-
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…
-
World Environment Day Celebrations: Go Wild for Life
Happy World Environment Day! Each year this United Nations day is celebrated on 5th June to raise awareness on taking action to protect nature. The 2016 theme was ‘Go Wild for Life’ promoting zero tolerance for the illegal wildlife trade. World Environment Day parade in Taita Taveta County Wildlife Works took part in the celebrations in Taita Taveta County in Kenya, where the 2016 theme particularly resonates. Kenya’s wildlife is severely affected by the illegal wildlife trade. It is estimated that each year around 30,000 elephants are killed worldwide as a result of poaching and the illegal ivory trade. Grevy’s Zebra, which are found on our Rukinga Sanctuary in Kenya,…
-
Wildlife Works Speaks at World Menstrual Hygiene Day
‘Menstruation matters to everyone, everywhere’ was the slogan for the 2016 celebration of World Menstrual Hygiene Day, held each year on the 28th May. It is aimed at breaking taboos and raising awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene management for women and adolescent girls worldwide. Lack of sanitary pads is a common concern for girls and women living in poverty in developing nations. In dire circumstances, they are forced to improvise by using rags, tissue, leaves and other unhygienic materials, or vulnerable girls are conned into sexual relationships in exchange for feminine hygiene products. These humiliating practices can lead to infections and unwanted pregnancy. Research has also shown…
-
Miasenyi Secondary School Gets Conservation Education Tour and Safari
Part of Wildlife Works community empowerment strategy includes ensuring that underprivileged students get the chance to view their beautiful ecosystem and see wildlife in its natural habitat. Since March 2015, the Wildlife Works Community Relations Department at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya has been running an education program for local students to tour the Wildlife Works diverse operations, learn about conservation at our Tsavo Discovery Center and experience wildlife firsthand. Since the program started just over a year ago, over 25 schools have participated, bringing over 750 students through our curriculum. The aim is to eventually reach 80 schools in the area. On 20th May 2016, Wildlife Works…
-
ASOS Foundation Continues to Fund Wildlife Work’s Community
Wildlife Works partners with ASOS, a large online retailer in Europe that produces with our affiliate factory SOKO, to implement ASOS Foundation funded initiatives in Kenya. Two local development projects that have recently been completed by this partnership are the construction of a water pipeline and the making of lockers and chairs for Buguta Secondary School in Taita Taveta County, Kenya. The ASOS Foundation has funded the construction of 5.7 km of pipeline to supply clean drinking water for domestic and human consumption to 150 households in the town of Mackinnon Road. The water originates from Mzima Springs in Tsavo National Park West, Kenya. The water pipeline project is managed by…
-
Multi-Story Farming Conserves Land and Water
Wildlife Works uses Multi-Story Farming as a Conservation Method Wildlife Works is located in Taita Taveta County, Kenya, a hot and dry coastal region where the average annual rainfall is less than 16 inches per year. These arid conditions are very unfriendly for agriculture, and in an rural area where there is no substantial industry and high poverty rates, these communities have to exploit their surrounding natural resources to survive. With just over 400 employees, we are the second largest employer in the area. Harmful yet income generating activities that many people resort to include cutting down trees for the illegal charcoal industry and poaching wildlife for bush meat and…
-
Great Grevy’s Rally – Grevy Zebra Cencus Count
On January the 30th and 31st 2016, the “Great Grevy’s Rally” was held in Kenya. This was designed to give an overall estimate of population of the Grevy’s zebra in Kenya, as well as to help researchers calculate potential growth. The Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), also known as the imperial zebra, is the largest extant wild equid and the largest and most threatened of the three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. Named after Jules Grévy, it is the sole extant member of the subgenus Dolichohippus. The Grévy’s zebra is found in Kenya and Ethiopia. Compared with other zebras, it is tall,…
-
Disability is not and Inability: Buguta Disabled Group
Wildlife Works Partners with the Buguta Disabled Group “Disability is not and Inability” is the motto of the Buguta Disable Group and they prove it to be true with every stitch they make while creating products that are sold to customers all over the world. Since 2011, Wildlife Works has been working with the Buguta Disabled Group, a group of 30 members who work to support eachother and their families, emotionally and financially. Membership is not limited to those who are disabled; family members of disabled people can also join, because as caretakers need just as much support! Lea Mvumba, known as Mama Lea in the community, the chairwoman, and her husband, Jacob, started…
-
Completion of Much Needed Rainwater Catchment Tank
On December 8, the village of Buguta, and six surrounding villages, celebrated the transfer of the Kula Kila rainwater catchment tank to the community. Wildlife Works installed the tank, which was funded by ASOS Foundation, the foundation arm to ASOS, a fashion client of SOKO, which is a partner factory located in our sanctuary. The tank, engineered for water collection ease, has greatly enhanced the villagers’ lives. Women from the seven villages started off the festivities with a traditional dance called Girama. The ward’s administer, a member of the county assembly, village elders from the seven villages, Wildlife Works representatives, and a SOKO Trust representative spoke at the dedication ceremony. The Kula…
-
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…