From AJ's Rescue to AJ's Mission

In Rwanda, Africa, on St. Patrick's Day, 2019, the puppy pictured put herself in the middle of the street in front of a van carrying a mission team from Southern California. One of the missionaries inside the van was Janet Coppini, a Registered Veterinary Technician. Janet rendered aid to the puppy believed to be approximately 7 weeks old. With less than 48 hours before the team would travel to a different city, Janet knew she needed to work quickly to find an organization or person willing to take the pup in. Internet searches for rescue organizations surfaces only email contacts that weren't able to help. Knowing she needed to talk to someone, Janet Googled "Kigali dog rescue phone number" and found the cell phone number of a woman, Dr Jode Garbe, from Washington state who earned her law and vet degrees simultaneously before moving to Rwanda as a gorilla Dr. Janet gave Dr Garbe her best sales pitch on the puppy's behalf and Dr Garbe agreed to add the pup to her other animals in need of homes at Dr Garbe's sanctuary, Animals Africa.