When wild animals trekked through Saranto Lekoloi's manyatta nine years ago, she didn’t in her wildest dreams imagine they could be valuable to her.
Lekoloi used to stay at her hut, made of hide, mud and grass mats strung over poles, relying mainly on livestock. But with the changing climate, her sole source of livelihood has kept dwindling over time.
To her, wildlife was then just an animal that the government protected so that tourists troop to the country to earn it foreign exchange.
But now, her thoughts about wildlife have completely changed.
MIGRATION CORRIDOR
Due to its location, Kalama is a critical migratory corridor between northern and southern conservation areas.
During the 2009 drought, elephant numbers in the conservancy rocketed as they flocked to the well-supplied water hole near the eco lodge.
The reduced impact of livestock grazing in the area meant the herds also had plenty of food, which the endangered Grévy zebra rely on.
In 2008, approximately 2,400 Grevy Zebra were thought to be roaming Kenya’s northern rangelands, an 80 per cent decline since the 1970s.
Kalama is home to substantial populations of the species, and plays a vital role in its conservation.
Some 35 community rangers patrol Kalama and are critical in raising conservation awareness, gathering intelligence, managing conflict and collecting basic wildlife data.
Trained with funding from the Northern Rangelands Trust and generous support from the Kenya Wildlife Service, they emerged with knowledge on discipline, field craft, wildlife law and wildlife monitoring.
Lekoloi, a mother of six, is a Samburu woman from the Kalama Community Conservancy in Isiolo county.
She is enrolled as one of the women who do beadworks, a move that has assured her of a constant source of livelihood.
Lekoloi is now a star beader, leading a group of women making beads for local and international markets. Her favourite item to bead is a strand bracelet.
Before joining beadwork, her life was tough.
Lekoloi is among the 300 women in 11 groups enrolled in Northern Rangelands Trust's Trading BeadWorks business, adding that she joined through the conservancy.
For Lekoloi, the community, through beadwork, now fully supports conservation efforts, as they have learnt its benefits.
"Women are leaders who should not be taken for granted. They have shown it," she said.
Lekoloi said before joining, the women used to keep cattle with little to show for it.
"We have not gone to school but we are now getting money," she said.
Lekoloi said women are now making money instead of bothering their husbands by begging for it.
"Through my own hands, I can now make money," she said, adding that the conservancy has appreciated their work.
Lekoloi now feels safe from the yoke of poverty. She can buy food, clothes and send her children to school.
She says beadwork has raised support for the conservancy because people see it as an avenue for employment and income.
"Because of this, it has also raised support for wildlife conservation.”
Being a star beader, Lekoloi is now in charge of about 10 beaders.
Her work revolves around gathering, sorting and checking their work. Anything that doesn’t meet her high standards is returned, as what the women craft must meet the customer's needs and expectations.
Star beaders become leaders, who issue materials, oversee production, perform quality control and collect finished products.
There is one superstar beader appointed to coordinate all the star beaders in a region.
A superstar beader is a trusted member of the community who must have a good business mind.
PRODUCT RANGE
The women craft necklaces, bracelets, key holders, name tags, gift boxes, bangles, earrings and other innovative products that are wildlife-oriented.
Another star beader, Nturai Lemarampa, 39, said when her team has been given an assignment, she waits for five days before going to collect the finished products.
Lemarampa, a mother of six children, says her husband has been very supportive.
She can now afford to buy food, take her children to school and save the remaining money in a sacco.
"We used to have livestock but nearly all of them have gone with bandits," she says.
Lemarampa hopes the project is expanded for as many women as possible to reap the benefits.
NRT trading community empowerment director Ture Boru says the raw materials women use are of high quality to ensure they reflect the needs and specifications of the customer.
"The women are organised on the lifestyle, which is traditional," he says, adding that the system has values and systems that can be tapped to business.
Boru points out that each group is selected based on business mind, trust and leadership capabilities.
He said star leaders may lead between five to 20 members, who are issued with materials free of charge.
Boru said orders are sought from customers before star leaders are assigned.
Before they are assigned, they are first given the design and sample of what the customer needs.
The star beaders will then train their members on what is expected of them before getting down to work.
The groups, through the star leaders, are then given raw materials before they embark on the actual work.
In far-flung areas, the star beaders get their raw materials through boda bodas.
The star beaders will keep checking the quality until customer needs are fully met.
"There are deadlines they must meet," Boru says, adding that the quality is normally 99 per cent good.
When the products have been done, they are then transported to the Lewa Conservancy, where NRT's beadwork branch is hosted.
The products will have name tags of the star beader before they are subjected to the final quality check, then they are recorded and dispatched to the various customers locally or abroad.
Should the products be rejected, they are returned to the star beader for further action.
All the monies, including for withdrawal, are dispatched to the star beaders through the use of a mobile money transfer system.
Interestingly, the women keep records and in situations where they cannot read and write, their schoolchildren help them out.
The women receive the money at least three times in a month.
Boru said the women got Sh7 million last year from beadwork with lodges, gift shops across the country, institutions and many others being their customers.
When women sell their beadwork, five per cent goes to conservancy to help in conservation efforts.
LESS POACHING
According to Kalama Community Conservancy manager Michael Lenaimado, 35 rangers patrol the conservancy, a move that has reduced poaching cases.
He said wildlife comes to the conservancy to take refuge during the dry season, and moves all the way to Ewaso Ngiro to look for water.
The conservancy is managed under a 13-member board elected from zones.
It also has finance, grazing and tourism committees, as well as a grazing coordinator.
The manager said all tourists who go to Saruni Lodge get the conservancy bed night fee that goes towards conservation.
"Last year, we got Sh9 million from Saruni Lodge. This will be sent to Kalama, where 60 per cent goes to the community, while 40 per cent goes to the operations of the conservancy," he said.
Board members will then decide on how to utilise the funds that go to the community.
The conservancy also has potential campsites.
Lenaimado says the community’s 750 students benefited from a Sh3.7 million bursary scheme in secondary, tertiary and university level education last year.
Two classrooms have been put up, as well as a dispensary, he says.
The manager said Saruni Lodge within the conservancy generated Sh9 million last year, 60 per cent of which goes to community, while 40 per cent goes towards conservancy operations.
Some 750 students in universities and tertiary schools have benefited from Sh3.7 million in form of bursary from conservation efforts.
Markets are also secured in foreign countries such as Australia and the US, with zoos being major clients.
On a good week, a woman can get between Sh3,000 and Sh 4,000, while the least one can earn is Sh1,000.
Boru said they are planning to recruit many women into the fold should markets expand.
"We are targeting 5,000 women, as we want to recruit more depending on markets," he says.
Even as the women reaped from the conservation efforts, something had to be done for the morans.
When a review, which is done on a quarterly basis, was done, it was discovered that women did not know where there money was going.
This is because morans depended on women after realizing that they were making money.
"Morans do not have productive work, giving them an avenue to engage in cattle rustling," Boru said.
The morans were trained on business management for two weeks, with a view to making them productive members of the society.
NRT is in pilot phase in seeking how they can be involved in productive work.
They formed groups depending on where they live and graze their cattle before being given loans to secure motorcycles.
The star Morans are the ones trusted by others to run business or even collect loans should a member default.
Already, 215 Morans had by last year benefited from Sh4 million loans.
New business models are being developed for them as one way of discouraging them from participating in illegal activities, such as cattle rustling.