We adopted a baby camel! Bilhèn...

Dalel Foundation: We have adopted a camel as of April 2013. Read Joyce's diary below to see how our camel Bilhèn is doing.

Bilhen
Date of birth : 20 - 02 - 2013
Gender: boy
Color at birth: white
Place of Birth: Dahab – South Sinai
Mother's name: Saїde
Name of father: stallion Khamies
Owner: Aliyѐn Faraj Ataiyiq
Adoptive parents: Clement Roos & Miranda and Harald from Thingsthatmakeyoufeelgood.nl

Birth of Bilhѐn

There was a lot of fuss about Bilhѐn's birth. Aliyѐn lives in Dahab, a coastal town on the Gulf of Aqaba. Female camels give birth in isolation, which is not possible in the inhabited world of Dahab. Aliyѐn's eldest son, Awѐd, lives with his family in a village in the desert called Nuwamis. So Aliyѐn planned to take Saїde there for her delivery.
At the end of January 2013 we went to explore the Desert because in the winter of '12/'13 there had been several good rains in the Desert, a unique occurrence in 30 years! The winter of '12/'13 had also been much colder than other winters. During the exploration at the end of January '13 we saw that not much flowering had yet emerged in the area of ​​Nuwamis because of the rains, the landscape was bare and colder than cold with a bitter wind. Too cold and too bare for Saїde and her little one soon.
So we came up with a new plan for Saїde's delivery: on the edge of the village of Dahab, the family of Musa Humied Mubarak has a large piece of open, empty land. Musa & Aliyѐn are good friends and Musa also plays an important role in the activities of the Foundation there. Once back in Dahab, we immediately had the back piece of land cleaned and a large place was made for Saїde using poles and rope, a 10-minute walk from Aliyѐn's house. The next day we brought Saїde there.
Every day Aliyѐn went to Saїde 3x to feed her and observe her. DesertJoy had her first trip of 2013 on February 5th '13. It was arranged that an old Bedouin whose camel had just given birth and who was also on the empty piece of land, would also feed Saїde and keep an eye on her. This way Aliyѐn could work with his stallion so that he did not lose any income. After this trip Saїde had not given birth yet, as if she had been waiting for her owner. After this trip Aliyѐn saw that Saїde did not feel comfortable in this place. After some hesitation we decided on February 18th '13 to bring Saїde back to her own place. Her own spot was empty, because the other camels were already on their way to the boarding point in the Desert for the February 20th trip, so that was good, Saїde now had the whole spot (Shelter I) to herself! Aliyѐn would also not be joining us on the February 20th trip, he would stay with Saїde. When we called Aliyѐn from the Desert on the first day of the trip, we heard a happy Aliyѐn on the phone: 'she gave birth, she gave birth! This morning I went to feed her and there was the little one! It's a boy! For the first time she gave birth to a boy!!' he said.

Mother Saїde, father Khamies & naming:
Saїde, which means the Happy, has given birth 3 times in her life, all 3 times to a girl. But her first two little ones both died when they were 2 months old. Her 3rd girl was born in January 2011 and is called Djiddu'a, she is fortunate to have survived. The naming of Bilhѐn was quite funny. Aliyѐn had come up with the name Anizѐn for this boy, but every time he spoke about Anizѐn he said Bilhѐn. Now I myself also have a camel born in 2011 called Bilhѐn, so there was often confusion, 'who is he talking about' I thought. Aliyѐn used to have a stallion, who was also born to him and his name was Bilhѐn but he died a few years ago due to old age. Those two were really a two-in-one to look at. They even both had the same walk, master and camel! So at some point we decided to just call Anizѐn Bilhѐn! Bilhѐn is a name given only to Camels and stands for a Powerful Camel. Bilhѐn's father is the stallion Khamies, which means Thursday. Khamies is the only stallion left from Aliyѐn from the past.

March 1, 2013: Bilhѐn, mother Saїde and big sister Djiddu'a to the Bloei!

Due to a combination of factors, Bedouins have been permanently settled in coastal towns such as Dahab or in villages in the Desert for the past 35 years. Due to the rainfall of the winter of '12/'13, large parts of the Desert were blooming again in the spring of 2013 for the first time in 30 years. This had also happened in 2011, but this time the Blooming was in more remote parts of the Desert. When this happens, many Bedouins move back to the Desert with their tents, goats, sheep and camels to live as before for a few months. Most Bedouins depend on tourism, but because tourism has collapsed since 2011, this was also an extra reason to go to the Blooming, so that at least their cattle could graze freely again. Aliyѐn also decided to go to the Blooming Desert together with 8 other families.
Ideal for Saїde and little Bilhѐn! This way Bilhѐn could settle down in his natural habitat: the Desert. And mother Saїde could also enjoy her newborn calf in peace instead of in the inhabited world of Dahab. The other 8 families also brought their female camels and their young, so that Bilhѐn also had peers. He immediately had a friend: also a boy who was born a month before Bilhѐn, they looked like twins because they have the same color and are almost the same size. How lucky for Saїde & Bilhѐn: a blooming Desert & a peer, he couldn't have had a better start! Big sister Djiddu'a was also there. The stallions had all stayed home in Dahab. Since the rutting season is always in winter & spring, the stallions – including Khamies – were in heat which is very unsettling for newly given birth female camels and their young.

April 24, 2013: from Bloei to Nuwamis

On April 24th several families decided to leave and go home. Aliyѐn tried to convince them to move to another area where the blooming had just started, but he couldn't because the youngsters were still longing for Dahab. Then he decided to leave Saїde & Bilhѐn and big sister Djiddu'a with his married son who lives in a desert village called Nuwamis. This is because his married son also has a she-camel with a little one, namely Bilhѐn's boyfriend! Because of this Saїde, Bilhѐn and Djiddu'a with the other she-camels and young ones can still roam freely and graze every day. Even though there is no real blooming in this area, it is still better than their warm walled place in hot Dahab in the summer! Aliyѐn himself is now often in the desert village where his eldest son lives. Every day at the end of the day the herd faithfully returns home because in addition to energy feed they now also receive hay in the evening.

Early July 2013: Food for the entire summer

The foundation has managed to get all the energy feed (corn) & all the roughage (hay) for all the adopted camels for July, August and September 2013 from mainland Egypt! This time it was a lot of hassle due to the unrest on mainland Egypt and it was exciting whether the supplier would be able to come, but on July 4, 2013 he finally drove into Dahab with a fully loaded truck!!

Plan of Aliyѐn:

Aliyѐn's plan is to bring Bilhѐn, Saїde and Djiddu'a back to Dahab in early to mid-September. Before he can do this, he has to teach Bilhѐn a rope halter in the Desert and teach him to walk on a bridle in the Desert, so that he can safely walk through the busy streets of Dahab when he brings them home, because after spending his first half year in Nature, Bilhѐn is not at all used to civilization with all its sounds, cars and crowds.

Dear Clement and Miranda & Harald, thanks to you, Bilhѐn is having a good start!!!

We will keep you informed about Bilhѐn in Words & Images!
A grateful hug from Bilhѐn, mother Saїde and me & all the love from Aliyѐn!
Love, Joyce :-)

Want to read more about Stichting Dalèl, the other camels or the trips Joyce organizes? Take a look at the website of Stichting Dalèl .