By IANS
Los Angeles : An India born Silicon Valley entrepreneur's latest mission is to save Kenya's wildebeests who roam the vast Masai Mara National Reserve.
A.J. Patel, founder of The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE), a group that links entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, sees his life in three stages – his first goal was to make enough money to give his family a comfortable life, second was to help others create wealth and his third is to leave the earth in a better place than he found it.
"All these years I've never asked for anything for myself, but I'm willing to beg for these animals," Patel said.
In early 2006, Patel learned about the Kenyan government's decision to subdivide the land surrounding the 1,500 sq km Masai Mara Reserve into 50-150 acre plots for the Masai. The tribes, who traditionally had grazed their cattle throughout vast tracts of land without regard for fences or borders, were suddenly confined. As a result, the land became overgrazed, and the Masai's attempts to diversify by growing corn or wheat turned out to be a disaster for the migrating wildebeests.
Born in India and raised in Uganda, Patel has nurtured a love for Africa and its wildlife.
Both the land and its animals showed signs of stress. Pressures from agriculture and tourism had taken a toll on the millions of animals that make the yearly 800-mile migration from the reserve to the Serengeti in Tanzania, then back to Kenya.
Patel's concerns rose after he found that private developers want to build homes and golf courses next to the reserve, the Mercury News reported.
"We know that once human beings settle, the wilderness is lost forever," Patel said. "This is very, very urgent."
Patel wants to conserve 400,000 acres, but for now believes he can realistically save 160,000 acres in the next three years. He needs $2.8 million to give shape to his mammoth project.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur's determination can be judged by the fact that he has already raised $300,000 so far from friends and will give $500,000 he made selling his property. If he's unable to raise enough, he plans to borrow $2.8 million from other sources.
In 1972, strongman Idi Amin kicked the 18-year-old Patel and his family out of Uganda, where he had lived since he was four and where his father was a schoolteacher. Later, Patel earned his college degree from India and married his wife, Hasmita.
In 1978, the young couple arrived in San Francisco with $6 in their pocket. For the next three years, Patel worked at a furniture store, for an accountant and an electronics company. In 1981, he went to work at a packaging company in Milpitas. Eight years later, he bought the business, renaming it Odyssey Enterprises.
In 1992, after successfully growing the company, he decided it was time to help fellow entrepreneurs, and TiE was the result. Today, the organisation, which has grown to 45 chapters in 10 countries, has helped to found companies that have more than $2 billion in capital worldwide.
"I could see the world economy was globalising so I came up with The Indus Entrepreneur," Patel said. "I had the vision and the persistence to make it happen."