Sometimes "we" forget

[Patty]

In the title the "we" is not in capital letters, because I am referring to the WE viewers.

Everyday a WE viewer wakes up in a comfortably cool, or now warm home. we turn on the computer, make a cup of coffee and with a few clicks on the computer, we are watching the Gowrie water hole at WE. Oh, what a beautiful way to start one's day. Watching wildlife through a streaming video camera and securely knowing these animals are safe and do not need to fear being hunted by humans. It has become a daily ritual in our homes and we need to remember we are watching this for FREE and need to appreciate all that comes to us from WE.

I think the time is now, along with the rains which will bring life, that we take a moment and thank the WE crew:

First to Graham and Emily, thank you for creating the WE paradise, where animals are free to roam without fear of humans, where wildlife is respected and protected from poachers.

To our Siphiwe, you start our African day with a sunrise, a smile and a soft African voice that sounds like a beautiful bird song. Its a shame that many of the US viewers don't get to spend more time with you.

To Liesbeth, who works behind the scenes, and is very important part of WE

To the WE presenters:
Rexon, your search for wildlife is fierce and strong, your knowledge of the bush is powerful. All this with such a soft heart. You touched my heart deeply when you rescued the three catfish destined for death in the dried out pan and relocated them to Gowrie ......
Thank you for allowing us into Dixie and your other passion. For helping us understand that there are many children not as lucky as ours, but are so happy and excited with the smallest gesture. I was so happy to become a WEangel.

Pieter, oh Pieter! An amazing sense of humor, a philosophical mind, your endless knowledge. I listen to your journeys and your thoughts with such wonderment. You have an amazing relationship with the animals that I admire so much. You educate us everyday with the drives and WE walks and when nothing appears in the lens, you climb trees, put cattail roots on your head and get dirt down the back of your shirt, you run in front of a unmanned jigga for your afternoon exercise, or you wet down your hat from Wonky's water pipe to cool off from the hot sun. Oh, Pieter, you are so much fun to watch!!

To the WE newcomers:
Bravo to the three of you who can go from FCC to camera to chat to getting dirty finding and fixing a problem with such ease.

Simon, I'm still waiting to watch you do that rain dance. You must have danced your bum off this afternoon..lol. Seriously, welcome to you, your personality draws people in, you spend some of your own down time to talk with the US citizens who, unfortunately, miss out on the early day events.

Pete, I never thought I would learn so much about birds and insects as I have with you! To watch your large hands gently showing us scorpion stingers, and pulling moth wings is amazing. Your knowledge of wildlife is amazing. You truly are a teacher.

Herman, you give Pieter some tough competition with your good looks and soft curled hair! As they say, watch out for the quiet ones and you, Herman, are going to be a star! Your camera ability to go from jigga to walk in quarantine, to Pieter's pan is amazing. And your WEbits are so interesting!

Lastly, I can not forget the WE forum monitors:
to Aquila, Bev, Karen and Val, I have dealt with each one of you personally, thank you for helping me learn my way around WE.

Now I ask all of you to please add your thanks and post your great memories because it's in our nature! .......thanks, Patty

[Marie]

I want to give a really, really big thank you to all of the WE crew. Until about 3 weeks ago I had no idea that such a wonderful place and group of people existed. Ever since I can remember, I have had a great love for animals, and my ultimate dream is to someday go to Africa and study all the animals there, especially the elephants. I was around six years old when Disney's "The Lion King" came out and ever since I first saw that magical sunrise and that mischievous and cute little cub, Simba, I made up my mind to go to Africa. And now with the WE crew, I could go on a safari to Africa everyday and its LIVE! Watching the sunrise or sunset at WE is exactly what I imagined it to be and I bet its even more spectacular and magical watching it there in person. Or watching the elephants, even though its on a computer screen, is so exciting and mesmerizing every time. I am now a university student studying to become a biologist, and I know someday I would get to the Africa of my dreams, and because of the wonderful WE crew and all the knowledge, beauty, inspiration they share and offer to us all, Djuma would be on the top of my list of places to visit in Africa. Thank you all who work at WE, you have given so many the gift of taking a glimpse of the splendor and beauty of the continent that is found in one way or another in everyones heart. Thank You.
~Marie~

[Wildsando]

I think Patty said it all. We love WE and we are glad you are all here sharing this magic with us! My deapest respect in you all!!

[Kirsty]

Patty you've summed it up pretty much perfectly. But I want to add my own thanks anyway.
All of the WE crew and mods on here do such a fantastic job, and that really does not go unnoticed by the whole WE community and is so appreciated. You guys are so dedicated and enthusiastic about what you do which is so awesome to see and just creates more of a passion for Africa inside all of us.
Being able to come on drive makes the wait until I return to Africa a little more bearable, and for that I thank you.
Sometimes things dont go to plan, but that's ok. We understand and will wait patiently until the problem is fixed. It's in our nature......
Once again thank you.

[Vicki Merwin]

I second, third, fourth and fifth all you said above Patty. Many thanks to the great WE crew!

[Yzerman]

I joined Wildearth 6 weeks ago (or somthing like that). Since this day the first tab in my browser is Wildearth. For sure!
I enjoy it every single day and I appreciate the work of the WE team.

Thank you WE team! Vielen Dank WE team!
Greets from Berlin/Germany ;)

[Simon Dilts]

Patty,
Thank you so much for this post it really does mean a lot to me (and I am sure the rest of thr crew) and I am in agreement with everything you (and all those that have replied) have said.

