In Kenya's SORALO and Shompole Lands, Samantha du Toit Takes Us to the Great Rift Valley

In Kenya's SORALO and Shompole Lands, Samantha du Toit Takes Us to the Great Rift Valley

Samantha du Toit (formerly Russell) was born and raised in Kenya. After completing secondary school in Nairobi she went to England to study Zoology and Psychology at Bristol University in England

Upon returning to Kenya, du Toit went straight into working in wildlife conservation with Dr. David Western, founder of the African Conservation Centre. Her first major task was to establish the baseline monitoring of the Shompole and Olkiramatian ecosystem, over eight years ago.

Today the Shompole Conservancy is a large privately operated conservation area in the south of the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is located between Lake Magadi to the north and Lake Natron to the south, on the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The conservancy was registered in 1979 and is owned by the Loodokolani Maasi with over 2000 registered members representing around 10,000 Loodokilani Maasai dependents.

Today, Samantha du Toit can be found at the Lale’enok Resource Centre, which she helped establish and now plays a major role in its operations. Or we might find her in the Nairobi SORALO office, helping to manage the affairs of the South Rift Association of Land Owners. This network of shared goals and objectives operates with complementary decision-making and objectives.

How Women in Kenya Mobilized for Peace After Surviving Violence

How Women in Kenya Mobilized for Peace After Surviving Violence

Women are rarely represented adequately at peace negotiations yet they make up half the population of any country in conflict or at war. This remains the case despite increasing global policy awareness on how women are affected by conflict and the importance of including them in peace and security processes. For instance, the UN’s landmark framework on women, peace and security reaffirms the important role women play in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.

Women’s contributions are also underscored in African peace instruments like the Maputo Protocol and Kenya’s National Action Plan.

But how do women in conflict actually engage in peacebuilding? There is considerable academic literature on the links between gender and peace but the lived experiences of women peace builders are not well captured.

Kenya's US Anti-Poaching Expert Faye Cuevas Announces 'Team Lioness', 8 Young Maasai Women Rangers + Plans For Many More

Kenya's US Anti-Poaching Expert Faye Cuevas Announces 'Team Lioness', 8 Young Maasai Women Rangers + Plans For Many More

Team Lioness, a team of eight young Maasai women is one of Kenya’s first all-female ranger units — and the direct result of Faye’s consultations with the Masaii women leaders. Officially announced on March 6, 2019, Team Lioness joins the Olgulului Community Wildlife Rangers (OCWR) who protect wildlife across six bases and one mobile unit in OOGR through IFAW’s tenBoma, an innovative wildlife security initiative. Team Lioness is operating in this precious natural corridor created by Kenya and Tanzania under the majesty of Kilimanjaro.

“In the larger Amboseli region, out of almost 300 wildlife rangers, to my knowledge there was only one woman,” Faye explained, in introducing Team Lioness. “The need was apparent.”

 The women of team Lioness were selected based on their academic achievements and physical strength, as well as their demonstration of trustworthiness, discipline, and integrity. Typically, a Maasai girl leaves school around age 10 and have few opportunities to achieve a higher education.

“It’s very rare that Maasai women achieve a secondary education,” says Cuevas. “But all of team Lioness have the equivalent of a US high school education, and none of them have had a paying job before this. It’s breaking barriers.”

“As the first women joining the OCWR Rangers, each of the team Lioness recruits brings a new perspective and a different experience with wildlife than her male counterparts,” Faye continues. “They are important voices in protecting wildlife and reconnecting communities to the benefits of sharing land with the magnificent big cats and other wildlife that call OOGR home.”

Will Burrard-Lucas + Tsavo Trust + BeetleCam Capture Kenya's Endangered, Magnificent Elephant Queens

Will Burrard-Lucas + Tsavo Trust + BeetleCam Capture Kenya's Endangered, Magnificent Elephant Queens

You are forgiven for thinking that F_MU1 is a woolly mammoth brought to life. Queen of Elephants, the name photographer Will Burrard-Lucas gave to F__MU1, was a rare “big tusker” elephant, one of perhaps only 30 left in Africa. This royal creature enjoyed a peaceful life for more than 60 years in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park.

