MAKING A DIFFERENCE
BY JESSICA IREDALE PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOLLY SJ LOWE
B y 1:30 pm on a Monday afternoon in Orapa, Botswana, a mining town over 300 miles from the country’s capital, Gaborone, the classrooms at the Livingstone House Primary School had emptied for the day. Except for one. The students in third grade had stayed late, not as a punishment but a reward. “Who are we going to see?” Emily Mompe, the class’s teacher, asked the room of 8 and 9-year-olds. “Lily James!” they answered in unison.
Lilly James in the Orapa Game Park in Botswana. One of eight conservation sites funded by De Beers Group around southern Africa.
think you know diamonds? MEET LILY JAMES in Botswana ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN ONLY NATURAL DIAMONDS NATURALDIAMONDS.COM
FOLLOWING THE JOURNEY OF NATURAL DIAMONDS WAS LIFE-CHANGING FOR NDC’S GLOBAL AMBASSADOR.
The English actress is known for her roles in Pam & Tommy and Downton Abbey , but the kids remember her as Cinderella from the 2015 Disney film. When she arrived, they plied her with questions: How did you become an actress? Where do you live? “Can I have your phone number?” one boy inquired. James was in Botswana to get an education herself. When she signed on to be the Natural Diamond Council’s global ambassador, it was not to play a character. Her trip included visits to every part of the
local diamond value chain — the Karowe Mine, De Beers Global Sales, KGK Diamonds cutting and polishing unit — and the surrounding communities and the Orapa Game Park, where rhinos, zebras, giraffes and impalas live on 50,000 protected hectares. “You want to make sure when you’re putting your name to something, that there’s more to the story,” said James. “Part of all of this is about breaking down any stigma and really telling the true diamond story. With regards to Botswana, the ethical side of it was a massive draw.”
72 BC CLARK MAGAZINE
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