OL MALO OVERALL WINNER AT FIRST CHOICE RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AWARDS
Coastweek - - Ol Malo and the Ol Malo Trust were the joint overall winner at the First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards, held at the World Travel Market on November 8th, 2006.
They also received the award in the Best for Poverty Reduction category.
Ol Malo Eco-lodge is situated in the deserts of Samburuland, Northern Kenya, on what was an overgrazed cattle ranch.
The 3,000 acre holding has been transformed into a prime, and beautiful, conservation site.
The Ol Malo Trust, run in conjunction with the lodge was established during the drought of 1999-2000, when the surrounding Samburu communities lost over 80 per cent of their cattle.
It has grown into a pioneering community charity.
The Ol Malo Trust's key achievement is the establishment of The Ol Malo Eye Project) which has helped to eradicate trachoma in the area, where it affects more than 82 per cent of adults over the age of 30.
This is an infectious and preventable disease, the root of which is poverty.
In just three years, Ol Malo has undertaken 200 surgical procedures to return sight and remove pain; established nurse-led community education; begun the provision of clean water and developed links with and training of Kenyan Ophthalmologists.
The Ol Malo lodge has been built and is run by the Francombe family and the Samburu and all the lodge employees are local Samburu.
The lodge itself is made with local materials and has its own water source.
Ol Malo has also established a profitable arts workshop: The Sampiripiri Arts Workshop.
This is the heart of Ol Malo, where 50 women gather every day to produce traditional beadwork in modern designs for which they are paid, and over 400 children come to paint for fun.
The products are sold to Ol Malo visitors, with profits going to the Trust.
The First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards are the largest of their kind in the world and the central tenet of the Awards is that all types of tourism can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people.
There were over 1200 nominations from around the globe this year.
The Archer Group Inc. represents Kenyan safari destinations that are at the forefront of environment and community oriented empowerment efforts.
All are privately owned and are in secluded conservation areas.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE OL MALU TRUST VISIT:
