Sewing Team Member Maureen Banda

Maureen Banda is a mother of three children and she was born in 1968 into Chief Nsefu's chiefdom. Maureen is a grade nine drop out who couldn’t continue with school due financial challenges. Just after dropping out of school Maureen was married off which was a very common tradition then. During her marriage, she had three children, a girl and two boys. Unfortunately her husband passed away when the children were very young, leaving Maureen a widow and her family's financial burden on her shoulders.

Maureen has struggled to raise her children as a single mother without the support of a husband. Maureen depended on subsistence farming and through farm produce managed to put her food on the table, though it has been extremely hard to manage decent meals as farming was done on small scale.

Maureen was a member of a women's group and when Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation established the Sewing project, she was seen as a potential trainee because she had shown a willingness to commit to the project. In 2018, a team of women were recruited to be the pioneers of the Sewing Project, which Maureen was now part of and she had become an instructor who was responsible for training the other women in tailoring skills. Maureen took this chance seriously and showed her skills and potential in team work. Maureen proved to everyone that indeed she was the right woman for the project. Maureen underwent a six months of training and undoubtedly became one of the top students in the program.

In 2018 the organization had found it fit to put the sewing team on Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation payroll. This good news helped Maureen to finally have the ability to afford education for her children as well as be able to put food on the table and also meet up daily needs for the family. From what she now gets from the Sewing Program has allowed her to build two bedroomed house and be able to pay for her children's education. Maureen has also improved her farming through her salary she is able to buy farming tools and can get some helpers for the farm.

Maureen is indebted to Nsefu wildlife Conservation Foundation directors, both USA and Zambia for making her a trained skillful tailor, which is a valuable skill she can use anywhere. Maureen is now able to train other potential team members and can inspire other women in the sector! Maureen also thank the fellow team members for support and encouragement during her time with the organization.

Friend of Nsefu: Tammy Rimes

Tammy & Fuego

Tammy Rimes, MPA is a motivational keynote speaker who took her passion of horses combined with her husband William’s passion of wine, and combined them into a successful family business, Hacienda de las Rosas Winery, which has been featured on the front page of USA Today, San Diego Union-Tribune and winner of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in Marketing.

As the author of the book, “Drink Fine Wine…Ride Fine Horses – Leading the Life of Your Dreams,” she provides a fun and informative guideline, with real stories, on how others can begin their own dream life.

Tammy travels and speaks at conferences around the country, and truly believes in giving back, and paying it forward! If it involves children, veterans, or animals - like those protected by NSEFU - then she is in!

Find out more about Tammy’s book on Amazon.com.

Friends of Nsefu: Jan Dickieson, Don Sine, and the Encinitas Rotary Club - Thank you!

Don Sine & Jan Dickieson

Nsefu Wildlife would sincerely like to thank Jan Dickieson, Don Sine, and the entire Encinitas Rotary Club for the wonderful invitation for cofounder Coe Lewis to speak at one of their meetings. Coe was fortunate to be introduced to Jan and Don through longtime friends and supporters- Chuck and Judy Wheatley. The introductions were made at the WCN Expo in San Francisco this past October and fellow board member Tony Hunstiger was a Nsefu Wildlife representative as well.

Coe shared the mission, challenges, and victories of our anti poaching foundation based in Zambia to the rotary club members. Everyone was gracious, welcoming, and they listened intently...even when the dialogue and visuals dealt with the cruelty of poaching. The visuals were startling to say the least, yet everyone braved the presentation and shared their appreciation for making them aware of what is happening every single day in Africa. Not only that, the club donated $500 and several members made personal donations to support our work in Zambia! Jan even donated a box of fabric for our sewing program! Coe stated, "The compassion, the positive energy, and the commitment of this wonderful group restored my faith in humanity. They put me immediately at ease and I hope to be fortunate to be invited back to give updates on our progress... because their donations WILL change lives...both animal and human"!

