Colobus Trust

Category: Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Marketing, community | Date: Sep 26 2009 | By: colobus

A successful and entertaining evening was held on Saturday 19^th September at Ngiri’s Bar and Restaurant in Diani Beach. The fundraiser was thrown for the South Coast Resident’s Association’s tree planting drive in collaboration with the Colobus Trust. The brilliant band played a top range of music and the atmosphere could not have been better! The “Pig in the Wig” theme lead to a huge array of inventive outfits, with some wigs being made from everyday items such as mops, bin liners, foliage, cotton wool and even toilet paper!

The evening’s entrance fees were donated to the SCRA cause, raising total of 18200Ksh. Additional money was raised by Ngiri’s donating 10% of the money spent on food, as well as one gentleman who managed to raise some funds by selling clothes pegs!

A big thank you to all who came along to show their support for such a deserving cause. We hope to see such a marvelous turnout for the next event!

Tags: Colobus Trust, conservation party, fancy dress, Fundraising, South coast resident's association, tree-planting

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Category: Fundraising | Date: Sep 13 2009 | By: colobus

The Colobus Trust was very grateful to receive a donation this week from the Leisure Golf Club. The Senior Golfers Society had a shoot-out competition where competitors aimed to get a golf ball closest to a flag. All the balls used in the shoot-out were purchased by the golfers on the day and all proceeds were then split between the Colobus Trust and the Diani Children’s Home.

We would like to thank the Leisure Golf Club and the Senior Golfers Society for this wonderful initiative.

Tags: community support, Fundraising, golf

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Category: Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Marketing, Newsletter, deforestation, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Aug 10 2009 | By: colobus

The following article is the press release from Safarilink the new corporate sponsor of Colobus Trust. We at the trust would like to thank Safarilink for all there support and look forward to an amazing relationship. It is always inspiring when a company of this magnitude cares enough about the local environment and organizations dedicated to protecting it.

SafariLink Helps Protect Diani’s Primates

Nairobi, Kenya xx August 2009 - As part of its ongoing corporate social responsibility programme, SafariLink, Kenya’s premier safari airline, has announced that it will donate $2 to the Diani Beach based Colobus Trust for each passenger it flies into or out of the Diani airstrip.  In addition it has sponsored the purchase of a ‘tuk-tuk’ which will be used by the Trust to collect tourists from their hotels and take them to their headquarters where they will be able to learn about the Coast ecosystem and the work of the Trust. The airline, which commenced daily flights to Diani on the 1st July 2009, has taken the decision to assist the Trust which runs the primate conservation and rescue centre on the south coast of Kenya.

The Colobus Trust was founded in Diani in 1997, initially to come up with a way to prevent the high number of monkey ‘road kills’ on Diani Road.  Today, the Trust has expanded to become a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre, focusing on primates, with both Kenyan staff and international volunteers. The Colobus Trust also helps to educate local schoolchildren, gives guided eco-tours and provides a rehabilitation programme for monkeys that have been kept illegally as pets.

“The rapid growth in tourism infrastructure and growing human population in the area has had a significant negative impact on the remnants of a once large and rich coastal forest ecosystem and hence a decline in the primate population,’ said John Buckley, Managing Director, SafariLink Aviation.  “For more than ten years the Colobus Trust has been dedicated to the conservation and welfare of primates living in the Diani area.  SafariLink, as a socially responsible company, is therefore happy to help the Trust in order to help safeguard the environment for the remaining primates and hopefully thereby stop the decline in their numbers.”

In support of the donation, Raymond Matiba, Chairman of The Colobus Trust said, “75% of the Trusts core revenue comes from tourism.  But sadly the Kenya Coast has suffered a  decline in tourists in recent years and hence our income from visitors to the Trust has decreased.  We are therefore particularly delighted that SafariLink have made this very generous donation to the Trust and their pledge of long term financial support will help us plan for the future.”

“In addition, the introduction of the SafariLink daily flights to Diani is in itself a very positive move which we believe will result in an increase in tourists as well as being beneficial to the residents in the area,” added Matiba.