These images of F_MU1, renamed Elephant Queen on WBL’s website, are among the last images captured of her. Over long periods of horrific, violent poaching in Kenya, Elephant Queen is a survivor, and she died a natural death shortly after Burrard-Lucas made these magnificent image captures for his new book ‘Land Of Giants.’

Burrard-Lucas embarked on the ambitious project in partnership with Tsavo Trust in August 2017, in an effort to promote worldwide support for the elephants of Tsavo.

In his own words, the photographer shares his story of meeting Elephant Queen for the first time:

A Jewelry Design Journey From Fashionable Omo Valley Arbore Women To Mario Gerth To INIVA Miami

A Jewelry Design Journey From Fashionable Omo Valley Arbore Women To Mario Gerth To INIVA Miami

Serendipity seems to be always at play at Anne of Carversville and in my GlamTribal Jewelry. Close friends think the powers are actually stronger than serendipity in my case, but let me stick with the facts here. The DNA of my GlamTribal collection lies in East Africa, in an area extending from southern Ethiopia’s Omo Valley into the Lake Turkana region, South Sudan and northern Kenya, with a final destination in Nairobi and specifically Kibera. This is not to say that there aren’t more pieces in my puzzle, but my life has wound in and around these pillars for decades.

Hans Silvester’s monumental book ‘Natural Fashion’ (2009) introduced me to the Omo Valley people in 2012, inspiring the first major turn in my vision for GlamTribal. These precious people are living in grave danger of extinction in a modern world, In particular the Gilgel Give III damn threatens their very existence. For five years Italian photographer Fausto Podavini has charted the progress of the damn and its impact on one of Africa’s most remote frontiers. National Geographic updates the story of perhaps epic change in the Omo Valley.

Girl Baby Elephants Become Proxy Matriarchs At Kenya's Reteti Elephant Sanctuary

Girl Baby Elephants Become Proxy Matriarchs At Kenya's Reteti Elephant Sanctuary

Sunday night has been elephant update night for Anne. My head is swimming in new information and stories. Before I venture out, let me share this charming, empathetic story in National Geographic about Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya.

A few weeks ago, AOC featured the entire short virtual reality film ‘My Africa’, narrated by Lupita Nyong’o and set among the Samburu people. The region of the film and this May, 2017 article includes the Turkana, Rendille, Borana, and Somali peoples — besides the Samburu. Knowledgeable about many of the civil wars that have ravaged Africa (and America) I’m not familiar with tensions in this area. The point of our story and ‘My Africa’ is how these ethnic groups are working together today to strengthen their communities while protecting the estimated 6,000 elephants, according to National Geographic, who share the land.

In fact, I pursued the article because of this beautiful image of Mary Lengees, one of Reteti’s first female elephant keepers and Shyian. Upon landing at National Geographic, I felt a poignant moment for Shaba, a little female elephant who is now the boss. So much has been written about the great elephant matriarchs, strong leaders who sleep hardly at all to protect their herd.

The notion of a baby girl elephant’s natural instincts taking hold, making her the leader and caretaker long before her time is due reminds me of stories of young girls with countless siblings — too many for mom to manage — or even orphan girls with young brothers and sisters who suddenly rise to positions of leadership, almost out of instinct.

Lupita Nyong'o Narrates Award-Winning 'My Africa' Virtual Reality Film For Elephant Conservation

Lupita Nyong'o Narrates Award-Winning 'My Africa' Virtual Reality Film For Elephant Conservation

A virtual reality film ‘My Africa’, narrated by Oscar-winning film star Lupita Nyong’o and supported by The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, is among the winners of the annual Jackson Hole Science Media Awards.

The nine-minute film won top honors in the Virtual Reality/360° Storytelling category for “effectively using 360 technology and resources to advance an appreciation or understanding of a scientific discipline, discovery or principle.”

The film which was commissioned by Global environmental organization Conservation International which supports community-led wildlife conservation in Northern Kenya —is available in 7 languages including English, French, Mandarin, Portuguese, Samburu, Spanish and Swahili.

