At first the news from Bonaire is scary and stark.

"The Dutch and Bonaire governments are forcing our Sanctuary off their land."

Instantly I know this means that little Tripp and his mother Maike, seen below, like all the mothers and foals, all the Sanctuary buildings, even the founder’s own home–plus 427 donkeys!--must go.

A second message: "Even within the fence of our Sanctuary, the donkeys are not safe. On Sunday we found a wounded mare in the meadow for mothers and foals. This is the third time in six months that insane people have climbed the fence and a mare in this special meadow has been attacked."

These urgent emails drop into my box like arrows straight to the heart. Anyone forced from their home, whose home has been invaded, whose child or animal friend has been attacked will understand. Perhaps most of us will. I sit stunned, staring through the email on my screen.

For years I have followed with awe the work of the amazing Marina Melis. This heroic Dutch woman fell in love with the donkeys of Bonaire and, unlike most of us, she acted upon that love. In the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary, Marina has created a beautiful work with the fierce urgency of her heart.

Now, you may know the island of Bonaire as the finest scuba and snorkeling destination in the Caribbean. Perhaps you’ve read about this island, off the coast of Venezuela, as home to pristine reefs and, since 1979, protected waters.

But this gem of an island is also home to Tripp and his mum Maike, to 427 of their fellow rescuees, and to their still wild cousins. Unlike the storied waters surrounding Bonaire, little Tripp is not "protected."

Brought to Bonaire by the Spaniards centuries ago, Tripp’s ancestors were used for hard labor under broiling sun on the salt flats. Their descendants are victims of the very culture those donkeys helped to create.

No longer needed for labor in recent years, the donkeys have been abandoned by their owners. Now they roam the island looking for shelter and food. Unaware of the predatory nature of modern progress, donkeys are routinely killed by speeding hit-and-run drivers–Bonaireans and tourists alike.

Marina regularly receives reports of abuses from around the island, and she tries to bring these victims to the Sanctuary. But such horrors can happen closer to home too, as when vandals climbed the Sanctuary’s fence, wounding the fragile donkey so badly that she needed emergency care.

Clearly there’s trouble afoot in Paradise.

We’ll look at Marina’s challenges head-on: the heavy demands of relocation, and the immediate need for better security in the form of new fencing. But first, let’s set the stage for the story.

The Island and Sanctuary

The fearful and urgent tone of the emails above stands in sharp contrast to the clouds of orange-pink flamingos that rise in my mind’s eye, soaring and glorious and otherworldly against the stark white of the salt flats beneath them where the donkeys were forced to labor.

But far better to hear it from Pauline Kayes, the determined and energetic Chair of the Donkey Sanctuary’s Board of Trustees, who lives six months of the year in her home on the island:

"The landscape of the Donkey Sanctuary is marked by cactus and scrub brush against huge limestone rocks, remnants of a reef from thousands of years ago. There are endangered Lora parrots flying overhead, iguanas sunning on rocks, blue-tailed lizards, all kinds of birds, Monarch butterflies, and even a salt pond full of pink flamingos."

As is often the case with visitors to our own Best Friends Sanctuary, who arrive after touring the parks and red-rock country, so tourists visit Bonaire for an eco-friendly adventure vacation. And when they’ve absorbed the island’s unique ambience, many wind up at the Donkey Sanctuary. In fact, visitors love to take rides through the ‘Safari Park,’ a charming part of the

Sanctuary, where rescued donkeys run and play alongside Park vehicles that carry the tourists.

Pauline Kayes sees the double pleasure this way:

"Although visitors come to see the donkeys, they get so much more: brisk trade winds whisking through the divi-divi trees; the smell of sagebrush in the tropical sun; the various slants of light bringing out the shades of pink in the soil and the greens in the plants; the sounds of Trupials and Orioles calling back and forth while donkeys bray to one another, keeping in contact with their extended families.

"To see the donkeys roaming freely in this "kunuku" (ranch) without fear of cars or humans is quite the sight to see!" Kayes adds. "The donkeys are playful, curious, sweet, and quite relaxed."

And how, you might ask, is this peaceable kingdom possible?

"If the donkeys did not have Marina fighting for them," Pauline Kayes tells Best Friends, "they probably would not exist."

Marina Melis and her fantastic friends

Marina Melis’s love affair with donkeys like little Tripp and Maike his mum began when she was a child in Holland. Marina was a farmer’s daughter. When she was eight years old, Marina was told that she needed to help out on the farm.

"I refused to do that categorically," Marina tells me. "I told my dad that I was not doing that work. The reason I gave him was this:

"‘If I feed the animals, they grow fast–and then you send them to the slaughterhouse for meat. No way!’"

"I love these animals so much," adds Marina, " that I liked to sleep with them in the stable when I was a youngster."

Soon Marina was given a donkey to raise and, understanding that her donkey needed a friend, she persuaded her parents to find a companion. Soon there were three foals in the mix, and many years later, Marina visited those donkeys on a return trip to Holland.

Marina’s childhood love of animals and donkeys in particular came into focus in 1993, when Marina and her husband, Ed Koopman, both Dutch nationals, began to care for injured, ill, abused and orphaned donkeys in the back yard of their home on Bonaire. Soon they desperately needed a larger space. In 1998 their foundation began to rent land, at a symbolic rate, from the government of Bonaire.

Thus the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary was born. Mostly with their own hands, Ed and Marina have built the facilities which they are now being forced to move: stables for ill or injured donkeys, an orphan field, a meadow for pregnant mares and their foals, a water well, a wind generator, a visitors center and gift shop, a watch-tower, a garden for iguanas and tortoises, and a house for the Sanctuary managers, Ed and Marina.

