Guest Blog: Savannah Sisterhood

Hello, our names are Mikaela Swanson and Zoe Swanson and we are the founders of Savanna Sisterhood!

Several years ago, our family had the opportunity to visit Serengeti National Park and met a local Maasai tribe in Tanzania. We got to learn about Maasai culture, African wildlife, and current conservation efforts. Maasai culture is deeply intertwined with cattle yet during our visit, we saw lots of goats and very few cattle. Global warming in this region has caused both rising temperatures and severe drought. Due to these changes, the Maasai tribe switched from cattle to goats as goats are more tolerant of high temperatures and drought. These changes have jeopardized the Maasai tribe’s livelihood. After seeing the Maasai have to adjust due to climate change, we were determined to make a difference. During our search on how to make a positive impact, we came across Love Is Project and were excited by the amazing work being done. We are thrilled to partner with Love Is Project to further our company’s vision!

Together, we founded Savanna Sisterhood, a mission-driven company to support female-owned businesses within local Maasai communities and anti-poaching efforts in Kenya through a partnership with Love Is Project  and as a proud supporter of Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Team Lioness. Savanna Sisterhood's mission is to strengthen Maasai communities by focusing on female empowerment and wildlife conservation.

Savanna Sisterhood purchases bracelets made by female artisans in Kenya from Love Is Project and all the proceeds from each bracelet sold go to Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Team Lioness. Sheldrick Wildlife Trust provides an enhanced livelihood for the park rangers and helps protect wild animals and habitats from poaching, bushmeat, illegal logging, and livestock intrusion while Team Lioness is an all-female ranger unit of Maasai women dedicated to protecting wildlife. Love Is Project’s bracelets are made by Maasai women and they create a sustainable livelihood for Maasai tribes through financial independence for women, fair wages, water and food security for their families, education for their children, and access to healthcare and maternity care.

 “it is high time we more consciously direct our purchasing power to support the people and natural resources we depend upon and value most.

 

The Defenders of Wildlife, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting all native flora and fauna in the United States recognizes Savanna Sisterhood’s efforts to make the world a better place. Kim O’Keefe Beck, a member of the Defenders of Wildlife board of directors states “it is high time we more consciously direct our purchasing power to support the people and natural resources we depend upon and value most. Savanna Sisterhood does just this by uniting the twin goals of supporting and empowering female artisans to fund antipoaching and wildlife conservation efforts. I am both comforted and inspired by the vision and innovative spirit behind Savanna Sisterhood that allows so many others to do the same with one click. The bracelets they partner to sell are beautiful testaments to how our day-to-day choices can power the positive changes we hope to see in our world. Together with their partners, Mikaela and Zoe are going to leave the world better than they found it. That’s the magic of a mission-driven company like Savanna Sisterhood."