Little Isha was presented to me as a gift on August 28th.  No one knows what happened to her mother but she needed a home.   I was wary at first of taking on a week old baby with her umbilical cord still dangling, but Isha’s large brown eyes draped in luscious lashes and long attentive ears soon won me over.

Because of the severe drought, no Maasai would sell me goat milk, the best alternative for a baby antelope.  All but a handful of cattle remain in our area and the few lactating goats are the Maasai’s only supply of milk until the rains come.  Isha took to the next best alternative, soya milk, with the same enthusiasm as a child taking medicine so I had to force feed her using a syringe.   After a few days, she and I had our rhythm, and soon she began gaining strength.

At night she slept in a box lined with hay next to my side of the bed. Gizzy, our cat, viewed this intrusion of the long legged monster as nothing short of abandonment and stayed in her cat bed in another tent rather than sleeping with us.  During the days, I moved Isha to a shady thicket where we could keep an eye on her, calling her for regular feedings throughout the day and into the early evening. 

As Isha gained strength, she began to cavort around camp and within a short time she was browsing for leaves, a sure sign of her advancement and success at growing into a young duiker.   She and I had a lovely ritual after feeding where I would lie back with her standing on my chest and groom her coat with a small, wet, homemade foam tong.  She loved it and thanked me by nibbling my chin and cheeks.  It was a wonderful bonding that we both thoroughly enjoyed five times each day.

Isha took several downturns in her second week, but we managed to get her back on track and she was doing well.  Always alert, she quickly learned her way around camp and found several favorite spots to sleep during the day.  She was captivating, coming when we called her name and prancing with capricious vigor when she wanted to play.  Isha always displayed her sweet nature but saved her heartfelt affections for me and would follow me around when she wasn’t playing, browsing or sleeping.

Last Wednesday, she was weak when I called her out from her box by my bed for her 6 a.m. feeding.  By 10 a.m. I realized that she might not make it. She was so ill and limp.  I kept her in my lap all day long, stroking her, offering her soya milk and suddenly in the afternoon, she came back to life.   Within the hour she was standing, eating leaves and taking soya milk with gusto.  She had made it.  I was so relieved that I hailed her recovery to all in camp.  I put her in her favorite spot to get some work done and returned an hour later.

Isha was not to make it after all, and she died in my arms two hours later.  We buried her near my great grandmother’s fig tree, a cutting I brought from California a few years ago.  I miss her terribly.  It’s so hard to lose a small wild animal.  Philip recalled many of these “tragedies” that he watched his mother Mary, an avid animal lover, go through during his childhood in Oldupai. He said that only about 1 or 2 out of 5 orphans brought to their camp would survive.  I suppose that was meant to comfort me, but I can’t help feeling that I failed little Isha. 

I stuck a branch of fresh green leaves in the small mound by the fig tree and send her a kiss each time I walk by.  To all the animals we love in the world, may they continue to change our lives and make us better human beings, no matter how long or short we have them, and no matter how hard it can be at times, may they continue to grace our lives. 

Fifty male lions are prowling around Nairobi! Fifty life-size decorated male lion sculptures, that is. Conceived by the Born Free Foundation and Wild in Art, Pride of Kenya is a public art event designed to raise both awareness of the increasingly threatened species and funds for the conservation of lions in Kenya.

Life-size fiberglass lion “canvasses” cast from a mold by Artist Gakunju Kaigwa, then decorated by Kenyan artists, including Philip’s son Jan Allan who designed and built the exclusive seasonal camp Ol Seki Mara Camp which offers a genuine Safari Experience. His lion is pictured here under the awning. See all the lions by clicking here.

These lions, sponsored by local and international companies based in Nairobi, are being displayed all around Nairobi and will be auctioned at the Born Free Foundation’s 25th Anniversary in November, with proceeds used for the lion’s conservation effort.

As we reported in our blog dated April 15, 2009, Philips’s brother, Richard Leakey (pictured below second from the left), chairman of WildlifeDirect, a foundation dedicated to the conservation of endangered species, was interviewed on 60 Minutes, speaking out against the Furadan poisoning of lions in Kenya. WildlifeDirect will continue to publicize this message about the contribution of Furadan to the decline of Kenya’s lion population, which now stands at only 2,100 and is being lost at a rate of 100 lions per year. This pink lion, designed by artist Mary Collis, is sponsored by WildlifeDirect.

We are hopeful that this project, along with the continued efforts of these and other sponsors, will save the few remaining lions in Kenya and preserve the legacy of the “King of the Jungle.” As Dr. Noah Wekesa, Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, stated at the opening ceremony, “Kenya without wild lions would be a tragedy.”

Since Labor Day is a national holiday dedicated to fair labor conditions and wages, it is time to ask yourself, “Where was the product made and how were the people who made it treated?”

Although traditionally Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer, celebrated with barbeques and a day off work, according to the United States Department of Labor , the first Monday in September is “a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” The first Labor Day celebration, organized by the Knights of Labor, was held on September 5, 1882.

The idea of commemorating “the working men’s” fight for fair treatment is not limited to the United States.  International Workers’ Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a national holiday all over the world, including Kenya. Unfortunately, many of the fair treatment laws that we take for granted in the United States are not required in many countries around the world.  In a globalized economy, consumer goods are sometimes produced in poor developing countries, taking advantage of cheap labor and lack of environmental or community protections. Workers, children included, are required to work extremely long hours for barely subsistence-level wages, and often under unsanitary and unsafe conditions.  According to International Labor Rights Forum, “Alarmingly, an estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are compelled to work around the world.”

From the beginning, our goal was to build a company around the lifestyle and culture of the Maasai, instead of disrupting their way of life. The female artisans work in a non-factory setting, usually under the acacia trees. The work sites are mobile so that there are many opportunities to earn money throughout the Rift Valley. You can watch the women at work by clicking here.

The women are free to come and go as they please, bringing their babies and children with them, so they can watch them and earn an income at the same time. They are paid a fair wage by the piece. In fact, a woman who works full time (30 hours per week) makes enough income in one month to feed her entire family for a year! In addition, 5% of all sales goes back to the communities in the form of health benefits, infrastructure and education. We are proud to be a certified members of the Fair Trade Federation and Green America.

Every day, The Leakey Collection is thankful for the social and economic achievements of not only the American workers, but of those new opportunities for our neighbors here in Kenya.  While enjoying your barbeque this Labor Day, we hope you reflect on the positive changes that are taking place across our globe and know that you are part of this moveent of fair trade practices!