Thank you Jan and Don and we look forward to a long friendship with our new friends

Friend of Nsefu: Judy Wheatley Q&A

1.  Judy, we are so grateful for yours and Chuck's friendship and we would
like to share your story with our readers. What got you involved with
wildlife and issues pertaining to wildlife?
I think my involvement evolved as I grew up.  I’ve always been an animal lover …. To the point that when I was a child, my stuffed animals took up most of the bed and I huddled my fat little body in a corner because I wanted them to be comfortable.  I became more involved when I started teaching elementary school and wanted to help my students understand the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife.  Over the years, Chuck and I have become involved (mostly with financial support) with several conservation organizations, with yours being the most recent.

2.  Along with your personal work in conservation, you are also on the
Board of the San Diego Zoo.  How did that all come about?
After moving to San Diego in the early 80’s, we became members of the San Diego Zoo and eventually donated to the “Hippo Beach” exhibit.  Development folks invited us to join them on a photo caravan at what is now their Safari Park.  When we fed giraffes and rhino, we were hooked.  During the caravan, I mentioned that when I cut back on work, I’d like to volunteer at the Zoo.  The development person must have had selective deafness because two days later, I got a call from the chair of their Celebration for the Critters who asked if I’d like to help them.  I attended a meeting, didn’t feel worthy, and tried to weasel out … and eventually worked on that committee for about eight years, chairing the event for two years.  At a donor event, we were seated with Berit and Tom Durler and she eventually asked if I’d be interested in serving on the board. This is my 10th year as a trustee and I feel I can make a bigger difference with my involvement than we can with our limited ability to donate.

3. Right now, do you think we as conservation organizations are "finally"
getting the message out to the public about how critical the poaching
crisis has become and do you think these groups are actually making a
difference in the future of endangered species?
That’s a tough one.  People post heartbreaking photos and information about poaching and I never see anything in defense of the activity.  Everyone is sad, mad, disgusted, etc. and says something must be done.  It’s taking the step to be part of the solution that’s toughest.  We didn’t realize how far our money can go with international conservation until I spent a week at White Oak Conservation Center in Florida and talked to John Lukas, who runs Okapi Conservation project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  I discovered that the money we donated toward an exhibit at the Zoo could have built two schools and paid their rangers for a year.  Having said that, Zoos play a critical role in connecting people with wildlife and have many conservation projects, so it’s important to support both zoos and field conservationists.

4. You are a true "conservation hostess with the mostest" in the sense
that you bring people together to share ideas and create strategies. Are
we correct in the assumption that you really love that part of
conservation?
It’s like I mentioned earlier, I can make a bigger difference with my involvement than donations.  Over the past 10 or so years, I’ve established good connections with many conservationists and do my best to facilitate collaboration.  We’re going to go on our 8th African safari in June and each time, we arrange a visit to a conservation project in an effort to inspire fellow travelers to get involved.  A representative of Gorilla Doctors will speak with us in Rwanda and Dr. Michael Chase of Elephants Without Borders will speak with us in Botswana.

5. If you had the ability to do ONE thing right now to save endangered
species...what would it be?
End worldwide corruption. 

6. You have had vast experiences with other terrific non-profits in the
world and you work with the World Famous San Diego Zoo. So... we have to
ask, what made you and Chuck "believe" in our foundation Nsefu Wildlife?
Our involvement was entirely by serendipity.  Nsefu wanted drones, Coe went for the gusto and emailed the CEO of QUALCOMM when she read they were working with drones.  Knowing Chuck’s involvement with conservation, he delegated response to Chuck.  The co-founders came to our ranch to talk and we could feel your passion and commitment.  We liked the “all encompassing” approach.  Rather than SAY they need to protect their wildlife, you’re working to help with their quality of life (income, education, etc) and show them the connection between wildlife and tourist income.  A co-founder is the “boots on the ground” person who runs the Zikomo Safari Lodge that employs locals and brings the message to the tourists.  Nsefu/Zikomo have made impressive progress in the two short years since we first met.  I think it can serve as a model for other projects and am hanging on for the wild ride.

Friend of Nsefu: Mike Veale Q&A

One of the very treasured relationships we have at Nsefu Wildlife is with our friend Mike Veale, Founder of Global Conservation Force...a non-profit that helps fight the poaching crisis going on around the world. We took a few moments with Mike and asked him about his work and Global Conservation Force.

