Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. We are so proud to be raise awareness and money for women’s empowerment through community conservation in Northern Kenya. Together with an intrepid team from Her Planet Earth, we will spend ten days walking through the Matthews Range to meet and honor these amazing women.

We are raising funds for the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) a charitable organisation dedicated to creating resilient community conservancies that transform lives, build peace and conserve natural resources. NRT has 39 member conservancies that are home to roughly 500,000 people, representing 18 different ethnic groups including the Samburu, Rendille, Borana, Somali, Maasai and Turkana peoples. This vast semi arid landscape, representing 7.2% of Kenya, is home to several endangered endemic species including the world’s most endangered antelope, the Hirola antelope (numbering no more than 500 individuals), Grevy’s zebra, Reticulated giraffe and important populations of African elephant and black rhinoceros.

The communities of Northern Kenya are nomadic pastoralists with cattle and livestock at the heart of their culture. Periods of severe drought and increasing unpredictability in weather patterns result in conflict over cattle and grazing. Community conservancies are addressing this insecurity through locally led governance structures, peace and security programmes, establishing resource management practices to conserve water and grass and developing sustainable businesses linked to conservation.

With limited access to education, an average of 8 children per mother and daily chores that include walking up to 10 miles a day to fetch water, opportunities for women in this landscape are sparse. Leadership and ownership of assets such as cattle and land is considered a male entitlement and women are rarely engaged in decision-making. It is commonplace for girls to be married from the age of 11. The cultural dynamics of early marriage, child rearing and household chores deprives girls of a chance to pursue education, which acts as an additional barrier to future employment and opportunity.

Community conservancies in Northern Kenya are providing an opportunity to change these cultural norms. Women play an important role in the governance and management of the community conservancies holding top-level positions such as radio operators, rangers, chairwomen, elephant keepers, drivers and peacekeeping ambassadors.

To give you an idea of where your support will go:

• A girls school bursary for a year $1000
• A female rangers salary for a month $241
• A female elephant keepers salary for a month $230
• BeadWORKS two day training workshop for 30 women $550
  
• Establishment of a new conservancy $250,000 

Thank you for getting to the end. You are a champion!

Love

Jecca and Kristine