Judy Judy Judy

     I suppose you could call Judy Travers the reigning matriarch of the Travers family,  even though she is not a Travers by birth, but "married into" the family by her marriage to John, the son of the iconic original Travers couple Norman and Gilly.
      While Imire was originally a farm dedicated to the raising of such crops as tobacco, it evolved over the years into a wildlife park fully sanctioned by the Zimbabwean government.  Anyone who knows anything about Zimbabwe knows that the past century has been hugely difficult.  There was the long bloody civil war in the 1970s and 1980s culminating in the overthrow of Ian Smith's Rhodesian government and its eventual replacement with the black government headed by Robert Mugabe and the country's new name Zimbabwe.  Mugabe initially tolerated the presence of the white farmers, but then in the early 2000s went on a rampage forcibly removing the white farmers from the farms they'd been cultivating for generations.   One of the few farms that was NOT forcibly removed from its white owners was Imire.
    Imire had firmly established itself as a extraordinarily well-managed refuge for Zimbabwe's disappearing wildlife--especially rhinos--and as a model for attracting the ever-desirable tourist dollars.  Political differences aside, all (or at least MOST) Zimbabweans remained in agreement that the preservation of the nation's wildlife was critical.
    I've met a lot of animal lovers in my lifetime--and I certainly consider myself an over-the-top animal lover--but I have never had the privilege of meeting ANYONE with the unqualified love and dedication to animals that Judy Travers has. It's only one example of thousands of actions she does on a daily basis, but who do you know who would tend to a baby rhino in her house for more than two years?   And that love and dedication also extends to the people of Imire.  No one has a stronger advocate for health care, education, nutrition, and job training than Judy. 
    Add to the mix that she is incredibly energetic, warm, funny, and smart, you have one of THE most interesting people you've ever met.  When you've spent a day with her, you feel exhausted but exhilerated.  And I have been fortunate to have spent several days with her.  She is tirelessly devoted to the well-being of the local people and this trip, she showed me:  A new community center provided with enormous generosity and attention to detail by a couple from Vancouver  who collected everything necessary for an extensive carpentry shop, a respite center complete with a dozen  beds and kitchen facilities, and a meeting area for group activities and gardening, packed it all into shipping crates and sent it to Imire. 

A new school designed by a graduate student in architecture who was able to secure most of the funding to actually build the school she designed.  

A clinic built on the premises of one the unfortunate white farmers who had NOT been able to avoid removal, but which now houses a full-time nurse to provide medical services locally.  

And to brag a little, she also showed me the well Scott and I had paid for (lest you think we're amazingly philanthropic, the well cost $400), which provides the water for the clinic and its outbuildings. 





I could write a whole blog of Judy stories, but here's one she told me herself that I think will tell you more about Judy than any other.  She told me that when her parents-in-law became too old and infirm to continue living at Imire, they moved into a care facility and left a huge void at Imire.  Judy and her children felt it acutely and felt they had to do something a little out of the ordinary to dissipate the gloom.  So they went on a several day camping trip by ELEPHANT back!
     They headed off to the nearest mountain barely visible from Imire on a clear day and rode through tiny villages all along the way.  People heard about their passage and flooded to the paths to see the elephants.  The Shona people all have various animal "totems"--about 20-- and so many are of the elephant totem.  Yet they encountered many people who not had only never seen an ELEPHANT, but they had never seen a PHOTO of an elephant!  They called the elephants "walking rocks."
    Bright was an elephant handler in those days, and he repeated to me how incredibly magical it was, riding those elephants, camping out, and waking to see them contentedly grazing in the morning mist.  And Judy said it was one of the highlights of her life--and hers is a life with many many highlights.

These three walking rocks were all on that trip.