Land & Life Foundation is looking for a motivated, organised, self-driven individual to lead the team in Nairobi in running projects, communications and finances, travel to project sites when necessary and present reports to Trustees and donors quarterly.
To find out more about this position, please click here to see the terms of reference.
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Right now, there are thousands of people in some of the remotest areas of Kenya who are in desperate need of medical care and attention that they simply cannot get access to.
From newborn babies and children to pregnant women and seniors, rural communities in the Maasai Mara are at real risk of sickness, disease and even death because of the lack of basic medicine.
But you can help. The Aitong Medical Camp, supported by the Land & Life Foundation, the Kicheche Community Trust and Safarilink Aviation provides essential medical supplies and highly trained medical personnel where they’re needed most. Without these free camps, sick, injured and vulnerable people couldn’t afford to receive this level of professional care and access to medicine they so desperately need.
Over the last 5 years, the annual camps have helped over a thousand people, saving lives and providing healthier futures. But there’s so much more we need to do.
The camps can only run because of vital donations from people like you. Your donation will help pay for the medical supplies, camp licences and community mobilisation. Without your kind gift, we simply couldn’t run the camps and we urgently need to raise $3,000 by November to make sure this year’s camp will go ahead.
As little as:
Donate now and help make this year’s camp reach as many people as possible.
Today we would like to share the insights of the Wildlife Warrior Scholarship Program. Every year we select the top performing Wildlife Warriors from each of our supported schools to join the scholarship program.
This year, we have already started the process of selecting the scholars for the year 2016/2017. We have distributed 90 scholarship application forms to all the schools from which we have selected 51 Wildlife Warriors to sit the scholarship exam.
The scholarship exam is conservation-based and will be administered in all the participating schools by the L&L team with the help of the respective camp managers and camp guides. We, the L&L team in Nairobi, will then embark on marking and grading the exams.
The last step will be to select the top 10 scholars (2 from each school) to join the Wildlife Warrior Scholarship Program. This will be done based on their performance in the scholarship exam and their end of year exams.
The whole Scholarship Selection Process is designed to avoid any politics and we always ensure that the scholarships are awarded to the most deserving pupils from each school.
The new scholars who will be selected at the end of this year will bring the number of the scholarship beneficiaries to 29. Our commitment is to pay 75% of their school fees up until they complete secondary school education.
We will let you know once the selection process is complete but before then, if you would like to know more about our current scholars click here.
Recently, we’ve been honoured to receive a very special visitor to celebrate the official opening of a new gate at the Randilen Wildlife Management Area (WMA), a conservation sector near our Tarangire Treetops Camp.
The Uhuru Torch is a Tanzanian national symbol of love, peace, solidarity and development and we were lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the annual Uhuru Torch Race.
This historic visit really puts Randilen WMA on the map and it’s only thanks to the hard work of everyone at Tarangire Treetops resort and Elewana that we’ve been recognised in this way. It shows how Randilen WMA is now thought of by the authorities and has raised its profile amongst local communities and at national level.
In Tanzania, it’s a great sign of respect and importance if you’re chosen to be visited by the Uhuru Torch, so it’s fantastic publicity for Elewana and the work we do here at the Land & Life Foundation. We know how important the work all of us do is to the local communities and to a harmonious and prosperous life alongside nature.
Tarangire Treetops has helped us establish a Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation Program in the Randilen WMA and it just shows how working together and bringing new ways to solve problems can make a huge difference to wildlife and people’s livelihoods.
The torch was first lit on Tanzanian Independence day in 1961 and embodies the values of freedom and light and is very important to many Tanzanians.
Find out how you can get involved with the Land and Life Foundation and continue its vital work with nature and local communities.
Today we would like to share some wonderful insights of our Wildlife Warrior Scholars’ Retreat, held in August thanks to your generous donations.
Held at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the 3-day event brought together 19 Wildlife Warrior Scholars for guided game drives, drama and conservation education classes, providing an exciting opportunity for the scholars to broaden their awareness on conservation issues.
Lead by a Kenyan drama teacher, the highlight of the retreat for the scholars was learning to develop performance and creative thinking skills and, by the end of the retreat, they put on a short play based on the Importance of Forests.
It was a fun few days for the scholars, filled with learning and new experiences, and they are all looking forward to next year’s retreat, which will include an element of fun team-building exercises as well as a focus on gender and culture.
Special thanks go to all our donors who sponsored this retreat! As well as Lewa Safari Camp and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy for their support – we could not have done this without you.
Firstly, on behalf of my family, I take this opportunity to thank and appreciate your effort of paying my school fees. Secondly, the retreat that you cater for gives us an opportunity to interact with students from other parts of the country and helps us get exposed socially and academically. I am looking forward to continue working with you again! – Hassan Abdi
Our bright scholars come from poor families and rely on people like you to give them the opportunity to go to school. Sharon, Fredy, Evalyn, Beatrice, Haron and Elosy still need help with funding for their school fees next year – click here to find out more about them and their individual funding needs, or feel free to write to us to find out more.
Land & Life Foundation, through Arusha Coffee Lodge, supports Plaster House – a home in Arusha that enables children from all over Tanzania to recover after they’ve had corrective orthopaedic, plastic or neurosurgery for a disability.
We provide the home with supplies, such as bedding, and contributed to the construction of the beautifully designed building.