SafariLink is involved in other socially responsible initiatives that include an indigenous tree planting exercise on the foothills of Mount Kenya National Reserve in conjunction with the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust.  This project aims to compensate for the carbon-dioxide emissions from their aircraft and hence minimize the company’s operational impact on the environment.  Additionally the company has an agreement with the Lewa Conservancy, www.lewa.org, whereby approximately 5% of the cost of each ticket to Lewa is donated to help their conservation research.  In addition, SafariLink assist the Safi Lamu group who are tidying up Lamu and provide flights for the charity Medical & Educational Aid to Kenya, www.meak.org, to help them reach disadvantaged persons in remote areas who need medical attention for heart and eye conditions.

-ENDS-

About SafariLink

SafariLink is a Kenyan company established in 2004.  Based in the ALS Building, Wilson Airport, SafariLink offers a network of scheduled services that cover the main ‘safari’ tourist destinations of Amboseli, Tsavo, Chyulus, Naivasha, Nanyuki, Lewa Downs, Samburu, Loisaba, Shaba, Masai Mara, Kiwayu and Lamu in Kenya and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.  In addition, SafariLink can provide you with charter flight within Kenya and throughout East Africa.  SafariLink currently operates a fleet of Cessna Caravans, a Let 410 and Dash 8.

About The Colobus Trust

The Colobus Trust is a conservation organization designed to promote the conservation, preservation and protection of primates like the rare Angolan Colobus monkey (Colobus angolensis palliatus) and its coastal forest habitat in southern Kenya. The Trust was established in 1997 in response to an outcry from local residents about the high number of deaths of the Colobus in the Diani area. Now the Trust has numerous projects concerning the wildlife and the citizens of Kenya, including animal welfare, biological/ecological research, community development and education, forest protection and enrichment and eco-tourism awareness programs.

Tags: deforestation, Fundraising, habitat restoration, Marketing, Safarilink, sustainable, volunteer

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, deforestation, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: colobus

Recently the Colobus Trust has been making big moves to raise awarness in diani and all across Kenya. One big supporter of our cause has been the Daily Nation news papper. In the past few weeks two seperate articles have been written on the plight of the Angolan black and white colobus, our flagship speices, whos only remaining habbitat in kenya is here on the south coast. We would like to share these articles with our readers and thank the Daily Nation for its support. Media is one of the best ways for conservation groups to raise awarness. This is one of the largest news pappers in Kenya and is read by thousands of people a day.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/633412/-/item/0/-/18yang/-/index.html

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/630462/-/7l0l1v/-/index.html

 We would also like to thank the Great Primate Handshake. This group was with us a few weeks ago and worked on some very important videos for us here at the Trust. The first video is going to help us with our volunteer programs. We at the Colobus Trust would like to build our volunteer program to allow us to complete many of the projects which require more man power. If you know anyone who is interested in doing some volunteer work or who may have some vacation time and would like a different experience please let them know about us. I can personally guarantee a wonderful stay and an experience you can never forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYgtC5597b8&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=094AF86F0F47431C

This next video was made for the Kenya ferry service. This Ferry shuttles some 50,000-70,000 people back and forth from Likoni to Mombasa every day. At the waiting station for the ferry are two large screens, one on either end. We have arranged for the ferry service to play our video for free. This is going to raise a lot of awareness about the major issues here in Diani as well as provide information to tourist on what it is we do here at the trust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98fwLExkgEs&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=094AF86F0F47431C&index=2

 Once again I would like to thank you for joining us. As always small organizations with large responsibilities, such as the Colobus Trust, would not be able to exist without the support from doners such as yourselves. Please continue to support us and we will keep you updated on all of our projects.

Best wishes,

Andrew Hayes

Assistant manager

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: Education, Kenya Ferry services, News paper, primate handshake, volunteer, you tube

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Category: Fundraising, Marketing | Date: Jul 20 2009 | By: colobus

Dear friends of the Colobus Trust (CT)

Introduction of the new CT manager

Managing the Colobus Trust (CT) is a challenge, but one close to my heart.  My name is Eirik Jarl Trondsen, and on July 7.2009 I started my new job with CT.  Thanks to recent efforts by several CT board members, Elodie and the Colobus staff the trust is already recovering from a very challenging 08/09 period. The challenges are still numerous, and there is a long way to go, but the process has begun.

Personally I look forward to fighting for protecting the beauty of Diani Beach, and surrounding areas. The forest and wildlife, that depend on it is under constant threat from blind, unconscious development.

