The Majlis Resort, Lamu, Kenya

Ecorating: 3.5

This product meets our requirements for Ecorating, a product that is good for humans and the environment.

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Local communities:
Majlis works closely with local residents to preserve the environment and improve the quality of life. The goal is to build a brighter future for locals, the environment and wildlife. Majlis is involved in several community projects in Kenya, listed below:

Active contributor and sponsor of Wamba e Athena Onlus (WAO), an international association that maintains projects in sanitary and social sectors. In Kenya, WAO founded the Catholic Hospital Wamba (CHW) in 1969, located 400 km northeast of Nairobi. The hospital provides invaluable sanitary services to around 200,000 people in the area. In addition to being a hospital, CHW has a nursing school and offers high school education.

Active contributor and sponsor to ANIDAN, a non-governmental organization based on the care and management of children’s needs in Kenya. On the island of Lamu, off the north coast, ANIDAN has a Shelter where they can accommodate a hundred children who feed, dress, care and educate over 200 children. The ANIDAN not only keeps them from the streest but also tries to develop them in their social environment. www.anidan.org/en/

Labor: More than 95% of Majlis staff are Kenyan, ie 75 people. They are committed to hiring local talent to train and support the local community. Each employee has a family of 2-3 children. Therefore, Majlis supports the community of about 300-400 people. Majlis supports the local soccer team in the Shela village called “Bright Stars” and contributes to the local orphanages directly and from the generosity of Majlis guests.

Protection of children from sexual exploitation:
Majlis has a policy on the protection of children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. The hotel condemns all forms of child sexual exploitation and supports each child’s right to a safe and secure childhood. Majlis has committed to the principle that everyone has the right to grow up and develop without fear of exploitation or injury. The protection of children from sexual exploitation is a moral imperative, and socially responsible business policies and practices must reflect this principle.

Majlis strictly follows all applicable laws and regulations on the prevention of child sexual abuse, including the prevention of the use of premises for such exploitation.

Environment:
Majlis is located on Manda Island (Lamu archipelago) and without public power supply, Majlis has been dependent on its generators to produce electricity for the resort. In line with the hotel’s environmental policy, The Majlis has decided to reduce its dependence on gasoline and to invest in alternative energy with the aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions below 30% and eventually to zero. Majlis has installed solar panels and wind turbines. The 40 KVA combined hybrid energy system covers over 50% of the plant’s energy requirements and enables operation of the hotel’s daily operations, such as kitchens, laundry and administration. With no guests or a limited number of guests, the hotel can run 100% on alternative energy.

In addition to the hybrid energy, Majlis promotes energy saving and energy use. Energy-efficient measures have been taken to reduce energy such as low-energy lamps. The staff have been made aware of reducing energy consumption and taught to switch off any device that is not used or needed.

Other environmentally friendly policies, solutions and measures
In addition to the hybrid energy system, Majlis follows a policy to avoid wasting resources and preserving the environment. The main points are:

Majlis aims to reduce the use of chemicals for its needs. Among the action plans made, Majlis uses an environmentally friendly technology to address the issue of mosquitoes and sand flies. The island is full of Neem trees of Indian origin. The leaves are boiled and the kernel is injected into the ground. This technique has been shown to make sand flies sterile, eventually stopping their reproductive cycle. Over 90 percent of the sand flies have been eliminated from the resort.
Majlis was built entirely with locally produced material. The 3 villas are built using coral blocks that come from the Timboni quarry, which is 2 km from the resort. All doors, windows and furniture were built by 24 Kenyan qualified carpenters at the back of the resort. Majlis continues to rely on local labor and purchases products locally:

All fresh ingredients like fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, rice, bread and drinking water come exclusively from Kenya.
One strives to buy fresh products locally to support society and to avoid packaging and transport costs.

Majlis educate their staff in green thinking and to reduce, reuse and recycle.
One focuses on adopting an environmentally friendly transport strategy. There are no cars or motorcycles in Lamu and all transportation is by boats. They replace the 2-stroke outboard engines on their boats for 4-stroke engines because they are more energy efficient and less noisy.
Water is a scarce raw material on Manda Island. Recycle water for garden use. Staff have also been trained to reduce fresh water consumption and instead use salt water whenever possible. The pools have salt water. Finally, water-efficient washing machines are used to minimize waste of fresh water and heat the water with a solar heating system.