WHO WE ARE
Olmoti Safaris was created in 2010 with mutual passion by Diane Raleigh and Willy Chambulo as a fundraising tool to fund the building and growth of The Olmoti Clinic. It began as a one-building structure offering medical care to women during childbirth. Shortly after opening, we recognized the greater need for a full-service clinic treating the Olmoti Maasai's most pressing medical and lifestyle concerns including eye disease, foot care, infectious disease screening and treatment, cancer screening, COVID vaccines, and of course, pregnancy and delivery and post-natal care for mother and child.
As the clinic expanded, we collaborated with Engineers Without Borders to bring in a clean water line, Tesla Solar to provide electricity to run the medical equipment that was shipped from the US, and many visiting specialists on a regular basis to handle surgeries and other complicated illnesses. Today The Olmoti Clinic is not only a fully operating medical facility housing 5 doctors, but also at the request of the Olmoti mothers, a school now serving 700 children K-8. Each day we strive to help this village become more self-sufficient with new skills, awareness and business development.
DR. DIANE RALEIGH
Diane Raleigh is a clinical psychologist who served in the Peace Corps in Somalia and Nigeria where she established the Owerri Motherless Baby Home in 1963. Subsequently, she visited Africa many times to embrace the grace of its people and continue to explore its vast landscape.
"For decades, the notion had remained in my mind that I would return someday to these people whose lives were so tenuous. This self-nagging grew over the years, until at last I knew it was time to do something about it."
In 2009, she returned to Tanzania and met Yaya, the Olmoti tribe-mother. She asked for Diane's help in building a birthing clinic since peri-natal mortality was the greatest concern at that time. The Olmoti Clinic was conceived and construction began immediately.
Diane oversees the development of Olmoti’s health and education programs sponsored by Our One Community. She is the key link to Olmoti’s Maasai community and Tanzania's local government officials.
Read about Diane's journey in Harvard's Africa Policy Journal.
WILLY "WILD WILLY" CHAMBULO
A native of Maasai country, Willy is one of Tanzania’s leading tourism businessmen and philanthropists. He has been Chairman of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators for 20 years. He owns Kibo Guides which he started over 35 years ago in 1991 "when I was nothing but a young man with big dreams, a serious work ethic and the determination of a Maasai warrior... worked the wilderness terrains, I acquired skills and knowledge in both wildlife and mechanics and thus took the leap to create something of my own."
In 1996, Mr. Chambulo expanded his safari business with his first lodge, Olasiti. Today Mr. Chambulo's collection of 20 lodges and mobile camps make up Tanganyika Wilderness Camps.
With his immense success in the safari world, and his love for his Maasai heritage, he has generously provided critical financial, logistical and project support since the launch of The Olmoti Clinic.
LAUREN BENZ
Lauren (Magri) Benz grew up in the whispers of Africa from the time she was born to Diane and Jack Magri, both Peace Corps alum of Nigeria and Somalia. She spent her youngest school years in Grenoble, France and a few summers living in a house-tent in Kenya on the property of her parents' friends. For a time she would experience Africa as a local expat and inherit the love for Africa that was rooted in the very fabric of her parents' beings.
Lauren's adoration for the astonishing wildlife and the grace of the people would bring her back to the continent many times exploring Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and repeated exploration of Tanzania. As a corporate event planner of 20 years Lauren's travel experiences would lead her once again to Kenya and Tanzania, but this time planning safaris for Fortune 500 companies in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Lauren is Head of Marketing for the Our One Community: Olmoti Clinic and Olmoti Safaris.
Mary Naimish is a San Diego attorney practicing estate planning, trusts, estates, and family law. Concurrently, Mary volunteers as the Managing Director of Olmoti Safaris and serves on the board of Our One Community, parent organization to both the Olmoti Clinic and Olmoti Safaris. She enjoys traveling to Tanzania to visit the Olmoti Clinic and School, for which she plays an integral role in fundraising and donor relationships.
Mary supports the conservation and preservation of elephants in Kenya through Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and giraffes through the Giraffe Manor sponsorship program.
Her free time is spent in Canada where she grew up, and with her two adult sons who are making their own mark on the world.
MARY NAIMISH