The opportunities for the trust are many. General awareness on environmental protection is on the rise, the tourist industry is keener to be eco and primate friendly, and the overcrowded and overdeveloped beaches elsewhere is a visible warning to Diani Beach.

With me I bring 8 years of program management experience from CARE International, since 2001 based in Kenya. I have spent the last 2 years managing a bio fuel project in the nearby Shimba Hills.  Some of the CARE projects I dealt with were in he field of conservation, so I know something about the challenges of sustainability in conservation work.

I see professionalization of CT and economic sustainability as main priorities. The potential for conservation is growing, in a region under increased pressure from uncontrolled development.

If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know. My telephone number is 0733124774, and e-mail eirik@colobustrust.com or ejtconsult@gmail.com

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Marketing | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: colobus

This is Margi again, settling in to life at the Colobus Trust and finding ways for my particular background and skills to be useful here. This week I’ve been involved in a workshop for Trust staff, looking at what the Colobus Trust offers visitors when they come on the ‘eco-tour’. The idea was to come up with some new ways of presenting the tour and engaging with visitors, based on work I’ve done with guided walk leaders in a UK National Park.

Eco-tours are an important source of income for the Trust. Back in 2007 they hosted over 1000 tours during the year. But the numbers plummeted in 2008 when tourism dried up as a result of the post-election political violence. It’s beginning very slowly to pick up again this year, but there’s still a long way to go, and there’s stiff competition from commercial tour operators offering safaris and boat trips - although what the Trust offers is an entirely different experience, of course.

Visitors come as couples, families or groups of friends, and get a very individual experience. The tour got a glowing write-up in a recent article in Kenya’s national Sunday newspaper, though some people are disappointed if they don’t actually see Colobus monkeys - Trust staff have to explain that the Colobus are wild animals and not predictable!

Anyway, in a competitive market it’s always worth making what’s good even better, and when I mentioned I’d done similar work in the UK, I was asked if I could share current ‘best practice’ ideas with the Colobus Trust team. Two members of staff, Mary and Esther, are the regular tour guides but most of the team can find themselves leading a tour if it gets busy or if visitors turn up without booking, so everyone participated in the workshop.

We looked first at what the tour was aiming to achieve - what does the Trust want visitors to learn, feel, and then actually do? Getting people to sign up as supporters and donors is obviously a key aim, but promoting responsible tourism is also important. Keeping in mind that people retain only a tiny fraction of the information they receive, but are more likely to remember the overall experience, we looked a how to identify simple key messages and some ‘tricks of the trade’ to convey them in an engaging way.

The highlight of the workshop was when participants, working in pairs, prepared a small section of the tour using some of the new ideas and then delivered this to the rest of the group (Peter, Esther and Mwitu are pictured below). Everyone gave lively and engaging presentations, with the group offering constructive comments and extra suggestions. Trees that cure 40 diseases and snails that take care of the garden are just two of the things I learned about, that have stuck in my mind and made me see the natural world differently, thanks to the Colobus Trust team. I’m sure visitors will feel the same!

Tags: Eco-tourism, responsible tourism, staff training, visitors

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Category: Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, deforestation, volunteer | Date: Jun 29 2009 | By: colobus

I’m Margi and I’m a new volunteer at the Colobus Trust. I live in the UK where I do freelance work for countryside organizations who want to improve their provision for visitors and local communities, and to help people understand the natural and historical environment better.

So in some ways the Colobus Trust feels really familiar, as its aims are not so different. But of course, the pressures and challenges here in Diani are so much greater, as Kenya’s coastal forest steadily disappears and with it the last refuge of the Angolan Colobus monkey, not to mention all the rest of the animals and plants in this precious ecosystem.

We’ve had a stark reminder of this recently, being greeted in the mornings by the sound of chain-saws from a neighboring property, where the owner is clearing land. At first, we thought our resident Colobus troop had been scared off by the noise, but last week they were back, calmly munching the young leaves of the neem trees that surround the Colobus Trust house, and bouncing on and off our roof before returning to the topmost branches.

This was my first sight of Colobus monkeys in the wild. They are truly stunning animals with their beautiful black coats and flowing white manes. It would be tragic if they disappeared for ever. But they have well-developed survival skills, and it’s good to know our ‘home’ troop is still around.

