A million acres of Africa, reborn
“Just come and sit at a sunset by a lake in the center of this National Park. I mean time stops. You get a hundred colours of yellow and a hundred colours of orange and the dusk sets in. And then a flock of birds go over the water and theres a hippo over there making a noise and there’s an impala over there. I could have been here a hundred thousand years ago and it would have been the same.“ — Greg Carr
Greg Carr, a tech entrepreneur who made a fortune developing voice mail, quit business to use his resources for human rights.
Carr was approached by Mozambique’s president with an important request. After 28 years of war (between the 60s and the 90s) killed a million people and wiped out 95% of the wildlife in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique needed help restoring the park.
They began with removing 20,000 traps and wire snares which were still causing harm to the wildlife. Then, little by little, they brought in animals. Despite the roadblocks which included 6 more years of war and a devastating cyclone, by 2018 an aerial survey counted 100,000 large animals.
What began as a mission to restore a national park, has brought work and health and education and dignity to the community and choices to the young people.
When asked Carr humbly admits to spending 100 million of his own money for Gorongosa. He says to the billionaire next door…”Go out and enjoy spending your money to help some people and it will bless you more than you can possibly bless it.”
From 60 Minutes, S56, Ep.37