Natalie Heberlie - Author

My name is Natalie and I fell in love with Kenya on my first visit  four years ago.  When I was thinking of Kenya in November 2020, I had an idea to write a book.  I am a healthcare worker who was extremely busy in the middle of a global pandemic so this all seemed crazy!  However, I knew there was a story that needed to be told.  

The book follows Purity as a young child daydreaming of growing up to be a wildlife ranger.  She goes on a great adventure of tracking a poacher.  She passes many animals, some even help offer her clues as to which way the poacher went.   Right after she finds the poacher and saves the lions, her mother brings her back to reality with the daily task of fetching water from the river.  As she is walking to the river with her mother, she is explaining her dreams and aspirations. Boys who overhear her, mock her and tell her she can't grow up to be a wildlife ranger, because that is only a job for men. Purity knows she can prove them wrong.  Kids will be delighted to find that Purity does indeed grow up and become a ranger, just as she dreamed.  

The book is inspired by the first all-female anti-poaching ranger group in Kenya.   Team Lioness was founded in 2019 and is made up of 8 females from the Maasai tribe.   This was an incredible accomplishment for women living in a patriarchal society.  They are not only the the first women rangers, they are the first women in their families to have employment!  One elder woman in the community pushed for women rangers, knowing that women in the community would communicate with them in ways they wouldn't with the male rangers.  She was right and you will see this in my book.  One of the most critical clues to finding the poacher comes from local women in her community.  I was fortunate to go on foot patrol with Team Lioness on my last visit to Kenya.  It was amazing to walk with such strong, brave women in the wild bush.   When I visited Purity's village, she had tears in her eyes as she introduced me and told her community about the children's book that would feature her as the main character.   

I want Team Lioness to thrive so they can continue their efforts in conservation, community education, and animal protection.  Team Lioness is funded by donations.  The drive for writing and publishing this book is to be able to donate the proceeds to the wildlife rangers' program.  No part of these kickstarter funds will be donated.  The kickstarter and all of you awesome supporters will support a first print run to get books into retailers and the proceeds from those sales will be donated.   For that, I will be forever grateful.   Ashe oleng.