansion. Huntington’s full collection of art includes 36,000 different pieces, including artistic objects, photographs, and paintings. The mansion had been converted to house over 1,200 pieces of European paintings, including the original The Blue Boy painting that is currently being restored. While displaying several paintings, the house was also kept in its original layout. We got to see the Huntington’s dining room and reading room in the same way the Huntington’s used it!

by Simran Jayasinghe

Rose Gardens at the Huntington Library! (Image by the Jayasinghe family.)

After viewing all the artwork, we walked to the Rose Gardens, as we had made a reservation earlier that day, at the Rose Garden Tea Room. The Huntingtons had planted a large collection of different types of roses, and some other flowers on the grounds of their estate, with walkways, fountains, and benches here and there making it a great place to stop and take a photo or two! The rose gardens seem to wrap around the small shop that is the Rose Garden Tea Room. We spent our tea time in the little tea room, relaxing and spending time together. We all drank multiple cups of tea, and had sweet and savory scones, cucumber, salmon, and egg sandwiches, and delicious desserts! After we had finished, we strolled back through the gardens, our dad stopping to take pictures of random flowers every now and then, back to the entrance to the grounds before they locked us in! We spent some time browsing around the gift shop located at the main entrance, before we walked off to our car, having spent a relaxing and fun evening together at The Huntington Library!

(Image by the Jayasinghe family.)
(Image by the Jayasinghe family.)

Tea at the Rose Garden Tea Room! (Image by the Jayasinghe family.)

To visit The Huntington’s Website, click here.