Today I saw one of the areas where they’re doing well, a three-acre patch of untouched coastal forest, where there are at least five Colobus troops. I was there to help Colobus Trust staffers John and Mwitu to trim the high branches of trees growing close to power lines, to stop Colobus and other monkeys using the high-voltage wires as a convenient walkway.

Electrocution is one of the main causes of death or serious injury for Diani’s primates, and although the Trust rushes to the rescue whenever they hear of a casualty, the victims don’t always survive. In any case, prevention is better than cure! So trimming trees and insulating power lines are important parts of the work. At the moment the Trust is running a big campaign to insulate as many lines as possible. It costs just $1 a meter to make the wires monkey-proof, but there are thousands of meters to do, so the Trust urgently needs donations for this work!

John and Mwitu are fearless climbers, shinning up a wobbly extended ladder to gain a precarious foothold in the trees, before lopping off high branches with a razor-sharp machete. I didn’t trust myself on the ladder, and I don’t think the others trusted me with a machete! So I stayed on the ground and cleared up the fallen branches, dragging them into the forest where they’ll sustain all sorts of mini-beasts and eventually rot down into the soil.

One of the local Colobus troops came by to check us out before we started work, and later in the morning we were inspected by three Suni (Africa’s smallest antelope) and a Waterbuck. Patches of forest like this one support an amazing array of wildlife, and it can survive alongside people - not just in parks and reserves - as long as we give it enough space and take care that our actions don’t needlessly destroy it. I can see for myself that the Trust does a great job getting this message across and backing it up with practical action.

Tags: coastal forest, Colobus monkeys, deforestation, Electrocution, people and wildlife, Primate conservation, primate deaths

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Marketing, climate change, deforestation, good wood | Date: Jun 25 2009 | By: colobus

  The entire compound is full of tents and very busy people. Their tents are blue, green, and red, but their overland truck is yellow and always clean. They’re called Great Primate Handshake (GPH) and they’re here to help with our projects and share some knowledge - about the internet, digital media, film-making and teaching techniques. Monday morning one of the Colobus Trust directors, Luciana, was here as usual to greet her Colobus Trust ‘family’, but this morning she had more news than the daily greetings. There was a new member in our troop for adopters. On Sunday, a white infant Colobus was born! We named the new baby GPH in honour of the visiting volunteer group. I would like to inform those interested in adopting a cute new infant, to take this opportunity. Thanks to GPH group for choosing the Colobus Trust and we would like to welcome the young GPH into the family.  It’s my hope that other groups will be interested in the Colobus Trust, particularly our camping site and am looking forward for new adopters for the new member. Remember you can adopt through our website as well. So let’s say ‘long life’ to little GPH!

This week our education day was a little different with the involvement of GPH. Another Tuesday and most of the people around are busy preparing for the school workshop. But today we have more participants than usual. There are cameras at every corner of the Colobus Trust premises. The kids moved in through the cameras and immediately loved it. One of the Great Primate Handshake members showed an entertaining cartoon they had made on problems affecting Colobus and other monkeys in the area. The kids then divided in two groups, one were ‘animals’ and one were ‘humans’ and had a hot debate about how they use trees. Then it was off to the beach, where we managed to collect more than ten kilograms of sandals in less than half an hour - all this was waiting to kill our marine life at some point. This was on our waste management topic. Thanks to Magutu Primary for the dedicated beach clean up. The sandals will be used be local artists to make things - like the whale shark (shujaa) made from flip-flops which stands in Haller Park in Mombasa  Most of the kids loved the beach football, and they were all covered in sand by the end of it.  My request to you is, please wherever you are, avoid littering the beach and if possible pick up any rubbish while you are there, walking or jogging. Once again thanks for supporting our education programme through our blog.

Hamisi - Education, Marketing and Communication.

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: animal adoption, coastal forest, colobus, deforestation, environmental education, marine pollution., people and wildlife, primate birth, Primate conservation, volunteers

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Category: Blogroll, Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Marketing, climate change, deforestation, good wood, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Jun 17 2009 | By: colobus

My last blog at the Colobus Trust!

This is Heidi, eco volunteer and I have spent the most amazing last three weeks at the Colobus Trust.  I have helped to plant indigenous tree seedlings, cared for the tree nursery, helped with a re-release of a Sykes monkey, observed and photographed the Colobus, Sykes, Vervets and Yellow Baboons, help teach some of the local kids in the Education program and most importantly revamped the lovely Gift Shop!