Directed by David Allen, the project was captured with virtual reality cameras in the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy in Samburu County of northern Kenya at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, the first elephant orphanage in Africa owned and operated by the local community. In a region where conservation has traditionally been pursued by outsiders, Reteti — and the surrounding conservancy organization, Northern Rangelands Trust — offer a model grounded in local leadership and traditional knowledge, explains Creative Planet Network.

LOEWE Works With Kenya's Samburu Women On Elephant Bag For The Elephant Crisis Fund

LOEWE Works With Kenya's Samburu Women On Elephant Bag For The Elephant Crisis Fund

LOEWE and Knot On My Planet joins forces today to launch a limited edition collection of their iconic Elephant Mini Bag in tan, in support of the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF)—a joint initiative between Save The Elephants (STE) and WCN, in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Knot On My Planet is closely associated with supermodel Doutzen Kroes, who hasbecome one of the loudest voices in elephant conservation, whose mission is to put an end to the ivory crisis and elephant extinction. When Kroes first visited Samburu, Kenya, and interacted with the elephant population there, she said she knew she needed to take action in the form of a long-term commitment to protecting severely-threatened elephants in Africa.  

Halima Aden Returns To Kakuma Refugee Camp In Kenya, Films TEDX Talk, Becomes UNICEF Ambassador

Halima Aden Returns To Kakuma Refugee Camp In Kenya, Films TEDX Talk, Becomes UNICEF Ambassador

Model, beauty queen and humanitarian Halima Aden's life cup is overflowing with Gaia's bounty. 

"I was the first Muslim homecoming queen at my high school, the first Somali student senator at my college, and the first hijab-wearing woman in many places, like the Miss Minnesota USA beauty pageant, the runways of Milan and New York fashion weeks, and even on the historic cover of British Vogue," she explained in a recent (but not yet posted) TED Talk she gave at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya — another first, both for her and for TED, as it was the first talk streamed from a refugee camp in the program's history. But the visit also held a special significance for Halima, as it marked the first time she had returned to Kakuma after moving to the United States at age 7.

Luxury Safari Glamping In Kenya's Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara Resort

Image: Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara in Kenya

The South China Morning Post drops down in East Africa Sunday, making stops to update readers about the plight of big game animals generally and elephants in particular. We'll chart their stops this week and not in order.

Chris Dwyer takes us six hours west of Nairobi by car to a landmark project within the Maasai eco-sstem, crossing Kenya's southern border with Tanzania. For several years conservationists have worked with local communities to limit cattle grazing on grasslands owned by the private 35,000-acre Olare Motorogi Conservancy, run in partnership with the Maasai people. Today the land hosts several exclusive camps including one owned by Sir Richard Branson, and less expensive lodging as well. The collaboration operating in the conservancy protects many of the world's most extraordinary animals and offers a consistent income and livelihoods for the Maasai landowners. 

Kenya has been ambitious in promoting the positive economic benefits to developing tourism and saving some of the most precious animals to walk the earth, as an alternative to working as scouts or even killers of these animals for money. Not only does the Maasai community prosper, but the animals keep the tourism developing into the future. This project has one of the highest lion densities in Africa. 

Image: Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara in Kenya

Dwyer writes: "The latest aerial census by the Kenya Wildlife Service suggests Kenya’s elephant population has increased recently, thanks in part to stringent anti-poaching measures. But when taken in the context of the overall population decline, from an estimated 167,000 animals in 1979 to 38,000 last year, the figures remain sobering."

Our writer then checks into the Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara resort, a camp of 12 luxury tents, swimming pool and lounge bar. I've picked some images from the resort's website, one's that remind me of the inspiration behind our GlamTribal collection and my own strong physical and unconscious connection to East Africa. 

Image: Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara in Kenya

GlamTribal is also committed to elephant conservation and The Kibera School for Girls (see website) in Nairobi, donating 10% of our sales to these two complimentary endeavors.  Considering that elephants are a matriarchal social organization and educating girls is one of the most important efforts to support peace and stable political institutions -- as well as sound economic development on the planet --  reaching adventurers who support these goals is key to our GlamTribal strategy. 

