Profile
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Moses – Head of Data Collection for our rangers
Moses Lorewa is Head of Data Collection as part of the 85 Wildlife Works rangers that patrol our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project in southeastern Kenya. He is the eldest child in a pastoral family of seven children, from central Kenya. Upon finishing school in 2004, Moses worked in construction for a few years to make ends meet but knew this wasn’t his calling. He first came to the Tsavo ecosystem in 2007 to work as a scout for Southern Cross Eco Safaris who ran Gala Rock Camp, an old lodge within the Wildlife Works project area. Although Moses didn’t have any experience of working in the bush, he had grown…
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Meet Alfred, Master Tailor and Leader
At Wildlife Works, job creation is central to our success as a community. The Wildlife Works eco factory is one of our larger departments here at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project, with more than 60 current employees. In such a large group, we love to set aside the time to realize some of the very special individuals we are lucky to have on our team. Meet Alfred Alfred Karisa works as a machinist on the skilled tailor team that produces for our high-end clients such as LaLesso and Raven and Lily. Before joining us in 2012, Alfred worked for a private firm as a tailor. He brings several years of…
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Allan, The Screenprinter
At the core of Wildlife Works’ conservation strategy is job creation for people in wildlife-rich areas. In Kenya, at our Kasigau REDD+ project, we finance the development of several business operations, such as an eco-factory and the production of sustainable charcoal. In 2010, Wildlife Works started a screen-printing facility. In the beginning, this facility was in a single room, outside Wildlife Works’ premises, with four workers. Six years later, our screen-printing facility has developed into a renowned facility doing big orders for global clients, such as GlobeIn, Threads for Thought and Greater Good. Meet Allan Allan Kiplimo is one of our screen-printing assistants. He comes from the Nandi hills, in…
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Fair Trade USA Certification – One Year On
The Wildlife Works’ factory, on the edge of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, became Fair Trade USA certified in the spring of 2015. We were the first carbon neutral, fair trade factory in Africa! Now, just over a year later, we have been producing Fair Trade USA certified garments for clients around the world, such as Threads for Thought. Our factory was founded in 2001 on ethical and fair trade policies – back before the fashion industry even had the words to describe sustainable fashion. Buying ethically made clothing is a meaningful way to vote with your dollar for a healthier planet and happier people. Buying Fair Trade USA…
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Wildlife Works Scholarship Recipient Joins the Team
“I get satisfaction in my job through putting perfection into my work,” says Zanira Kasyoka, one of the lucky recipients of a Wildlife Works’ scholarship that fully sponsored her secondary education. Her talents and hard work stood out and she is now fully employed as an assistant in the Wildlife Works’ carbon-neutral, eco-factory office. Meet Zanira, first a scholarship recipient now an employee Zanira comes from a humble background in the village of Itinyi, Taita Taveta County, within our project area in Kenya. She was brought up by a single mother together with her elder sister. She now lives with her mother and grandmother, as her sister has married and moved…
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Scholarship Student Dreams of Medical School
“The greatest danger facing modern society today is not of dying without achieving your dreams but dying without dreaming at all.” This is the motto by which Sophia Tsenge lives. Sophia comes from a humble background in a family of seven, in Sasenyi Village in Taita Taveta County, Kenya, and is one of Wildlife Works education bursary beneficiaries. One of the core ways in which Wildlife Works supports local development is through distributing the profit made from carbon credits back into conservation project’s communities we serve. Much of the funding programs go towards supporting community groups who submit needs proposals for committee approval. Another major funding funnel is our education…
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Violet: Weaving Herself a More Sustainable Future
A good life is like weaving; energy is created in the tension. The struggle, each pull and tug builds on the next to create the perfect basket. Weaving baskets is a tradition in native Taita culture, a tribe of people living in the hills in South Eastern Kenya. Violet Simba is part of the Basket Weaver Women Group in Jora, a village in the shadow of Mount Kasigau that is within the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project area. Violet is one of 30 weavers in the Jora group who have turned to weaving Sisal baskets in order to be less dependent on subsistence agriculture. Violet Simba, a traditional basket…
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George of the Jungle: Growing our Tree Seedling and Agriculture Business
“If you put me in an office, it will be the end of me!” is the first thing George Thumbi tells us on a tour of his life. George, a father of three from Central Kenya, was brought up in a family of 10 children on a farm that grew coffee, maize, fruit and other plants. It was here that he developed an interest in agriculture which led him to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Agroforesty at Egerton University, Kenya, among other qualifications such as a Diploma in Sales and Marketing and Business Management. George, who is now in charge of the agribusiness and forestry program at…
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Enterprising Women Empower Change
Tumaini Environmental Women’s Group’s Founder Mama Mercy Drive Change in Her Community Women’s groups provide essential and powerful support systems for the poorest communities in developing counties. By supporting these organizations in the communities we serve, Wildlife Works has seen tremendous growth in the financial and general health of these communities. The Tumaini Environmental Women’s Group and its founder Mama Mercy is a shining example of how women can drive change. In the village of Itinyi, Mercy Ngaruiya, known as Mama Mercy in the community, has been helping women in her community out of the cycle of poverty for decades. She is known as one of the community’s most enterprising women! Because of this, we have hosted her to speak…
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Vision Impaired Scholarship Student Thrives Against All Odds
Since 2005, Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project has awarded over $260,000 in scholarship money to more than 3,200 top performing students in our project area. One student’s perseverance exemplifies how dedicated our beneficiaries are to meeting their goals. Martin was born in 1981 to Emmanuel Mwarigha and Fridah Mshai. His family lives in a small village called Itinyi Village in Voi Sub-county, Taita Taveta County. In his teenage years, he developed an illness that diminished his eyesight. But the toughest time in his life came when his father died in 2008. Martin was 27 at the time. “I was thrown into health-threatening stress. I felt that I had lost…