Chemukung Raffle
The centre piece of our Christmas Appeal this year is a raffle of a genuinely unique bronze sculpture by the renowned Nairobi artist, Denis Mathews of Matbronze, Nairobi. It is of Chemukung, a Mt Elgon elephant caught in a log snare in 2020 who was facing a slow and particularly horrid death.
The bronze shows her free of the snare, after a dramatic rescue, and her first calf that she subsequently produced – a fabulous positive depiction of hope for Mt Elgon’s elephants.
To enter our exclusive raffle* and have the opportunity to win this magnificent bronze, if you are already on our ‘Friends’ mailing list, please just make a donation now. If not, please become one of our ‘Friends of Mount Elgon’ to be legally eligible to enter and then donate following the instructions below.
We are raffling this dramatic one-off bronze for a modest ticket price of only A$75 / C$70 / Euro45 / KSh6,500 / US$50 / UK£40, amongst our ‘Friends of Mount Elgon’! Please buy as many tickets as you can to support our work, as well as to maximise your chance of winning. Just go to our donations pages now. We will allocate you a series of ticket numbers for the amount you send us and then we will then draw the winning raffle number towards the end of January 2025.
For UK taxpayers, it is not possible to claim Gift Aid and be in the raffle given the value of the bronze and the UK tax rules. Therefore, if you prefer to claim the Gift Aid tax benefit on your donation and so do not wish to be included within the raffle, please tell us. Those in other territories should check their position if seeking the tax benefits we offer.
Matbronze has very kindly presented the bronze in their beautiful Nairobi gallery, as below, so our Kenya based supporters can go and see it.
Above – Denis Mathews, the artist, and the bronze being made.
The Story of Chemukung
In February 2020, a scout employed by the East African Wild Life Society – Mount Elgon Elephant Project (EAWLS-MEEP) (funded by the Mount Elgon Foundation) reported that he had found an elephant slowly dragging a log – possibly as far as 15km across the mountain, in a desperate attempt to keep up with her herd. The log was tied to her leg by a thick nylon rope that was cutting deep into her flesh. Our team and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) sprang into action, a vet was helicoptered up from the Masai Mara the next day and after a long, dangerous and arduous trek he reached the stricken elephant in deep undergrowth as night was falling. The vet’s work to tranquilise the elephant and remove the snare was dangerous but successful.
The elephant was saved and she lives to this day. She was named “Chemukung” (pronounced “Chem-u-kung”) by the scout who saved her, meaning “The Limping One” in his local language. Her herd is in a remote area and she is seldom seen but in the last few weeks she has been spotted. The exciting new news is that she has had a second calf. Hence there are three elephants alive today because of that scout’s work.
What We are Fundraising For
The funds raised from the appeal will go to preserving Mount Elgon’s elephants and supporting sustainable livelihoods for local people through funding the work of the East African Wild Life Society – Mount Elgon Elephant Project (MEEP).
The community scouts who patrol Mount Elgon are key to protecting Mt Elgon’s elephants and the rest of the mountain’s fabulous natural heritage. The rescue of Chemukung is a prime example of that. The costs of employing the scouts and keeping them in the field are a key reason for us raising money in this Christmas Appeal.
- $12,000 will pay the salaries and all the costs of keeping a patrol team of 4 of our 18 scouts in the field for all of 2025.
- $6,600 will pay the salaries of a patrol team of 4 scouts for all of 2025.
- $2,010 will pay for the injury, life and medical cover for all the scouts for 2025.
- $600 will pay the food and consumables bill for one scout for 2025.
- $160 will pay for the technology a new scout needs to collect data while on patrol.
In addition, we are also fund raising for our work with local communities to support sustainable livelihoods for them and provide environmental education.
- $5,830 will cover our entire budget for conservation education and tree planting in schools and with the local community in 2025.
- $2,865 will pay for the rest of the $5,200 needed for a Kenya Wildlife Service elephant satellite tracking ops room (that we have already raised $2,335 for).
- $1,200 will pay for 12 monthly visits in 2025 to the 5 farms with beehive fences to ensure this project to mitigate human-elephant conflict is on track.
- $155 will pay for 1,000 indigenous tree seedlings to plant in schools as part of our education programme.
*TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE RAFFLE. Organiser 1. Our raffles, prize draws and competitions are organised for protecting the habitat on Mount Elgon, Kenya by The Mount Elgon Foundation of West House, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire, UK (known as MEF), registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under number 1186668. How to enter 2. Entries received after the closing date of January 24 2025 will only be accepted at the discretion of the organiser. Purchasing tickets 3. To buy raffle tickets is only open to members of the ‘Friends of Mount Elgon”. The raffle is open across the world and tickets can be purchased at the following prices: A$75 / C$70 / Euro45 / KSh6,500 / US$50 / UK£40. Lost entries 4. MEF will not accept responsibility for entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause, including, for example, as a result of any postal failure, equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. Agreement to be bound 5. By submitting an entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you have any questions, please contact admin@mountelgonfoundation.org.uk. Breach 6. MEF reserves the right to refuse entry, or refuse to award the prize to anyone in breach of these terms and conditions. Eligibility 7. The purchase of raffle tickets is only open to members of the ‘Friends of Mount Elgon’. Individuals who are not already members, can complete a free online contact form (http://mountelgonfoundation.org.uk/contact/) and be included within our database. Minors 8. Entrants under 18 must get consent from their parent(s) or legal guardian(s) before entering. The parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of entrants under 18 agree to these Terms and Conditions on behalf of the entrant. Disqualification 9. The Mount Elgon Foundation reserves all rights to disqualify you if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the prize draw, competition or raffle. The Draw 10. A winner will be chosen by random draw performed by a computer process after January 24 2025. Winner 11. The winner will receive details of the prize. Notification 12. The winner will be notified by email or telephone (using details provided at entry) within 7 days of being chosen and must provide a postal address to claim their prize. If the winner does not respond to MEF within 14 days of being notified, then MEF reserves the right to determine that the winner’s prize will be forfeited and MEF will then be entitled to select another winner in accordance with the process described above. Delivery of prize 15. The prize will be sent to the winner within 14 days of responding to MEF. Prize 16. The prize is non-exchangeable, non-transferable and no cash alternative is offered. MEF reserves the right to replace the prize with an alternative prize of equal or higher value if circumstances beyond MEF’s control makes it necessary to do so. Decisions 17. The decision of MEF regarding any aspect of the raffle is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into about it. Winner’s details 18. The winner’s name and county can be obtained by sending a stamped addressed envelope to MEF, West House, South Green, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire or by email to admin@mountelgonfoundation.org.uk within 60 of days after the date of the closing date of the raffle. Termination 19. MEF reserves the right to void, cancel, suspend, or amend the promotion where it becomes necessary to do so. Limitation of liability 20. Insofar as is permitted by law, MEF, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the raffle except where it is caused by the negligence of MEF, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected. Data protection and privacy 21. MEF is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and will only use your personal information to contact you about news, events and fundraising about and for The Mount Elgon Foundation. You always retain the right to unsubscribe from our database via the email newsletter or by sending an email to a admin@mountelgonfoundation.org.uk .