Image: Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara in Kenya

For the vast majority of us who cannot afford such a splendid experience of staying at Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara, we can always dream a bit through the GlamTribal experience.  To inspire your night visions, I share three pendant necklaces using our GlamTribal studio-made, featherweight beads of elephants, giraffes and our very special map of East Africa bead.  Enjoy the read and the wearing! ~ Anne

Richard Leakey Plans Libeskind-Designed 'Cathedra' Honoring Human Evolution In Lake Turkana

Richard Leakey Plans Libeskind-Designed 'Cathedra' Honoring Human Evolution In Lake Turkana

Renowned Kenyan paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey has commissioned a new museum in the desert near Lake Turkana. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, 'the cathedra' will be constructed at 400 miles north of Kenya's capital in Nairobi,  near the border with Ethiopia. 

It's in this region that the Leakey family and their decades old teams have uncovered many of the best-preserved fossils of humanity's ancient ancestors, some dated to 4 million years ago.

Lake Turkana is home to all the inspirations behind Anne of Carversville's Jewelry & Gift Collection, including Ethiopia's Omo Valley people, who live at the northern tip of the lake. It's the world's largest permanent desert lake and by volume the world's fourth-largest salt lake. 

We have many connections to LakeTurkana and Africa's Rift Valley both psychically and in our commitment to elephant conservation and the use of woolly mammoth bones in our jewelry. It's believed that woolly mammoths migrated out of the Rift Valley towards cooler climates and reliable water sources. 

Richard Leakey, the 72-year-old Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) chairman took Polish-American designer Daniel Libeskind to Lake Turkana to explore the project, now that financing has been secured for the design phase of the project. "Can we do something here that will absolutely stand-alone and wow?" Leakey asked the master planner of New York's post-September 11 World Trade Center redevelopment.

His vision is for a museum that is a "very creative" experience and not a fancy house for fossils. A museum pedigree is reason for eliminating people, not recruiting them for the project. The Kenyan powerhouse wants people from Silicon Valley or creative advertising professionals. "Why don't we have a room you come in to wearing a 3D headset and sit quietly in the middle of a band of Homo erectus moving all around you? That's much more interesting than a skeleton of Turkana Boy behind glass."

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Kenya's Famed Richard Leakey Helps Torch Ivory Burn Without Brad Pitt Who Will Play Him In 'Africa'

Kenya's Famed Richard Leakey Helps Torch Ivory Burn Without Brad Pitt Who Will Play Him In 'Africa'

Kenya Will Burn 105 Tons Of Elephant Ivory As African Nations, Activists & Philanthropists Converge In Kenya April 29-30

Kenya Will Burn 105 Tons Of Elephant Ivory As African Nations, Activists & Philanthropists Converge In Kenya April 29-30

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta will once again conduct a mass burning of ivory and rhino horn, setting fire to about 105 tons of ivory and 1.35 tons of rhino horn, representing about 4000 dead elephants. . The scale of the burning towers over Kenyatta's March 2015 fire of 15 tons of elephant ivory, called the largest ever burned in Africa,  a 10-foot tall pyre that smoldered for days until the ivory was reduced to ash.

Kenya's Morgan Elephant Takes Spontaneous March To Somalia, Reminding Anne Of Lucy King's Elephants & Bees Fences

Kenya's Morgan Elephant Takes Spontaneous March To Somalia, Reminding Anne Of Lucy King's Elephants & Bees Fences

Eye | Malia Obama Interns On 'Girls' | Persecuted Gays In Kenya Await Obama | Hudson Joins Kors To Fight World Hunger

New York Met’s China Exhibition Extended To Labor Day

With over 500,000 visitors already viewing ‘China Through the Looking Glass’ at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the China show is expected to surpass ‘Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty’ as the largest exhibition yet at the Met. The exhibition is now extended thru Labor Day September 7.

Related: New York Metropolitan Museum

Malia Obama Interns In Manhattan

The Presidential first daughter Malia Obama dined at La Esquina on Tuesday night, a guest of former White House chef and food policy adviser Sam Kass and his wife MSNBC host Alex Wagner. Vogue profiled the couple in Wagner and Sam Kass — Politics’ It Couple.

Malia is interning at HBO, working with Lena Dunham on ‘Girls’. Rumours are flying that Malia will likely make a cameo appearance at some point in Season 5. Don’t be deceived by the glam possibility. Malia, who just turned 17, has been spotted getting coffee for the cast and crew and keeping people away from the production set — typical intern duties.

