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Wildlife Works Becomes Africa’s Only Carbon Neutral, Fair Trade Factory
Wildlife Works Becomes Africa’s Only Carbon Neutral, Fair Trade Factory And Launches it’s First Fair Trade USA Collection with Threads for Thought By Joyce Hu Creative Director Wildlife Works We are proud to announce that as of Spring 2015, Wildlife Works became Africa’s first and only carbon neutral, fair trade factory, upon receiving Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) Factory certification. Wildlife Works Fair Trade Apparel Factory: 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. Since then, fast fashion has come to dominate and the fashion industry is seeing more and more consequences from the perils of…
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The Strength of One Woman
“Dreams do come true,” that is probably the first thing that Vicky Kimuhu will tell you if you asked her to narrate her life story. Vicky, a single mother of one child, is enthusiastic about the team work involved in shipping finished goods from the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project EPZ factory to their final destination abroad. She’s been with Wildlife Works for just over two years now. “Handling shipping successfully, which is a new thing to me, excites me a lot! Though I am an enthusiastic professional and versatile designer with extensive experience in garment production from the raw material to the end product, I am happy to…
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Wildlife Works Gives Paul Makau Mwanzia a Chance to Do What He Loves Most
Paul Makau Mwanzia, a father of two, has been mechanic at the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project garage for over three years now. Together with his colleagues, he works to ensure that the company vehicles are in top-notch condition at all times. Lucky for Paul that repairing broken vehicles is his favorite thing to do because our vehicles get quite a beating in the rough Kenyan bush terrain. We caught up with him at the garage to learn what he loves most about his job, what challenges him and what makes him smile. We also talked to him about his work and life before he joined the Wildlife Works…
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Nora Matunda Shares Her Tough Journey to Success
Nora Matunda, a mother of four, has been a seamstress at the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project Eco Factory for over 13 years. ‘’I am passionate and motivated by my work because of the quality products we produce as a team. Our work empowers the community with job opportunity, growth, development and wealth creation for our families,” she says. Nora grew up in Maungu, a town adjacent to Wildlife Works sanctuary. ‘’15 years ago, Maungu was a very small village with very few people who depended on mostly charcoal burning and bush meat to live, ’’ she recalls. Growing up in poverty-stricken Maungu provided very little opportunity for young…
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Elizabeth Juma Mwamkono: Utilizing an Opportunity
Elizabeth Juma Mwamkono, a seamstress in our eco-factory, can attest that life needs to be faced with every ounce of courage that can be mustered. Born and raised in Taru, Mombasa County, Elizabeth has faced a number of challenges in her life. Elizabeth said that while she was growing up, many of the young people in her neighborhood, faced with uncertain futures due to financial hurdles, turned to prostitution, drug abuse and violence. She was determined not to fall into these traps, and decided to focus her efforts on getting an education. Liz remembers being sent away from school frequently due to lack of funds, but even her prolonged absences…
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Kenya Airways and Wildlife Works allow you to travel the world while protecting the environment
Kenya Airways has teamed up with Wildlife Works to allow passengers to offset the carbon emissions from every flight. To help spread the word, Kenya Airways has included Wildlife Works in their in-flight magazine. The following is extracted from the feature in Msafiri magazine: Each time you travel with Kenya Airways, the airline gives you the option to offset the environmental cost of your flight simply by checking a box, and know that you can enjoy seeing the world and help to safeguard the future of the planet at the same time. Choosing to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions produced by your flight is a credible IATA (International Air Transport Association) approved way…
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The Jojoba Project: Cosmetic and beauty plants benefit rural communities
If you check the ingredient label on your favorite shampoo, lotion or lipstick, it’s very likely you’ll see jojoba listed. The oil pressed from the seeds of this shrub can be used “as is” to soften hair and skin, or can be mixed into different cosmetics as an added moisturizer. Jojoba oil is unique in that it is chemically a liquid wax, not a triglyceride, making it more similar to the natural oil on human skin (sebum) than traditional vegetable oils. Jojoba shrubs are hardy and can survive in arid climates and rangelands. Plantations of jojoba have been established in a number of desert and semi-desert lands including Argentina, Australia,…
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Grace Wanjala: Sewing her own future
Grace Wanjala began school as a young girl, but was forced to abandon her studies at age 14, due to a lack of funding. Grace, now 22 years old, remembered putting away her school uniform at Class Eight, knowing in the back of her mind that she would never put it on again. This was a real blow for the young girl, but Grace had no one to pay her school fees expect for her father who had lost his job. Grace accepted her situation and tried to make the best of it. Regardless of the setbacks, Grace had hope that there would still be a great future for her…
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Working side by side with SOKO-Kenya
A new addition has come to the Wildlife Works Export Processing Zone (EPZ): SOKO! SOKO Kenya is a clothing production workshop for the export market that aims to create sustainable, fair employment and offer training and skills to some of Kenya’s poorest people. SOKO promotes community-driven, ethical, environmental, fashion-driven garments to the international fashion industry. SOKO first began producing women’s fashion for the European, U.S. and South African markets in 2009. Set up by Founder and Managing Director Joanna Maiden, the factory had been operating from Ukunda, Coast Providence. With increasing production orders, construction of the new factory at the Wildlife Works EPZ started earlier this year and Joanna’s team…
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Growing Responsibly Through the Use of Sustainable Material and Means
The battle between development and environmental conservation can often be a fierce one. With the natural progression towards growth, the environment is often left tattered in the wake. Wildlife Works at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project has certainly grown in the last few years, and will hopefully continue to do so. We’ve increased the number of jobs in the local area twofold from a year ago. We are very aware of the effects of development on the environment, which is why we’ve opted to use simple, eco-friendly architecture wherever we can. The newest sector in the company requires a base from which they can run their field operations. The concept…
