Superstars, Part 1

There is a definite hierarchy here, and the volunteers have vastly unequal status. Some of the young people have committed to being here for months, if not years. So with their demonstrated conscientiousness, they are given the responsibility for the more needy, the more delicate, the rarer, and the most valuable babies.

Being assigned a baby is no little thing, and considerable status--together with the to-be-expected rivalries, jealousies, and hurt--attaches to the type of baby one is assigned to.

To give you an idea, MY babies--as by far the most recent (I'd like to say "junior," but given that none of the other volunteers have celebrated their 21st birthdays yet, that would be ridiculous) volunteer, are a baby squirrel, two baby canaries, and, if I'm closely supervised, two warthogs.

So I'm going to introduce the superstars, both the babies and volunteer "mamas." First up is Melmin the baby giraffe and her mama Jamie. Jamie is 19 years old and is from Capetown. She will be training to be a veterinary nurse when she finishes here in a couple more months' time.

Melmin Up Close and Personal

Melmin (apparently named after the giraffe in the movie Madagascar) is today celebrating her four WEEK birthday. She is clumsy, timid, playful, and silly, but she is so beautiful it's hard to imagine what she wouldn't be forgiven!





I'm hoping to draw her soon, but in the meantime will have to settle for giving her birthday smooches.