Thanks for your African Conservation Fund support

[DesertRose]

Hi everyone - just wanted to say hello and thank everyone again for the overwhelming support for conservation in East Africa that you showed at the Trophy event last weekend.

All your energy and good will went with me these past 2 days on a fundraising trip to Cincinnati and I'm happy to report that we successfully raised $20,000 for projects in the Rift Valley that I talked about last weekend. That will go a hugely long way in Kenya - asante sana everyone - your energy was what gave me the extra edge to close the deal!:luxhello:

Roseann

 

[DaktariEd]

Awesome! :clapsmile

Great work...congratulations! :luxhello:

So...when are we getting all these ExPo explorers over to East Africa for some right-hand drive exploring?
:smiley_drive:
Ed

 

[desertgirl66]

Oh Roseann,

That is soooo AWSEOME!!:friday: Way to go girl!!!! That is wonderful money going to such a heartfelt cause~~~
:victory:

 

[Scott Brady]

Roseann is the "Original" Super Cool!

Congrats :luxhello:

 

[goodtimes]

Great job! :bowdown:

 

[Desertdude]

Well done! :bowdown:

Like the never ending flow of the rivers to the seas - there is always more where that came from - abundance is a two way street

 

[jeffryscott]

Roseann, saw this on Apple's home page, thought it looked interesting ...

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2006/11/masai/

Jeff

 

[DesertRose]

Roseann, saw this on Apple's home page, thought it looked interesting ...

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2006/11/masai/

Jeff

Wow, Jeff - THANKS! I haven't checked Apple news in a few days.

I got chills reading that! The Maasai are particularly good at choosing and using technology to enhance - but not take over - their culture.

You know, that article reminded me that in my work I often get comments from well-meaning but somewhat clueless people who bemoan the "demise" of the people like the Maasai losing their culture to the onslaught of modernism.

Over the years I've totally changed my view of other cultures' need/desire to be modern like us. So many of us only have Western eyes that only want to see "quaint" and "indigenous" and "noble" cultures.

Why do many people in first-world modern cultures cling so tightly to their romantic view of primitive life - and want to be some sort of gatekeepers for deciding who gets to have modern conveniences and who gets to be "quaint" or "noble"?

Perhaps the answer - or yet another riddle - lies in a recent Sundance catalog, filled with all manner of overpriced goods to satisfy the yuppie consumer's need to go retro and "primitive." It makes sense that a Maasai would want a pair of good shoes or a Tibetan nomad would want a motorcycle. But does it make sense that a multi-degreed, six-figure-income WASP would want an $1800 pre-distressed used-looking "distillery table" with um, "matching" unmatched chairs described as, I quote, "thrift store chairs" for $595 a pair - because god forbid they wouldn't just drive down to the south end of town and buy 6 for $60 at the Salvation Army. Who's the stupider or more backwards culture?

END OF RANT!!

 

[jeffryscott]

I think it is often those who bemoan the loss of the great cultures, or the perceived loss of them, who are the most lost. We, in this country, are generally cultureless (sp?, or is it even a word, nevermind, you understand). We have many things, but soul is not necessarily one of them.

That project, like yours, looks fantastic. Empowering without being condescending. Oh, and another reason that group looks fantastic - the film crew drove Land Rovers.

 

[calamaridog]

Why do many people in first-world modern cultures cling so tightly to their romantic view of primitive life - and want to be some sort of gatekeepers for deciding who gets to have modern conveniences and who gets to be "quaint" or "noble"?

I'll say there is nothing quaint about starvation, malnutrition, and dirty water.

The more I've learned about what your group does, the more impressed I have become. Nice work.

Jeff said it better than I could have:

"Empowering without being condescending"

:beer:

 

[DesertRose]

I'll say there is nothing quaint about starvation, malnutrition, and dirty water.

The more I've learned about what your group does, the more impressed I have become. Nice work.

Jeff said it better than I could have:

"Empowering without being condescending"

:beer:

Thanks - I'll drink to that. It's actually been a tough road over the years. Having to learn to park pre-conceived ideas or opinions and just work on the concern-of-the-moment - in a collaborative way. It's so opposite to how most American work! Age and lots of hard knocks teach us otherwise (if we're wise enough to learn)

One of the biggest struggles for me is the women's empowerment issue in Maasailand. I have donors who want to make it Issue Number One. I say - let's see what the ladies want (rather than what we want). It's tough to go into a culture where something has been ingrained for so long as has women's low status in Maasailand and demand change without upsetting everything in a very terrible way (women are valued first as girls to gain brideprice paid to their fathers in cattle; and second as bearers of children and as workhorses - yes, they do all the work!).

An example: most "feminists" in Western cultures decry the horrors of polygamy in Maasailand. Well, I've yet to converse with a Maasai lady with co-wives who does not love it. First, she has help-mates in a society where they do all the work. Second, when child-bearing, she has several years' break between births - a real health benefit in a land where they give birth in a mud hut - really. And third, she has allies in the eternal struggle with the husband! I say pity the man who has many wives - how can he ever win!

But thanks for the sentiments. And, by the way, we are helping women's groups - quietly and within the boundaries they themselves set. As you guys all know - women eventually get what they want anyway. It just takes some time.