We recently gave a donation of 200 bedsheets, 100 pillowcases and 100 towels graciously donated by Sopa Lodges and Elewana Collection.
Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children upon receiving these gifts was priceless.
The home now has an ongoing programme with up to 100 children cared for at any one time. Medical staff supervise the children’s care, whilst housemothers look after them on a daily basis.
You too can help us promote Plaster House by encouraging guests to visit while they are at Arusha Coffee Lodge.
If you wish to know more about Plaster House, please write to us at [email protected].
Kenya’s young conservationists never cease to inspire us and our supporters around the world. Every single one of our Wildlife Warrior Scholars was born and raised in a remote area surrounded by wildlife. Each one is the son or daughter of a long lineage of respected herdsmen. Theirs is the first generation with the opportunity to go to school. Their parents, grandparents and community elders appreciate just how important education is for a brighter future.
And you are a huge part of that future. Thanks to the generosity of friends like you, our Wildlife Warrior scholars have been encouraged and supported to excel in their studies. Today, I am writing to tell you about one more step you can take to nurture our outstanding youngsters…
You can Sponsor a Scholar to attend our upcoming Wildlife Warrior Retreat, bringing Kenya’s most promising young conservationists one step closer to achieving their shared dream – to become one of Kenya’s top conservationists.
This year’s retreat takes place later this month, so your support will help to change a young person’s life in a matter of days.
At the three-day retreat on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, our 19 scholars will engage with experts, debate key conservation issues, bring out their creative side through drama sessions and explore the area on inspirational game drives.
It costs $100 to host one scholar at the retreat. Please will you consider sponsoring one promising youngster to join us this month?
Not only will you be giving one scholar the experience of a lifetime, you will also be investing in the future of their local community. Every scholar uses their learnings to teach their peers and families about why conservation matters.
We hope you will join us again today, to help give these promising youngsters the experience of a lifetime. Thank you so much for your time and and ongoing support.
Recently, we held our first Wildlife Warrior Program Poster Competition at Embiti Primary School near Sand River Mara (SRM). The children drew amazing posters based on this term’s theme ‘The Importance of Forests’. A group from the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) based in Thailand and who were staying at SRM also joined us at the school.
SRM Camp guides together with teachers from Embiti sat in the judging panel while the YPO group and members of the School Management Committee formed part of the audience.
The highlight of the event was when the group announced that they would sponsor all the pupils from Embiti to go on a Game Drive to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The children and their teachers were elated upon hearing the good news!
The group also pledged a further $1,000 donation through the Land & Life Foundation to the School. This donation will go a long way to fund the much-needed toilets.
Many thanks to Claudia de Vries together with the rest of the Sky Safari team, Julia Binks, George and Theresa (SRM Camp Managers) and all SRM Camp guides for their help.
Last but not least, we are very excited to inform you that our online payment system is now activated. Donors can now support our life-changing work from the comfort of their own homes and places of work. Please share this good news with all your contacts and agents.
As always, if you have any questions about our work, please feel free to contact our team.
As our Wildlife Warrior Program approaches the end of term, we wanted to share some highlights with you.
This term’s theme was The Importance of Forests, focusing on:
Thanks to all the camp managers and guides who have generously supported this term’s theme by giving engaging and inspiring talks at our supported schools.
The newest highlight of the Wildlife Warrior Program is the Debate Competition, which has already taken place at Ura Gate Primary School near Elsa’s and Ololomei Primary School near Elephant Pepper Camp (EPC). Huge thanks go to Patrick & Sophie at EPC for taking the time to preside over the competition at Ololomei, and to Elsa’s guides who supported the competition at Ura Gate.
Next week, the Debate Competition moves to Esiteti Primary School near Tortilis and Engilae Primary School near Kitich. We are also holding a Poster Competition at Embiti Primary School, the newest entrant to the Wildlife Warrior Program. We are particularly delighted to be hosting a group from the Young Presidents’ Organization during the Poster Competition, so they can see the Wildlife Warrior Program in action. You will find photos of their visit and the competitions on our website and social media pages after next week.
Recently, as part of our partnership work with the Ngilae community near Kitich, we held a two-day Bee Keepers’ training event. During the event, which trained 12 members of the local community, Mr. Kenneth Kaburu of African Beekeeper Ltd. gave a lecture on beekeeping using the Langstroth beehive. This training was a key moment in the project, as it brought together a range of people from Ngilae, all of whom want to improve their livelihoods through beekeeping.
Over the past two months, the Land & Life Foundation team has been working hard to ensure that we have new fundraising materials for all the Elewana Collection properties in both Kenya and Tanzania.
We are pleased to announce that the majority of materials are now ready. We will be sending each property their materials within the next two weeks. Click here to view the fundraising materials for the various properties. Amongst the range, you will see two sets of bookmarks; one for the coastal properties and another for the bush camps.
We look forward to learning from Property Managers how these materials perform, before rolling them out further across more properties.
We have also acquired new Receipt, Cash in Transit (CIT) and Local Purchase Order (LPO) books. Most books have already been sent to the properties, and the remainder will follow within the next two weeks. These books will enable all of us to collect and manage donations effectively.
Many thanks to all Elewana Property Managers and other key colleagues for their valuable input during the development of our fundraising materials – we couldn’t have done it without you.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our team.
Best wishes
Chania Frost
CEO
Land & Life Foundation
