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Meet Rebecca Mututa, Wildlife Works Assistant Community Relations Officer
By Jane Okoth The Tsavo region, very popular with wildlife, is home to the biggest national park in Kenya and one of the largest elephant populations in the world. As a young girl living close to Tsavo East, Rebecca Mututa would encounter wild animals from time to time. “This gave me the inspiration to learn more about animals by working in a conservation organization,” she says. Rebecca grew up in Voi, a small town 30km from Wildlife Works’ Head Office with a population of at least 50,000 people. “My passion for working hard was ignited by watching my mother struggle to put food on the table. I put a lot…
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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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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…