We now have some ethically sourced and fair trade items for sale in our gift shop as well as having developed some positive relationships with local carvers and artists to promote conservation in particular working with “good woods.”  I am very sad to be leaving Diani Beach but hope to come back next year for a much longer stint to work at the Colobus Trust (fingers crossed!)  The Colobus Trust is a very worthy conservation project that is actively doing so many things in the community of Diani and beyond.  I hope I made an impact with the carvers as I showed some of them around and spoke to them in depth about conservation, deforestation and using sustainable materials for future generations.  Even if I only made some headway with a handful of local artists, I am very happy to have had the experience in meeting and working with some locals in the community (and practice some of my Swahili!).

Pics from top: Daniel, Daniel and me, Stephen

Late this afternoon I had to pick up the remaining Colobus key rings I ordered from one of our new “good wood” carvers, Peter James.  I met Peter about two weeks ago when I went around viewing all the different sorts of carvings and curios available in Diani.  Peter carves many animals out of all kinds of woods and he is very good at carving key rings with people’s names in them.  I noticed he used ebony (a hard indigenous wood) so I asked him if he ever considered making key rings in mango or neem instead.  He said he would try making some in mango wood as the material was readily available but no one had ever asked him for key rings from mango tree.  Now the second time I checked on Peter about a week ago I happened to meet his wife and two new little babies (twins named Esther and Mangi).  I could see his babies didn’t look well and they were crying their little heads off.  Peter was in a hurry and told me he couldn’t finish the order of key rings as he had to take his babies to hospital but could I please give him a large deposit for the key rings even though the work wasn’t finished.  I normally didn’t give the carvers any hefty deposits before the work was finished but on this occasion my heart sank as I looked at how ill his babies were and I gave him half of the money towards the 10 key rings.  I knew he would spend it all at the hospital or on medication for his babies.

The next day I saw Peter and asked about his babies and checked on the outstanding order for the key rings.  He said he was still working on them as his babies were in hospital and he hadn’t had time to work on them but could I give him another order for key rings and another deposit!  I was a bit reluctant but he pestered me to give him a chance to make a new style key ring with the sample Colobus Trust logo I had given him.  He promised he would make some good key rings and deliver key rings on time next week.  I kept checking up every day this week and some days Peter wasn’t there at his shop but his fellow shop keepers told me he was at the hospital with his sick babies.

It really is Pole Pole sometimes in Kenya (slowly slowly!) but today I picked up the last of the key rings for the shop.  I was very happy to have seen one of the twins, in Peter’s shop lying on the ground all bundled up in her blankets.  She still didn’t look that well but she was out of hospital.  I ended up babysitting Esther while Peter was still working manning his shop and finishing the remaining 9 key rings.  I really didn’t mind waiting and keeping Esther entertained by picking up Maasai carvings and talking to her in my best Swahili (I don’t think she was that impressed with my Swahili though).  I must have entertained her for about 30-40 minutes or until I ran out of all the different types of animal carvings and Maasai people that I had talking to her.

Unfortunately Peter’s little boy, Mangi is still in hospital but now able to get some much needed medication because the Colobus Trust ordered quite a few key rings for the new Gift Shop this past week. The Colobus “Good Wood” key rings which are made out of mango tree are all hand carved and painted by Peter.   They are very simple but I am hoping that some volunteers and other visitors to the Colobus Trust will pick up one or two as a souvenir and not only support the Colobus Trust but help support Peter and his family.  All the new items we have sourced are fair trade and ethically sourced (no middle men making a commission).  I really wanted to make a difference in some small way and I believe by helping the local people in Diani we will continue to build relationships towards positive thinking for our future.  It is up to Peter’s children Esther and Mangi to carry the hope of conservation so I am happy that we were able to support them this week.

Peter and his little girl Esther

You can help support Peter and his family by donating online now to the Colobus Trust and purchasing “Good Wood” items from our Gift Shop.  We will soon have an online shop where we hope that many people will support Diani local “good wood” carvers and artists through fair trade.

Thanks to everyone at the Colobus Trust for making my three weeks so memorable and special.

I will miss you all and look forward to coming back next year as a long term volunteer!