Graham and Emily have done an amazing job creating the WE Paradise which has also created a great community/family that I hope will continue to grow and grow.

Liesbeth is an important part of the crew and I ejoy listening to her and Siphiwe talk during the day in thier native language.

Siphiwe does always have a smile on her face and does a fantastic job controling the cams throughout the day showing you all the animals that come to Gowrie.

Rex and Pieter are amazing with their knowledge and love for the bush. I am finding it hard to remember some of the things I learned in obtaining a degree in wildlife biology as I am in aw with how much they know and share.

Pete is an amazing teacher and I love his WElearn, His knowledge/skills with tehcnology is also amazing as the things he has done behind the scenes here are truly amazing, I am learing a lot from him.

Herman's WEbits are always interesting and great, I also really enjoy watching his camera work as well.

As for me dancing when the cam is on may happen soon :) Also it is hard to believe that I have usually been one of the quiet ones in my life :) Where that is still one of the things that amazes me here is the community/family feeling we all share here at WE to where I find it comfortable and fun chatting with all of you.

Marie: Keep working towards your dream of someday getting out to Africa and studying some of the animals. I too from a young age dreamed about coming out here and still can't believe I am actually here. Where studying to be a biologist in college is a diffcult degree but a lot of fun and rewarding as our office is the world :) and there are many fun and interesting internships out there during the summers.

Wildsando: Thank you for your respect as well as putting up with my long rambling emails :)I will be sending you another in a little bit.

Greyrose: Thank you for all of th wonderful pictures you post and for being WEhooked. If you can't tell I am hooked myself :)

edpbs: Thank you for all of the videos you post I enjoy watching them

LionLover: I am glad some of our passion for widlife is rubbing off on others :) I also agree that the mod's here do a great job as well. Also thank you for being understanding when things go down for a little as we do try to get them back up for all of you as quick as we can.

So basically a big THANK YOU to all of you that catch even just a few minutes of WE. You are all what makes working here that much more special and fun. I am also glad that we all have a passion for conservation and wildlife and have a place to go (WE social network) and share it with the world.

I hope to be around here a long time, and even if I do venture off at some point I will still tune in as I took am hooked in WE

Thank you again for watching and for all of your comments
Simon

P.S. oops forgot to switch to the final control cam while I danced after reading this post. Maybe next time Patty :)

[ladyred]

I just agreem, with all her written:) love all off the We:)

[Patti]

Patty's words were so eloquent that I will simply express my own appreciation for the entire team at WE. What amazing adventures you bring to us each and every day. Your dedication and hard work do not go unnoticed. The "we" of WE thank you!

Patti

[Liesbeth]

There is nothing more I can say that isn't already said. So I just say: THANK YOU WE CREW!
Liesbeth

[Pat]

Beautifully expressed, Patty.

Thanks for the opportunity to add my gratitude for all the wonder and beauty that WE has brought to my life. Everyone who is or has ever been a part of it has made it an emotionally/visually/educationally rewarding experience. We viewers are so lucky to have found you and look forward to the future.

[Calista]

Thank you Patty, you said it all very well and I agree with you 100%. It is a big thank you to all of the WE crew for all that they do for the viewers to be able to sit and enjoy the beautiful African surroundings. All of the WE crew have their own individual something that they bring to the drives and make them all special. Thank you, thank you. :)

[Joyce]

Patty, thank you for starting this thread. I must tell you that although I may forget to say thank you to the WE staff, I never take anything for granted. I have said it before -- but I am simply amazed at the fact that I can sit in the corn fields of Illinois and watch what is happening in South Africa...

As for the staff... each one brings something special. I was a fairly new viewer to WE (and fairly new to Pete's Pond) but I tell you, the first time I saw Pieter interact with the elephants after not seeing them for weeks, I was hooked. Rexon and Alex always made me laugh when they were together -- Rexon teaching dancing, or doing animal impressions... When I was on a drive with Marco, I many times felt like I was being lectured by a knowledgeable professor... (not a bad thing for a person who is told her main strength is learner -- I've taken some sort of class 17 out of the last 20 years... so I love to learn). I do not get to hear Siphiwe very often, but always enjoy seeing her smile. Some of the staff have not stayed for long, but each has brought a joy to viewers and they are missed.

As for the "new guys," Pete has replaced Marco as "professor," and I love it when I can watch the WE Learn live. Thank you for all you bring to the show. Herman, you're pretty quiet, but you have a fantastic sense of humor that I enjoy. It is wonderful to have such talent with the WE staff. Simon, you're talkative and always bring a smile to my face. It's great to have someone from NA, and wonderful that you think of us by giving us a WE Chat on NA time (although I do sometimes catch the regular WE Chat because I start work very early so I turn it on and listen while I'm starting my day).

Every single person who makes up the WE staff, including suppliers, etc., are appreciated. I cannot believe how fast problems are fixed... it is amazing to me the dedication each staff member has towards WE to make it successful. You are a fantastic group of people.

The ning site is wonderful and each of the admins deserve pats on the back for all the work they put into making it the success it has become. I also want to thank the WE members for sharing photos and videos for those of us who cannot always watch live.

I left Graham and Emily for last since if it wasn't for their dedication to WE, I'm sure they would have quit a long time ago. I think both of them know how much I appreciate what they are doing. Change is sometimes very difficult, and I believe they both help make that change easier, and are forever seeking ways to make the viewers happy -- all at no cost to us (which is amazing in itself). I will never take WE for granted, but there are times I do forget to say thanks.