Brooke Squires has been a keeper at Werribee Open Range Zoo for 15 years, looking after the rhino, zebra and giraffe.
Growing up in South Africa has fuelled her passion for African wildlife and African communities and culture.
Working with the Melako Community Conservancy in Northern Kenya is a perfect opportunity to bring conservation and people together, both in Kenya and back here in Australia.

Latest Update - Melako Escari (gamescouts)
31-Oct 09

I think one of the greatest privileges I have when in Kenya, is spending time with the Melako gamescouts. It is with great pride that I can now state that at least I can pronounce their names. Up until this trip they were giving me random English names to call them as I was so hopeless at getting their Samburu or Rendille names correct. Before you laugh at that, I challenge you to pronounce Lmennyoi Leolo or Lparakuoni Lekamaya, and then compound that with calling that name at the top of your voice when being chased relentlessly by a rabid hyena!!! Rach experienced this after realizing she had been calling Singida (head of the Melako scouts) Singrida for the last 2 weeks. Fortunately Singida didn't realize Rach had been calling him a famous Mexican cocktail!!

Imagine the range of adverse circumstances these men and women are up against. Up until June this year, the scouts were covering Melako's 33,000hectares on foot. Whenever I used to ask the scouts which route they walk between the 3 main camps, they used to always reply "Route 11", and I started thinking what the heck is this route 11 that seems to be all over Melako. Then one of the scouts, Alfred (his real name and yes I can pronounce it) explained that route 11 refers to the pattern your feet make when you are walking through the sand, one foot after the other, looks like the number 11!! So there you go. I can report with joy that Melako now has its own very tough Landcruiser, because I'm not sure I'd be up to 33km of route 11.

Putting their lives on the line
The first time I came to Melako I remember the scouts being so shy of a foreign white women, especially my camera, boy has that changed! When taking photos of the community, the scouts are now my greatest allies and some of them even take better pictures than I do. My favourite time of day is sitting around the fire sipping that fantastic camel milk tea, after a wonderful meal of fresh goat (or cabbage for Rach) and hearing the guys try and pronounce Kangaroo or koala or listening to their folktales or stories.
Some of the encounters the scouts have had would make your hair stand on end. Most have scars from bullets, somewhere on their body, from encounters with poachers or livestock raiders armed with AK47s and semi automatics. Because our scouts are Conservation Scouts, they are armed by the Kenyan Wildlife Service, and these firearms are usually post 2nd world war....just. The scouts have named them " Wata kidogos" or ‘ wait-a-minute guns' as they take so long to load and the scouts literally have to call out " stop firing please and wait a minute until I've reloaded my gun", can you imagine!!! And yet every day, the scouts selflessly put their lives on the line to save their amazing wildlife. Last Christmas Zoos Victoria had a Christmas card campaign to raise money to buy the scouts some new camping equipment, tents, sleeping bags, that sort of thing. We raised over $3000. The scouts are so grateful for the new gear, because now they can stay out over night and extend their patrols, instead of having to get back to camp by nightfall. A tent came mean the difference between life and death when you are in the really remote parts of the conservancy, as it offers protection from buffalo, lion and the occasional rabid hyena ( no, Iam not making that up, the scouts were harassed by a hyena with rabies the night before we caught up with them, I think it may have been looking for me, it had made a pretty mess of the tent , but they were protected).

Whenever I go to Melako I try and rustle up some gifts for the scouts. This time I took some spare office uniforms and a soccer ball. These men will never have the sort of money to buy a good suit, so their gratitude is immense, I feel so fuzzy inside when they put their outfits on, they look so smart. I also brought a soccer ball. For our scouts this is like winning 1st prize in the lottery as visions of being the next Kenyan Maradonna dance through their heads. They barely drew breath between putting on their new clothes and heading down to the dry river bed to play the most hard core game since the 2006 World Cup.
This is how you play soccer...... Melako style.
Soccer Pitch- River bed
Goal posts - elephant dung
Team selection - a lot of yelling
Uniforms - best clothes you have in camp
Rules - none
Amount of laughter - priceless!!

Kwaheri ( goodbye until next week)
Brooke