Dorothy Nyong’o proudly shows a video clip of a six-year-old singing her heart out to save the elephants. Lupita Nyong’o, the Hollywood-based Oscar winning Kenyan actress recalled how she and her classmates — she was then a student at Loreto Convent Msongari in Nairobi — had been taught the song and she practised it often so as not to forget it.

“We were shown films on elephants,” she recalled, and said that those that showed the killing of the animals “must have touched a chord.”

Lupita was speaking at a media briefing at Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi as WildAid’s newly appointed WildAid’s global brand ambassador for African elephants.

“Elephants are very dear to my heart,” she said. In the past week since her arrival to Kenya, Lupita has spent time with Katito Sayialel of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. Sayialel, a pioneer Maasai woman elephant researcher, has for the past 20 years worked with elephants in the wild and knows them intimately.

“I am proud of my newfound knowledge,” said Lupita, adding that, “When you know more, it compels you to do more.”

Together with Tanzanian musician Ali Kiba, who is the other East African elephant ambassador, Lupita went on safari at the Amboseli National Park and visited orphaned elephants at the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage in Nairobi.

Lupita’s role as WildAid’s global ambassador for African elephants includes filming anti-poaching and anti-ivory trade messages for international distribution in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United States of America.

WildAid

“The African elephant is an iconic species. It represents nature and everything wild,” said Peter Knights, the CEO of WildAid. “If we can’t save the elephant, what can we save then?” he asked.

The future of the world’s largest land mammal looked very dim in the past decade. Almost 33,000 elephants are poached every year for their tusks — a demand fuelled by the growing spending power of the Chinese middle class, according to research.

WildAid says that, at the rate at which elephants in the wild are being poached, they will be extinct in West and Central Africa in the coming decade. WildAid’s mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade in our lifetime, by reducing global consumption of wildlife products. “When the buying stops, the killing will too,” said Mr Knights.

To save the elephant is WildAid’s first campaign in Africa with funds sourced mainly from the US and channelled into conservation through local wildlife organisations such as the Kenya Wildlife Service, African Wildlife Foundation, Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and other organisations.

The conservation body has projects in Asia and the Americas to save the tigers, manta rays, sharks, rhinos and elephants; it also campaigns for the protection of Earth from climate change.

Partnering with media and celebrities like David Beckham, Prince William, Jackie Chan, and now Lupita, WildAid works through mass media campaigns producing compelling wildlife documentaries and advertisements to raise public awareness, shared through social media platforms and LCD screens in airports, taxis and train stations.

Ali Kiba said he was looking forward to working with Lupita as they use their influence to eradicate poaching.

“We have visited the orphaned elephants and they are as loving as they are forgiving, for we have wronged them. But they have forgiven us.”

This was Lupita’s first public function in Kenya since winning the Oscar. She was in the country a few weeks ago to attend the wedding of her sister and a few months ago she visited Uganda for the shooting of her forthcoming film Queen of Katwe, produced by Mira Nair. She is also slated to star in a movie on Uganda’s chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi.

At the press briefing, also attended by conservation societies and companies that partner with WidlAid in elephant conservation in Kenya, Sylvia Mulinge of Safaricom said, “Lupita has achieved the highest accollade in the creative sector, and we are proud to be associated with her.

She’s a Kenyan brand who stands out for chasing her dreams, to love herself as a woman, to lend a voice to others and to wildlife.”

“Lupita’s visit comes at an important time when the travel advisory against Kenya are being lifted. Kenya offers the most authentic safari experience,” said Manish Nambiar, general manager of Villa Rosa Kempinski.

To celebrate Lupita’s homecoming, Hassan Wario, the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Arts and Culture, announced that the government is investing in making Kenya the preferred film destination in Africa by offering tax exemptions and rebates to film makers and is in the process of establishing a film school in the country in the coming months in partnership with the Los Angeles Film School.

He also announced that the government had invested Ksh150 million ($1.57 million) in renovating the National Theatre in Nairobi.