1.  Mike, tell us a little about your background and your work with the San Diego Safari Park. 
I’m a senior mammal keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and I've been working in professional Wildlife conservation for 12 years. At the park I work with African Mammals Rhino, giraffe, cape buffalo eland, sable, springbok and several other species in the large mixed species habitat areas. In the past I've worked with carnivores and primates as well. For me its Africa at home because the animals behave in the same way the do in the wild, yet the everyday person has the opportunity to connect with the wildlife. Rhinos are my favorite large mammal and I've been lucky enough to work with 3 of the 5 (White, Black & Greater One Horn Rhino) rhino species including two of the last Northern White Rhino Angelifu and Nola.

2.  How and when did you discover your passion for wildlife and your passion for protecting wildlife? 
I've had a passion for wildlife practically since day one. I have pictures from my parents where I'm catching lizards, snakes and frogs just shortly after learning how to walk. I grew up surfing, diving, camping, back packing and rock climbing always wanting to be outside and near wildlife. As soon as I hit high school I was starting to volunteer with hands on wildlife projects working towards my current position. As time went on I got into more and more projects, collaborations, care taking and field positions and eventually started working at the Wild Animal Park (Now the Safari Park).

3.  Global Conservation Force is an amazing non-profit that goes after the poaching crisis from a different angle in that you SUPPORT rangers and programs in Africa and around the world. What inspired you to create GCF and how are things going?
As the current poaching crisis started to rise I took a long leave of absence from the Safari Park and went to South Africa to go through the training to become an anti-poaching ranger in the heart of the rhino war, the Kruger national park. This was a goal of mine but I expedited it while I was watching the rhino death toll rise. I was also one of the primary care takers for Angelifu and Nola ( Northern White Rhinos) and knew that I was staring extinction in the face. This drove me crazy and I couldn't sit still on it. After completing my 6 weeks of boot camp, I went on to patrol, helped formed the first tactical unit in the greater Kruger region and was living the rhino war first hand. I saw that many Non-Profits claimed to be helping in this situation but they were nowhere to be found and not one ranger had seen anything from those non-profits. This really bothered me because I saw several simple solutions.

Rangers are the front line and almost all are from the local community. If you support the people in the fight they can protect all the wildlife, people and habitat that they are stationed at. With proper gear, advanced training, and consistent pay they are able to efficiently deal with poachers. I was lucky enough to go through very serious training and have several years of combat related training in weapons and various martial arts going into training. Our tactical unit is extremely effective and catches poachers on the regular. I noticed that the regular rangers were calling us in all the time though. So my solution was elevate the standard of training to have one massive “tactical unit”. A couple years down the line now and many units have stabilized their crisis zone.

As a non-profit we also work with community development and education project abroad, field conservation projects like rhino relocations and the giraffe census. There is no “one” solution so it is important to approach the crisis on multiple levels. Hold the shield for wildlife, reduce the demand, then build up the local community so there is a future for them and the wildlife.

4.  Being a relatively new non-profit, how do you support your programs that provide equipment, training, and gear for other organizations?

We fund raise in multiple way to keep our projects alive and are lucky to have many dedicated donors who back us as well.

We have a full merchandise line and a conservation beer line as part of a partnership with Pacific Plate Brewery in LA and we receive a donation with every pour. Our beers are White Rhino IPA, Earth Shaker Stout (Elephant), Tall Blonde Hefeweizen (Giraffe) and a Pangolin American White.

We have a fundraiser series called Brews For APUs (Anti-poaching units) where we pair local food, art and our international team with local breweries to raise funds and awareness.

Then at the end of the year we host our more formal Gala.

5. If someone wants to learn more about your organization, how do they go about it?

For more info please go to our website at www.globalconservationforce.org

our Facebook www.facebook.com/RhinosGCF

or our Instagram @GlobalConservationForce

We are more than thrilled to have partnered with Nsefu to obtain our mutual goals of keeping rangers, local communities and the wildlife safe for future generations to enjoy.

Thanks Mike, we at Nsefu Wildlife are thrilled with our partnership with your amazing organization and here is to a long partnership saving wildlife!