Last summer Malia worked as a production assistant for Halle Berry’s CBS show ‘Extant’. Malia will graduate from private Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC next year and is expected to pursue a career in film and movie production. She has visited New York University, known for their excellent film school, Columbia University (her father’s alma mater) on the East Coast and Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley on the West Coast.

President Obama Heads to Kenya & Ethiopia

Malia, sister Sasha and mom First Lady Michelle Obama Obama will not be joining dad POTUS today on his brief trip to Kenya and Ethiopia. The President will be traveling with his National Security adviser Susan Rice and staff, with decision’s on how to deal with Kenya’s growing anti-gay stance looming as a difficult topic for Obama to navigate.

Politico reminds us that as the US has grown more tolerant during the Obama presidency, African countries have imposed increasingly harsher laws on gays and lesbians. Despite their vehement denials of non-interference, ample evidence exists that the anti-homosexual agenda in Africa has been fueled by America’s right-wing Christians. AOC has covered this topic for years.

Briefing reporters ahead of the trip on Wednesday, National Security Adviser Susan Rice didn’t bring up gay rights until prompted. “I have no doubt that the president will feel perfectly free to raise his concerns,” she said. But she was careful to convey that Obama isn’t singling out any country or region. “This is not for us an issue of Africa, or any country in Africa,” she said.

A “nonissue” that’s not on the agenda is how Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta referred to LGBT rights ahead of Obama’s visit, but his No. 2, William Ruto, was among several politicians and clergymen who’ve railed against homosexuality at Sunday services in recent weeks. Another lawmaker said he would tell Obama to “shut up” if he brings it up.

Eat Me Maybe

Fashion PR Aisle 8 pro Jade Jackman (l), founder of luxury cake service Eat Me Maybe didn’t dream of being a baker, in spite of inhaling smells of her Bajan grandmother’s culinary gifts. Previously of MyWardrobe and Harrods, Jackman is now baking for major fashion and beauty clients including Burberry, Maybelline, L’Oreal and more. 

Set up by Jackman and friend Andrea Gamble, Eat Me Maybe, the women have a culinary hit in the making. For now, their baking means long days and late nights into the night.  

I love that I get to work with my best friend and create incredible bespoke cakes which can literally make somebody’s birthday or even wedding,” Jackman added. “Being a part of such a happy memory is very rewarding. The worst part of what we do is that we sometimes have to decline orders because we are so busy with work or have too many to make - we can’t really complain about that though! via Vogue UK

Hudson Joins Kors To Fight World Hunger

From the Michael Kors website:

Bringing her signature sense of optimism, generosity and glamour to the table, Kate Hudson will join Michael Kors and Watch Hunger Stop to help build a world with zero hunger by raising awareness and funds for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Kicking off in October 2015, the Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress’ first philanthropic role for Michael Kors will be helping to launch two limited-edition styles of the Bradshaw watch as part of this year’s Watch Hunger Stop campaign. Every sale of one of these special styles, named the Bradshaw 100, will enable 100 children in need to receive a nutritious meal through WFP’s School Meals program.* The watches will be available exclusively in Michael Kors stores worldwide and on michaelkors.com in the U.S.

“I’m proud to join Michael Kors in this global effort to end hunger,” says Kate Hudson. “As a mother, I can’t think of anything more important than raising a healthy and educated generation of children, and WFP’s School Meals Program is committed to exactly that. This is a cause that I’m eager to be a part of because I believe we can all make a real and significant difference.”

Since launching the Michael Kors Watch Hunger Stop campaign in 2013, the $25 donation for every watch sold has helped WFP deliver more than 10 million meals to poor children worldwide.

In Kenya, One Woman's 'Good Life' Is Irrationally Hacked to Bits

In Kenya, One Woman’s ‘Good Life’ Is Irrationally Hacked to Bits

Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner In Death Reminds Us: Be A Hummingbird

Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner In Death Reminds Us: Be A Hummingbird

Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai died late Sunday from cancer. At 71, Mrs Maathai was one of the most widely respected women in Africa, wearing many hats as an environmentalist, feminist, politician, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the Green Belt Movement.