Read the text and mark the sentences T (True), F (False) or NS (Not Stated)
It's Not All about the Money
I have always been interested in doing volunteer work so when I learnt aboutan opportunity that would let me do my part for wildlife and travel to one of themost beautiful countries on the planet, I thought, "Why not?"
Two years ago, I was working for a large advertising firm in theUK. I liked my job so when I was let go, I was very upset. Then Irealised that it was probably one of the best things that couldhave ever happened to me.
A month or so before I found myself out of a job, a friend of minewas telling me about a volunteer project which was concernedwith elephant conservation in Kenya. According to Peter, theyneeded someone with a background in advertising who couldpromote awareness of a large elephant sanctuary in Africa. Itwould be my job to attract visitors, and their money, to thesanctuary. I had the right qualifications and so a very short timelater, I found myself living and volunteering my skills in Africa.
For those of you who don't know, it is a very sad fact that Africanelephants have reduced in number by almost half since the1980s. And, as you know, they are huge creatures and theyneed very large areas of land in which to roam and find food tofeed themselves and their young. What this means is thatelephants often come into contact with humans who viewelephants as a threat to their lives and livelihoods.
The Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary, where I went, had twotargets. First, to offer the elephants a place away from illegalhunting, and second, to try and change the negative attitudeheld by the locals towards elephants. In what came as apleasant surprise to myself, and the sanctuary's organisers,over 200 families volunteered to turn over their land so thatelephants could live there.
What this pleasant turn of events meant was that manyelephants could survive. It also meant that the locals could nowearn a living, not by killing the elephants for their ivory, but bymanaging the sanctuary and earning money from the tourismthat the sanctuary attracted.
Over a year has passed since I came to Kenya and thesanctuary and the elephants are flourishing. For my part, all Ican say is that it makes me very proud that the volunteer workdone by myself and hundreds of others has resulted in a placewhere the greatest beast on earth has found a place where itcan live and roam safely and freely.
- The writer earned a lot of money from his work. [True|False|Not Stated]
- A friend of his told him about the volunteer project. [True|False|Not Stated]
- The writer was reluctant to go to Kenya at first. [True|False|Not Stated]
- The number of African elephants has dropped by fifty percent. [True|False|Not Stated]
- The sanctuary wants to raise awareness among the locals about elephants. [True|False|Not Stated]
- The sanctuary bought land to keep the elephants safe. [True|False|Not Stated]
- The sanctuary is doing very well. [True|False|Not Stated]
- The writer has made a lot of friends at the sanctuary. [True|False|Not Stated]