This is Nell in Ethiopia. In March or April I'm bringing the ferrets
back to the US, then returning to Ethiopia in the summer or fall for
the other animals.

The woman who was to buy my ex-business sewing equipt has been acting
odd for several weeks. I've been waiting for to get her business
affairs here in order. She was always telling me what stage she was in,
how close she was to buying the equipment, etc etc., so it seemed to
be working. But yesterday the deal fell through. Very disappointing. I
have to start all over again.

She says it is because of new Ethiopian gv't requirements I found out
about yesterday. I called her last night to ask her to do her part,
and she refused with, in my opinion, ridiculous reasoning. Something
else is going on, but who knows what. I'd asked if she were having
doubts about the purchase, and she'd denied it but...

I have the funds to get myself and the ferrets back to the US before
the ferts' rabies shots expire. I'd like to get all the animals out
now, but am about $1,700 short. it's got to be just the ferrets or all
of the animals. So it will be me and the ferrets. I need some medical
checkups and, what w Jonas being old and sick, I want his next shots to
be back in the US. Who knows what the quality is here, and they use dog
vaccine for ferret rabies -- same stuff, same dose, as for dogs. Maybe
that's normal? Sounds like too much Rx. In any case, the quality is
unknown.

About the donkeys, the local Donkey Sanctuary's agreed to give
Edilegnya (the crippled donkey) a permanent home in exchange for
the donation of my vet equipment plus a monthly stipend. This means
initially a minimum of $700, the rest later. So that is real progress!

[A later] PS --

People keep telling me that I write w too much of a stiff-upper-lip
style about all of this -- so let me follow my update with:

Yes! This is all very distressing! I hate it and am weary to my bones
with it, sometimes to the point of tears and/or finding it hard to
function.

Leaving the animals would result early nasty deaths for them, so that
is not an option. I want badly to get out of here, for a zillion
reasons, but I wont recap them, or the reasons for the dangers to
the animals (and some to myself), here.

If any of you haven't heard and want to know, just ask me offline.

On the other hand, other people say I ask for help too often! But here
is where you could donate. For updates to the main body of the page,
see the Comments section.
http://www.gofundme.com/1l8da0

[Posted in FML 7722]