Kwaherini

Heidi, Eco-Volunteer

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: blog roll, climate change, deforestation, Education, findraising, good wood, habitat restoration, Marketing, sustainable, volunteer

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, climate change, deforestation, good wood, volunteer | Date: Jun 10 2009 | By: colobus

Hi it’s Heidi here one of the eco-volunteers at Colobus Trust (although there are only two of us at the moment!)  I have been quite busy this week and wanted to share with you what I have been doing this week.  I offered to help revamp the Gift shop in the Colobus Trust so that they will have more opportunity to sell items supporting themselves.

I am a big believer in sustainability and community work so I ventured out into Diani earlier in the week with one of the staff to meet some of the local artists and carvers.

Selling carvings in Kenya is one of the main staples of income for many people here.  Unfortunately many artisans use endangered or illegal woods as they are perceived as more valuable to tourists.  One of the great things I learned on day one at the Colobus Trust is they promote and work with local people to use only “good woods.”  What is a “good wood” you ask?  Good wood is one of the following:  Neem, Coconut, Jacaranda, Mango or Grevillea.

Good Wood trees are easy to grow, durable and they don’t take so long to grow such as ebony, mahogany or rosewood.  If you have visited Africa before then you know how plentiful these carvings are everywhere you go.  They are so beautiful but the carvings from ebony and mahogany are heavier and of course from endangered forests in Kenya.  It only takes about a few years to grow a good wood tree but it can takes many more years to grow ebony or mahogany.  The Colobus Trust does a great job of teaching local people about good woods and encouraging them to carve only using good woods.  Sadly not everyone abides but they have managed to find one or two willing to carve in only good woods.

I made it my mission this week to find some more carvers for a variation of new and unique products offered by the Colobus Trust as well as see for myself the kinds of product out there on offer.  So what’s on offer?  There are lots of monkeys with silly faces and of course the stereotypical three monkey carvings …“monkey hear no evil, monkey see no evil, and monkey speak no evil.”  I was determined to find some new artists to help promote the Colobus Trust in a positive way using good woods and also creating some products that pertain to the Colobus Trust mission of conservation.  I simply wanted some Colobus monkeys!

I am happy to report that I succeeded in finding a few wonderful local artists right in Diani.  The first artists I will be promoting for new Colobus Trust products are named Stephen and Moses.  Stephen and Moses are brothers and they both carve and only carve using Jacaranda (a good wood).  I met many carvers this week throughout Diani but not all carved only using good woods as well as not being as high quality as their brothers’ product.  Moses and Stephen stood out to me for a couple of reasons after I spoke with them.  One, they insisted on using only Jacaranda as it was the best wood for carving and two, they have the most beautiful bird carvings in all of Diani!  I could see that through their work they take pride by using the wood’s natural curves and colorings to highlight a particular bird attribute.  I knew that I had found some wonderful local artists to try and form a partnership.

I asked them to mock up some sample Colobus monkey.    They knew exactly what a Colobus monkey looked like and were very eager to give it a go although they have never carved a monkey before.  I went back today to check on the samples but they were still working away on each of their carvings.  I have been promised the finished samples next week.  I asked them if they had any of their own ideas for Colobus or monkey items to sell in our gift shop and Moses said he also works in metal and can make anything out of old coins as well as other materials.  He beamed when I asked him for his ideas next week and said he will work all weekend on coming up with some suggestions.  I am so excited as this could really make a big difference to the product offering at the Colobus Trust but more importantly making a difference in local people’s lives.  I had also met with another artist, a painter, whom I asked to paint a sample oil painting picture of a Colobus and her baby.  I didn’t have a photo of a Colobus on me at the time but he said he knew the Colobus well and would do it from memory.  The painter was my last stop and I was so happily surprised to see his beautiful painting of the mother Colobus with her baby finished!  I purchased it out of my own money so we can sell it in the shop.

My pictures are from of some of our new artists that will be featured in our gift shop.  I am going to post their pictures in the shop so every item we sell has a great story behind it.  We will hopefully offer the “good wood” Colobus monkey carvings and other Diani fair-trade items for sale on the website as well so keep watching this space!  Remember World Conservation and always buy “good woods” (ask if you don’t know), let’s keep the trees going and plant a new one to celebrate.

Thanks for all your support for the Colobus.  Even the smallest purchase or donation can make a big difference.

Heidi, Eco-Volunteer

Colobus Trust

www.colobustrust.org

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