Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Female War Veteran Is Now Fighting to Protect Africa’s Wildlife from Poachers

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 12:40 AM PDT

U.S. Army veteran Kinessa Johnson, who served in Afghanistan for four years, has gone from protecting humans to protecting animals. She is the latest addition to VETPAW (Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife), an organisation that enlists retired veterans to hunt down wildlife poachers in East Africa.

According to the African Wildlife Foundation, rhinos, elephants, and other types of wildlife on the continent may become extinct within our lifetime. Which is why the work that Johnson and her fellow veterans are doing is immensely important. The team arrived in Tanzania on 26 March, and quickly got down to work: "We're going over there to do some anti-poaching, kill some bad guys, and do some good," Johnson said.

Johnson, a former sharp-shooter from Western Washington, works as a technical advisor to anti-poaching rangers. Her job is to train park rangers and patrol with them to provide support. The training will include marksmanship, field medicine, and counter-intelligence. "Our intention is not to harm anyone; we're here to train park rangers so they can track and detain poachers and ultimately prevent poaching," she said. "So I patrol routinely with them and also assist in intelligence operations."

Kinessa-Johnson

Chinese Woman Has Been Living in a Cave for 2 Years After Her Family Abandoned Her

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 12:03 AM PDT

Photographs of an abandoned old woman living in a cave have gone viral on Chinese social media, after she was spotted there by locals. When interviewed, 52-year-old Du Meiying said that she had been living in the damp cave for two years, since her family was going through a financial crisis and could no longer support her.

Du had initially lived in a room at a council house, but had to leave the place after she had a row with her elderly neighbors. With nowhere else to go, she was forced to move into a 100-sq-meter cave on the outskirts of Yichang city, in Hubei province. The woman has managed to keep herself alive for three years by collecting rainwater to drink, cook and clean with. For food, she grows cabbages outside the cave using seeds donated by a local farmer. She's also made a bed for herself using bamboo canes, and an abandoned wooden crate serves as her table.

cave-woman

Dutch Retirement Home Offers Free Rent for Students in Exchange for Interaction with the Elderly

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 11:15 PM PDT

A Dutch nursing home has come up with an innovative plan to get young college kids to interact with the elderly. They're offering small, rent-free apartments to the students, in exchange for at least 30 hours a month of spending quality time with their older neighbors.

According to the officials at Humanitas retirement home in Deventer, the students participate in a variety of activities with older residents – watching sports, celebrating birthdays, and offering company when they're ill. It's a unique win-win situation – the students are able to enjoy free accommodation, and it also solves the problems of isolation and loneliness among the elderly.

"It's important not to isolate the elderly from the outside world," explained Humanitas head Gea Sijpkes. "When you're 96 years old with a knee problem, well, the knee isn't going to get any better, the doctors can't do much. But what we can do is create an environment where you forget about the painful knee. The students bring the outside world in, there is lots of warmth in the contact."

Humanitas-retirement-home

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