Dear readers,
I was so touched by the travelogue of a woman who traveled with her daughters and her partner on a coach from Norway to Africa and back, where she experienced profound encounters with dogs, that I would like to share it with you here. It is also the success story of one of the dogs from the dog sanctuary in Tamera, who was rescued from the most difficult circumstances and can now be a happy soul companion to a 16-year-old young woman. His name is Baloo. I hope that this story will inspire you to understand human beings in their boundless connection with other beings and souls. Many thanks to Christiane Niesner Tamm for taking part in this touching journey.
Further information on the work of the dog sanctuary in Tamera can be found at:
https://www.tamera.org/dog-sanctuary/
Experiences on the journey between Norway and Africa
Baloo
Last fall, we started our journey as a family in our van from Norway to Africa. There were seven of us on the road, our daughters Nilani, Lilien and Mara, my husband Matthias and I, Christiane, and our two dogs Lissy and Toffee. This was supposed to be a healing journey for us, for our family and for Mother Earth. At home on our farm, I work with shamanic healing methods for animals and their humans and for Mother Earth, among other things.
When we arrived in Morocco after many adventures and spent a few weeks there, we came across a place where young people were cultivating organic vegetables, offering yoga and meditation and providing a few places for vans and camper vans. This is really not as common in Africa as it is in the rest of Europe. This idyllic place was in the middle of a poorer area where there were lots of children, street dogs, garbage, free-roaming horses, donkeys and chickens.
Our 16-year-old daughter Nilani used to sneak through a small hole in the fence of the vegetable garden to the area outside our campsite. There she watched the children playing soccer and got to know a street dog, which she named “Friend”. Freund then became a really great friend for her, a soulmate. He also introduced her to a boy who lived nearby.
As Nilani knew that we would be leaving again, she asked the boy to provide Freund with water and to tell her how he was doing from time to time. Unfortunately, after 3 nights we really had to move on and it was incredibly difficult and tearful to say goodbye. We had no chance of adopting Freund because there are too high exit requirements for Moroccan dogs, which we were unable to meet. I often spoke to Freund in a shamanic way while we were with him and also told him that we had to say goodbye and that we would not see each other again.
We will both never forget how Nilani and I walked down the street together, crying, arm in arm, with Freund standing at the side looking after us. I was overcome by a strange feeling that I preferred to keep to myself, a feeling of approaching death, but I dismissed it and preferred to hug my daughter, who was now so sad that my own heart ached because I couldn’t help her.
We drove on through Morocco, got to know people and their stories and Nilani occasionally wrote to the Moroccan boy who lived a few doors away from her friend.
About three weeks later, Nilani received a text message to say that Freund had died.
And there it was again, that strange feeling. I went on another shamanic journey and spoke to his soul to ask him if he had died to be able to come to us and Freund’s soul answered with a clear “No!” I was a little taken aback at first, but he continued to speak and said that he had died “to be with her, with Nilani.” I got many more answers to many more questions but mainly his soul explained to me that on our journey, in Portugal, we will find a dog that is just waiting for us. One that matches the part of his soul, so that we can then go on another shamanic journey together.
Nilani now knew that she could no longer be sad, but full of anticipation and so we wanted to visit an animal shelter in Spain, but they refused us because they couldn’t check our home, so now we knew that we just had to wait for what would show up. At another place, now in Portugal, a light brown dog ran up to us. Unfortunately, we sensed that it wasn’t him and we tried to track down his family, which we managed to do. The same thing happened to us a second time. When we visited friends in Portugal, Nilani went with them to a shelter, as our friends regularly walk dogs there. But “friend” didn’t show up there either.
We then came to Tamera rather by chance. We met up with my best friend from Germany, who was there to take part in an art meeting of peace journalists. As she had one more day before her meeting began, I was able to meet Bori, a co-worker in Tamera, and get to know this peaceful coexistence with all the beings of Mother Earth. It was such an incredibly inspiring day with so much sharing and love around us. At lunch we learned that there is also a dog sanctuary in Tamera, which we were not aware of. Nilani was taken there straight away and was really looking forward to her visit.
She came back to us in the evening with shining eyes and a beating heart. Cordula and I were drumming in the stone circle and when we had finished, she immediately told us what an incredibly great shelter it was. “No smell, so much space, so much grass, so much love and affection and the caring Blanca and then there was a dog, and and and and.” It just bubbled out of her.
So I immediately connected with Baloo from the stone circle and asked him how he felt about Nilani and us. I sent him mental pictures of our van, our other dogs and our farm in Germany. He wanted to, and so did we.
The next morning, Nilani and I went to the Schelter together, I met Blanca, the team from the enclosure and all the dogs. I’ve seen a lot of what happens to animals in shelters, on farms and in homes on our trip and before, but I’ve never seen how well animals can do in a dog sanctuary.
Animals whose souls have been through terrible and unimaginable things are not only put back on the right track in Tamera with love, patience and respect and with the same daily routines, they are healed, supported and allowed to trust again. I was speechless and a love automatically spread through me that would have been enough for the whole place.
In the morning, all the dogs are brushed and stroked extensively and their souls are caressed and nurtured. This is followed by a long walk through the countryside, sometimes with free running, which would be unthinkable in Germany. I was able to talk a lot with the team from the dog sanctuary. And I learned a lot about the fates of these souls. After feeding, we were allowed to take Baloo with us overnight to try out how it works with all of us. It was exciting, different. And beautiful.
My husband was surprised that Baloo was so big, because we had rather not mentioned that before.
Nilani’s siblings were fascinated by him and hoped a thousand times a day that he would be allowed to stay. And so we stayed another unforeseen night.
That evening and the next morning, Nilani and I were back at the Schelter. We wanted Baloo to be able to say goodbye, especially to his girlfriend Chica. Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked out to place both dogs together. And again this feeling came over me, this time positive, I assured Chica that she would soon find a family too, because this time I didn’t wipe the feeling away.
The tireless efforts of the team at the dog enclosure and the eyes of these dogs are simply so unimaginable that you really have to see it with your own eyes. I am full of respect and gratitude that Tamera is showing the world that there is another way, that animals also have a soul that we should heal and not just keep. That there are people who simply do things differently.
We were allowed to keep Baloo and take him with us. That moment when Nilani proudly led him away from the shed was so heartwarming. Nilani now brushes and cuddles all our dogs every morning, just like she did with Blanca. Baloo brings peace to her heart, responsibility to her life and an immeasurable amount of love that only a loyal friend can give her.
A week later, Chica was adopted and is now traveling around Portugal with a wonderful owner, also in a van.
