My name is Agnes Kelero, I am 23 years old. I am from Kenya, Maasai Mara.

I have a big family but my dad died a long time ago and my mother moved away to her own land. I am the eldest child. I have four brothers and two sisters. I’m not married yet because I want to find my own strength before I get married. I have a three year old son.

I am a lady safari guide in Maasai Mara. I have been working for four years. I want to be able to provide proper education to my children. I want to help them to accomplish their dreams.

After identifying the things that are most important in my life, it was the time that I started to eliminate everything else. This is all about simplifying my life, so that I can focus on the things that matter most.

I had so much unnecessary burden in my life and because of this I was emotionally overloaded. When I began to unload these futile things from my back I have found my inner peace and become more relaxed.

I also find this convenient in financial matters too, that when I eliminate unneeded expenses, I've become much less stressed.

My passion is to be a star lady safari guide in Maasai Mara, and I expect to have a good standard of living and hopefully helping my family to have a better life.

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My name is Raaji Bharij. I live in Kenya, and my ancestors moved here 120 years ago from North India, Punjab. I’m married, but I don't have kids yet. I live in Nairobi, very close to the Giraffe Center, which is a beautiful part of Kenya to live in.

I own a safari camp. We organize safari tours. Motorsports are my biggest passion in life. I love rallying, motorbikes, and fast cars. 

Other than these, I care about animals. I believe that protecting these animals is not only important for our country, but also for our future and the whole world. To see people from all over the world, come here and experience our country's beauty and unique culture; it is very nice. Organizing tours is a big passion in my life, because seeing people enjoying my country and making them smile is priceless.

While I was growing up, I camped with my family all the time. I love being in nature. There’s no traffic; it is very peaceful here. I like to meet people, as well. At the camp, you meet people all the time, so every day is a new story, and you enable people to see Africa for the first time. We get used to it, but whenever the guests come here for the first time, everything seems amazing for them, even if their first sights involve just a zebra or giraffe. That's why each and every experience is very special.

Raaji Bharij
Nairobi, Kenya, 07 November 2018

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My name is Josue Matamoro, I am 22 years old. I live in San Jose del Sur, Nicaragua. I make my living by fishing and I surf. There are 3 types of surfing that I am into; skim board, mini board and regular surfing.

I love surfing because it’s my life. I wish to improve myself as a surfer and I want to surf at different beaches. I believe if I get a little better I’ll have a sponsor. When I surf, I feel myself as a whole, very happy. It feels like I become one with the sea.

I've got 7 siblings. One of them is surfing too. He is 13 years old, he also loves surfing and I help him with the skimboard.

I live alone. My family is not with me. I am working to be able to buy better surfing equipment. I should buy lots of things. I love skim board and mini board too, but I am not making any money from surfing. I make my living by fishing and by giving surfing lessons at one of my friends’ school. If I don't work there, I can’t buy anything, not even one skim board.

With practice, I wish to be a good surfer and a good skim boarder. My ultimate goal is to be able to represent my country, Nicaragua.

Josue Matamoro
Nicaragua, 27 August 2018

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I’m Luis Flores Umana. I’m the father of 3 boys who are at the ages of 14, 10 and 7, and I’m 32 - very, very old now!

I’ve been working for Aventuras Naturales at the Pacuare Lodge for 5 years, but in the river I have more or less 12 years of experience. I’m a raft guy. I’m from Costa Rica, but I’m living in a little town, Turrialba, which is close to the lodge; it’s, like, 45 minutes away. 

I learned to kayak first when I was 12 years old at the kayaking school in Turrialba, and then I learned how to raft. 

I like the trips and to make people happy, but safely. Safety comes first. If the people enjoy them and have fun, then I’m really happy. Pura Vida!

My children go to school. I want them to be good professionals. They are learning to kayak, too. I want them to be good kayakers. To live in Costa Rica is quite expensive, but its nature is wonderful. We are in the middle of the rain forest; because of that, it is rainy all the time. 

I don’t feel any fear while in nature. We organize some nature trips like canopy tours, also canyoning, rappeling from the waterfalls, and hiking to visit the indigenous people’s reservations.

Pura Vida!

«Pura Vida» is an expression that we use for everything in Costa Rica. Saying «Pura Vida» makes us happy.

Pura Vida!!!

Luis Flores Umana
Costa Rica, 22 August 2018

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My name is Yari. I’m a 39-year-old woman who is the wife of one of the 2 chiefs of the Embera Community in Panama.

I’m from one of the 7 different tribes in Panama which is from Darien, Camarca 2, a territory assigned to us by the Panama government. My tribe initially came here in the 50’s; we’re a small community with 20 families. We would like to be known more nationally and globally as an indigenous community.

As a woman in the Embera community, we are appreciated so that we can freely talk about what we feel and who we are. We feel we are very important as a different culture. The highest challenge for me and the adults here is to preserve and pass down our culture, our traditions and customs to our children.
Women here work both inside and outside the house, and men and women always share the work.

In my daily life I would rather to cook traditional meals and to make Chicha, which is our customary beverage made of corn or rice; it is very delicious. I like to go to fishing too. It makes me very happy. I feel very happy here while I am in touch with nature. The town is also nice, but only for one day. At the end of the day, I feel happier here.

"Bi Abua"

Yari
Panama, 20 August 2018

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