Loldia Conservancy assists with critical waterbuck relocation!
On the 12th of January Loldia Conservancy was involved in the translocation of 41 waterbuck from the south side of the lake to the northern side where they were re-released onto both the lakeside section (22 individuals) and the Eburru Forest side (19 individuals) of the conservancy.
Photo credit Gary Hopcraft
Due to dramatically rising lake levels, the animals were facing an imminent threat of starvation, as almost 100 of them were stranded between the rising lake water and a flower farm located on the South Lake road. The Kenya Wildlife Service contacted the management team at Loldia Conservancy and requested for their assistance in providing a refuge for the animals. Loldia of course agreed to help and the animals will now be able to thrive in their new home!
This story brings to light the critical importance of wildlife sanctuaries in today’s fast changing world. The Naivasha region, like much of Africa, has seen a dramatic increase in its human population over the past couple of decades. This has resulted in less space available for wildlife as settlements encroach upon historical feeding and breeding areas and fences cut off important migration routes. Wildlife populations are forced to become resident in smaller areas with limited resources available for their survival. Loldia Conservancy provides not only one of the last remaining habitats for wildlife, but also a critical corridor for game to move between the lakeshore and the Eburru Forest which eventually links up with the Soysambu conservation area further to the north. This is significant for many reasons including ensuring healthy gene flow between populations of wildlife.
Loldia are working on having a wildlife overpass built over the North Lake road so that all animals can pass freely and safely; this will result in far fewer road-kill casualties.
Sabyinyo supports small scale community projects
The sewing project which supports unmarried mothers near to Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, has recently launched a new initiative which aims to support both the ladies of the project as well as some of the teenage girls in the community.
Many girls across Africa often miss out on a large percentage of school days each year over the time of month when they are menstruating, simply because they cannot afford or access sanitary pads and are therefore often shamed from their class by other students. Our project is now making reusable sanitary pads which are donated to the school girls in order that they do not miss lessons over these times. With your kind donations and on your behalf, we shall purchase a set of five pads for the school girls and the small cost of USD 20 goes directly to the sewing project ladies in order for them to earn an income.
We are very grateful to our past guests Margot Ragget and Robert Shearer for raising the initial USD 2000 and USD 2500 respectively in December to initiate the production of the first 225 packs. We are appealing to you for any donation that you may be able to spare to help us increase the production and therefore increase our reach within the community for this worthwhile cause.
Our property Governors’ Mugie House in Laikipia, Kenya, has ordered laundry bags and guest’s slippers from the sewing project as another small boost and support to these women’s incomes.
The Karen Street Children’s Trust have kindly ordered 100 reusable face masks from the sewing project ladies at a cost of USD2 each in order to provide an income to the single mothers in Rwanda. At the same time, the masks are benefiting each child currently under the care of the KSCT in Nairobi (two masks are donated per child). It is mandatory in Kenya that everyone must wear a face mask in any public area to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, yet many people struggle to afford even the most basic single-use types.
KSCT; grateful recipients of re useable face masks! Photo credit Romi Grammaticas
We would be most grateful if you would like to sponsor a mask (or a few!) for the children. You can easily do so through our secure online donation link (please quote “face masks” as your donation reference).
Meanwhile, 200 solar lights were also donated by Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge to children in the community in order that they can do their homework at night time in their homes which otherwise lack electricity.
Philip and Charlie, our lodge managers have taken a family of ‘semi’ orphans under their wing who they met during a walk. Their father is in jail and their mother has run away to Uganda with another man, leaving the children having to fend for themselves. We are now providing each of them with a meal every day from our staff canteen and we have given the younger children school uniforms and helped to enrol them in the local schooling system, whilst their older brother is now working for us in the lodge’s tree nursery. We are helping to rebuild their house in a similar way to the one we built for our other neighbour (Mama Specious) some months back with kind donations sent in by guests. If you feel moved to help in any way, we would be most grateful for donations towards the building and any amount will be greatly appreciated.
Loldia House delivers over two tonnes of food!
On the 14th of January, Loldia House facilitated its sixth community food drive event for fifty of the most vulnerable neighbouring families in the Kasarani area. The families were very grateful for this support which will help them during these extremely challenging times. Each family received 12kg of maize flour, 2L of cooking oil, 100g of tea leaves, a bar of soap, 4.5kg of dried beans, 2 cabbages, 3.4kg of tomatoes, 3kg of onions, 1 kilo of salt , 4kg of sugar and 4kg of rice. The support was 100% funded by the Chairman’s Foundation via the Wilderness Trust.
Loldia House food drive – photo credit Keith Mwenesi
Feeding the children of TAFA Football Club
On the 24th of January we provided 90kgs of sugar, 90kgs of rice, 90kgs of tomatoes, 96kgs of maize flour, 90 packets of tea leaves and 90 cabbages to the young boys at the TAFA football club in Kasarani. The academy is involved in training highly talented children (between the age of 7 years -17 years) from Kasarani village and its environs. It is run by four teachers from Loldia Primary School and St. Andrews school Tarabete.
TAFA Football Club support – photo credit Heather Wallington
We received a letter of thanks from Sam, one of the school teachers who trains the boys “This is to let you know how appreciative we were to receive the food donation on Sunday. This meant a lot to the kids and their families. My heartfelt thanks from deep down in my heart is all I have for you. Seeing these kids smile when receiving the food donations touched me and made me feel encouraged to continue doing what I do, which is inspiring the young generation through football! My colleagues and I lacked the words to describe that act of generosity and kindness. We were touched. Thank you for everything. Believing in us even before meeting us, is a great show of trust and we are humbled”
The club has been instrumental in giving the boys a safe place to train and therefore in keeping them out of trouble. We hope to continue our support for them in the coming months where possible. Thank you to the Chairman’s Foundation via the Wilderness Trust for supporting our local community during this difficult time.
Addressing the needs of Naivasha Children’s Home
On the 27th of January we supplied 528kgs of maize flour, 80 liters of cooking oil, 25 bars of soap, 25kgs of dried beans, 90 cabbages, 10kgs of salt, 25kgs of rice, 40kgs of sugar and 15kgs of tomatoes, onions and carrots to a children’s home in Naivasha who were desperately in need of some assistance in feeding the children.
Naivasha Children’s Shelter receives support from Loldia House
Masai Mara community support; 200 families and six tonnes of food
On the 13th of January our Mara Team facilitated our eighth month of community food drive support to 200 families in the Aitong and Mara Rianda areas of the Masai Mara. The nearly six tons worth of food was divided evenly between the families so that each received 4.5kg of beans, 12kg of maize, 100g of tea leaves, 2kg of cooking fat, 3.75kg of sugar, one cabbage, 3.75kg of rice, 200g of salt and a bar of soap. This support was funded by both the Mara Rianda Charitable Trust (34.5%) and the Chairman’s Foundation via the Wilderness Trust (65.5%).
Governors’ Camp facilitated food drive – photo credit Julia Karia
Mixing things up from Mugie
In order to mix things up a little bit, we provided food support to some of our neighbouring schools up in Laikipia on the 14th of January. The long day was a great success with each school receiving 180kg maize flour, 10kg of cooking fat, 90kg of dried beans, 1kg of salt and 10 big cabbages.
Photo credit Margaret Njuguna
The entire team worked really hard to access these remote areas but were rewarded with hundreds of big smiles from the kids. Deepest thanks go out to the Chairman’s Foundation via the Wilderness Trust for providing the funds and the Mugie Conservancy and Governors’ Mugie House teams for facilitating the events so smoothly.
By Alisa Karstad, Community and Conservation Manager for Governors’ Camp Collection.
