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Rising With Resilience, the Story of Charles Nzale
By Carol Chao It’s a warm afternoon at the Wildlife Works greenhouse and it’s always a busy day for Charles Mwavula Nzale. Whenever you visit the greenhouse, you will find the calm composed young man with a wide smile selling and marketing the greenhouse products (such as seedlings), taking stock, or maintaining the equipment among other duties. Charles, now 31, was born and raised in Marungu ward, which is part of the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project area. Charles lost his mother at a young age, so, together with his siblings, he had to go and live with his grandmother. Amidst the challenges in his life, which included a lack of…
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Wildlife Works Nursery School Celebrates its 5th Graduation Ceremony
Any graduation is a big deal and so was the Wildlife Works Nursery School’s 5th graduation ceremony. Towards the end of the year, we make it a family tradition to celebrate our Nursery School students making milestones as they prepare to join primary school. The event was a colorful one with 6 pupils standing out in full graduation attire. Led by their teachers, they occupied the front seats reserved for them in a lively event attended by parents, pupils, and Wildlife Works employees. Since January 2012, Wildlife Works has provided a Nursery school free of charge for employees’ children aged between 2-5 years. This ensures that the young children are…
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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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Cap COP21 Climate Innovation Day features Wildlife Works speakers
Relying on innovation and shared knowledge, Climate Innovation Day will allow practical solutions to emerge and contribute to a Proposals Document, which will be revealed at the Grand Palais during COP21. Morning Climate Talks will bring researchers, innovators and project leaders to the main stage, and give evidence of present and future innovations for the climate. With the exceptional participation of Jean Jouzel, Prince Ea, Joseph Mwakima and many more… Dynamic, creative and hopeful, these Climate Talks will offer an opportunity to discover and discuss pioneering approaches which disrupt climate status quo. Afternoon Workshops will gather attendees together in various working groups, in which they will draft practical solutions for the climate.…
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Wildlife Works to Participate in Cap COP21 Events in Paris
COP21 in December 2015 will be a unique opportunity to bring climate change to the main stage. EcoAct, a partner of Wildlife Works in climate change mitigation, has organized Cap COP21, a unique year-long cycle of conferences and workshops, which aims to foster the emergence of concrete, innovative and collaborative solutions for climate. Wildlife Works is proud to be a speaker and sponsor of these events events. Joseph Mwakima, Wildlife Works Community Relations Officer and resident of the Kasigau Corridor project region, will be speaking at the Climate Innovation Day event on June 23, 2015 during the “Climate Talks” presentations. Joseph spoke on behalf of Wildlife Works at the One Young World Summit last year and…
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A Letter from Founder & President Mike Korchinsky on Our No-Gun Policy
We’d like to extend a huge thank you to our supporters and the viewers of ‘Ivory Wars’ for their outpouring of support and encouragement following the initial airings of the series set at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya. Elephant poaching remains a serious issue, and we’re glad this opportunity has allowed us to more broadly bring to light its devastating affects. Since the initial airing, we’ve received some questions about the no-gun policy for our rangers. In an effort to ensure transparency and clear communication about our diligent efforts to keep our rangers safe, we’d like to share some detail about this policy, which has developed as a…
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A Letter from Our Head Ranger
ELEPHANT POACHING STILL HIGH Elephant and rhino poaching has recently been declared a “national disaster” in Kenya by former head of Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) Richard Leakey. The magnitude of poaching has reached terrifying levels and poachers are operating with outrageous impunity, backed up by an extraordinary network of organized crime. Unfortunately the Kasigau Corridor has not been immune from this increase in elephant poaching. Whilst the year started relatively calmly, March and April saw a significant rise in poaching incidents, totaling 30 elephants by mid May. The worst incident to date saw six elephants shot dead on Dawida Ranch, four of which were youngsters not bearing tusks. A further…
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Wildlife Works Marks World Environmental Day With Town Clean Up and Climate Change Education
At this year’s World Environment Day, some of our employees at the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project put down their tools and left the offices to commemorate the day with the community at Kamtonga, a small village located in Mwatate about 50 kilometers from our station. Those who attended the event included the head community Relations Officer, Mr. Laurian Lenjo, Mrs. Emily Mwawasi and Joseph Mwakima (both working in community relations), and the agribusiness manager, Mr. George Maina. From the moment we arrived in Kamtonga, it was very clear that we could not have chosen a better place to commemorate the 2014 World Environment Day. The Mwatate community has…
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Margaret Mschai Rises Above Life’s Challenges and Shares Her Future Aspirations
Margaret Mschai, a mother of two, makes her living by completing various tasks at the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ eco-clothing factory, and is wholly grateful for it. Her tasks include trimming, folding and packaging the fabric and finished clothes. “I love what I do mostly because it is an important part in the chain of events that creates unique outfits for export,” she says, adding, “We cannot all be machinists or designers. Someone has to trim the loose threads and fold the clothes so that they are presented neatly for the final consumer.” As Margaret never had the chance to continue her education past primary school, she was therefore…
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Marie Stopes Brings Reproductive Health Services to Wildlife Works Employees
Marie Stopes Kenya, a non-governmental organization that conducts free family planning programs across the country, recently conducted a tremendously informative workshop at our community in Kasigau. More than 100 employees attended, 22 of which benefited directly from the free reproductive health services offered by MSK. These reproductive health services, including family planning services and cervical cancer screenings, were entirely sponsored by Wildlife Works. Although made available by other members of the health industry, the cost of these services often prohibits employees from being able to take advantage of them. Apart from the high costs associated with most family planning services, lack of information and access to birth control methods propagates…
