Cared for during 2025 · Mowana, Chanoga, Botswana
As told by Lion
My name is Lion. And this is my story.
Born in Mowana
I was born in the tiny settlement of Mowana, next to the village of Chanoga, about 25km outside the town of Maun. Mowana is not a village — it is a tiny rural settlement with a few small plots for agriculture, a few huts, and a few houses, near the banks of the Boteti River.
For the Africanis, life is genuinely tough in Mowana. Most of us are severely malnourished and starving. Cruelty to the Africanis is an accepted norm in Mowana and Chanoga. It is common to pour boiling water over us, or for us to be hung from a metal wire in the trees to suffocate.
Opportunists, Not Thieves
Because we are so hungry, we are also opportunistic. When food is visible, or we can smell it and reach it, we will take it. This stirs rage in the humans and this is exactly what makes them pour boiling water over us or hang us from trees. Many of the people here are not wealthy, so when we seize the opportunity to take food, they get angry. They call us thieves. We are not thieves — we are opportunists.
Goats have overgrazed the area, the hardwood trees have been decimated for firewood, and many of the birds are gone, hunted by the humans of the area. The land around Mowana is not in a great state. Once overgrazing happens, much of the strength of the land disappears.
The Darkness of the Sangomas
The sangomas have plagued this area for a very long time. They have rooted evil here. This evil is inflicted not only on the innocent Africanis, but on the people themselves — they take it out on each other. For such a small settlement, there is murder, rape, witchcraft, poverty, prostitution, hate, deception, and all kinds of darkness. The sangomas are consulted for everything. This is how they manage their evil.
Meeting the Oister Foundation
I met the founders of the Oister Foundation around February 2025. I would come to the farm where they lived and were involved in a farming project, originally where they had planned to set up the Oister Foundation Animal Sanctuary. I used to go inside the farm premises to look for food. They saw me and started feeding me. I was in terrible shape, literally just skin and bone.
I am, however, a free spirit. I would come and go on my own terms, daily, so I was never formally adopted by them. They simply fed me, gave me clean water, and treated my parasites. I enjoyed socializing with their dogs, and we became friends. One of the kindest things anyone can do for a nomadic Africanis is to treat their parasites. This brings immense relief.
A Nomad's Daily Life
Living in Mowana, my daily task has always been to travel around the settlement in search of food. The human I lived with did not feed me, so I had to hunt and look for opportunities to take what I could get. I also liked to follow the herds of goats around — I am a natural herd dog at heart. The Africanis are natural herding and hunting dogs. Much of my day was spent following the goats.
Spirit, Peanut, and Better Days
After a few months of receiving food from the Oister Foundation, I became accustomed to visiting on a daily basis and getting my rations. Life was good. I grew close to the Oister dogs — specifically Spirit and Peanut. We became good friends, and during the day, I would laze around with them. I started taking less food from the humans, and much of the cruelty stopped. They are mostly cruel to us when they are enraged, and they get enraged when we take food from them. We get hungry, as they do.
Left Behind
Just as I was getting used to my daily visits to Spirit and Peanut, to the food and the water, they announced they were moving to the town of Maun. This meant I had to start finding my own food again.
It was not long after they left that I had a very painful and traumatizing incident. I took food from one of the humans, and they poured boiling water over me. It was excruciating. Now and then, Oister would come to visit, and on one of those visits, they saw my condition and treated my wounds. I also had a severe infestation of parasites on my ears — bleeding ears that attract flies to lay eggs. This is common among the Africanis. The Oister Foundation has a special formula they apply to our ears that heals them within days. It was such a relief to receive that treatment.
After their last visit, I never saw them again.
Lion was hanged from a tree with a piece of metal wire in late 2025. He was a free spirit who deserved a free life. Every purchase from Africanis™ helps fund care and rescue for dogs like Lion — neglected, tortured, and too often forgotten.