How would you react to such an order--to dismantle and uproot the life that you’ve built with the work of your own hands? Especially if that move includes over four hundred donkeys!

Well, importantly along the way, Marina and Ed have gathered together by sheer force of courage and love a dedicated band of volunteers. These volunteers are very special people, people like Genaro, the specialist in wild donkey catching. In addition to bringing these donks to the sanctuary where they live lives of loving care, Genaro assists Ed with heavy lifting and technical tasks at the Sanctuary.

Help of another kind comes from volunteer Marion. When she moved to Bonaire from the Netherlands in 2007, Marion felt deeply the suffering of some of the island’s donkeys. The former perfumery executive made a big decision, and now Marion cares for both animal and human beings: the donkeys of Bonaire and the visitors who come to marvel.

So what’s at the core of a donkey lover’s soul? Marion shared a revealing story of her own suffering and enlightenment:

One day when Marina Melis was away, raising funds on the cruise market to help her donkeys, Marion took an urgent call at the Sanctuary. A pregnant donkey had been hit by a bus on the road to Rincon. She was badly injured. Ed and Genaro drove Marion to the roadside where the stricken donkey lay. When the vet could do nothing to save her, Marion cradled the donkey’s head as the suffering mare died.

"She had such bright eyes," Marion remembers. "I will never forget the look in her eyes. Now I know what Marina felt all those past years when accidents or abuse happened two or three times a week. I didn’t sleep well for nights, and I saw the eyes of that donkey in my dreams."

"After the accident, when I was back at the Donkey Sanctuary," Marion continues, " I go into the field of the mamas and the little ones. I start crying and tell them that they have a very good and safe life in the Sanctuary. And that I wish that we can bring in all the donkeys of Bonaire.

"Then they all come to me as if they know my sadness, as if they understand me and want to hug me. They are so wonderful..."

The Challenges

In fact, road accidents like this eye-opener for Marion, along with various forms of physical abuse–these are the two violent challenges which Marina faces. As we have seen, this abuse can occur even against donkeys living on the Sanctuary’s fenced-in land. To combat this ever-present threat, a new type of fencing must be installed.

But now there’s the new challenge of The Big Move! More than four hundred donkeys, plus buildings, watch-tower, and garden must be removed and, on the other end, everything must be rebuilt--including a brand new Entrance--on land which the Sanctuary owns. Even Marina and Ed’s own house, which is of wood, will be taken down and built again.

[For the sake of clarity, let me add that it is the land rented from the government, housing all the Sanctuary’s buildings, which Marina must leave. Sadly, the nearby airport now falls under post-9/11 international rules, and the government must take back their rented land from the Donkey Sanctuary, in order to use if for a buffer for the airport runway. The Sanctuary must move everything–buildings and donkeys–to another tract of land which the Sanctuary fortunately owns.]

New Fencing Is Desperately Needed

After the attacks on the Sanctuary donkeys, it’s clear that Marina is worried about the fencing.

"The new fencing is 2.3 meters high, topped by barbed wire to avoid climbing over. Those are the best safety fencing materials. But we have only 30% of the new fencing!"

This new fencing is desperately needed, as Marina stresses, "to protect our new home for the donkeys and for me!"

Clearly here’s a way you can help Marina and the donks. Keep it in mind as you also consider the following opportunity of a lifetime!

A Caribbean Vacation? Volunteer at the Donkey Sanctuary

The catch is that the Sanctuary must be off the government land by January 30. So—fancy a winter vacation in the Caribbean? A working vacation of course, but your trip can be a thing of beauty! Here’s what Marina tells me about volunteers:

"Ed and Genaro are building everything anew on our owned land. But we need volunteer help for the care of the donkeys. Volunteers must start with 6 weeks minimum stay to minimize trauma for the donkeys. The donkeys need to know their helpers.

"From December 8 we can use help for 6 weeks, or volunteers can start at the end of January with a new 6-weeks period."

And so, Gentle Reader, attend to Marina’s words. If you’re in the position to do it, how do six weeks on a Caribbean island sound, an island renowned for scuba and snorkeling, for eco-tourism and pristine reefs and soaring flocks of flamingos? And your soul will soar too as you work alongside Marina and Ed, Pauline, Marion and Genaro, and give to the donkeys from your own rich treasure.

Think about it. Think about the work that lies ahead with the move and the need for new fencing. Tripp and his mother Maike, the wounded mare, and all their donkey friends need a lot less trouble in Paradise!

And always remember, kindness to animals builds a better world for us all, as Marina Melis has abundantly shown us. Her work for the donkeys is truly a work of the soul.

Photo credits: The Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary, with thanks to Susan Rademaker, Marina Melis, and Pauline Kayes

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO TO HELP MARINA

Thank you all for being interested in these little donkeys on a small island in a big sea. Leaving the home you have always known is never, ever easy!  Check out your opportunities below the photo.

1) If you would like to find out more about volunteering at the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary, contact Marina Melis at donkeyshelp@telbonet.an

2) If you can’t make it to Bonaire as a volunteer, you can still help little Tripp and Maike with new fencing to keep the vandals out--as well as with the enormous expense of rebuilding all those buildings.

Just use your Credit Card. It’s terribly quick and easy, and you cannot imagine how grateful Marina will be! Just choose "Donkey Sanctuary Project" from the list of Bonaire charities at "Support Bonaire":

https://www.supportbonaire.org/Make-A-Donation-To-Support-Bonaire.php

3) If you can’t make it to Bonaire in body, try a trip in spirit. Visit Marina’s website and check out the marvelous real-time Webcam of the donkeys feeding at the Donkey Cafeteria on Sanctuary land. And don’t miss the delightful Safari Park Video made to tune of "Rawhide"! Just click on Photo & Video in the Menu on the left.

http://www.donkeysanctuary.org