External Reviews
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The Guardian, 1 July 2007, by Tom Robbins
While the campaigners plot their camp at Heathrow, in Kenya plans are being drawn up for a very different camp. Looking out from an escarpment over the deserts of Samburuland is a stunning hotel, the Ol Malo Eco-Lodge. Revenue from the small number of visiting tourists has allowed the 5,000 acres around it to be transformed from over-grazed cattle ranch to a pristine conservation site, but that is just the start. The tourist-funded lodge provides the infrastructure and backup for a range of vital community work. Around 100 women are employed in the workshop making traditional beadwork for export, and the children come along to paint for fun.
More impressive still is the Ol Malo eye project. Up to 80 per cent of adults in the area suffer sight loss, caused by the infectious and preventable disease Trachoma, so the Ol Malo Trust runs regular surgical camps, bringing doctors from the UK to treat them. In January, the camp gave 102 people back their sight, and final plans are now being made for another camp this autumn. 'It's very simple - all of our visitors fly here,' said Julia Francombe, the founder. 'If they stopped coming, it would kill us.'
