Maasai Mara | Power to the People

January 11, 2019

The Green Lion

Maasai Women Collective:

They meet on the local church grounds under a tree. It’s the only place with enough shade in this usually dry terrain, sparsely dotted with acacia trees and shrubs. This is the Maasai Mara in Kenya, and as much as it is beautiful it is challenging. Life here is absolutely spectacular because of the remote, almost off-the-grid location, and close proximity to wildlife. It can also be just as daunting for the very same reasons.

As expected, access to water, services and even food can be limited. Suffice to say that there are very few amenities here (luxuries for them, might be just typical for most of us at home, like: clean water, internet, emergency medical attention,etc.), so the things that are here, are not taken for granted. Access to opportunity is something that is appreciated, although not necessarily available to all. These women know it and are doing something about it.

This collective of Maasai women meets most days at the same place and at the time. But even in their spare time at home, they do beadwork on belts, collars, earrings, bracelets and other typical jewelry, to be sold to visiting tourists. This is how they are making a measurable difference in their daughter’s lives and they feel a sense of not just contribution, but ownership in the solution to a problem that had long-since been recognized.

Girls had often been relegated to women’s work in the Boma (homestead) and many may even be promised for marriage well before they even hit their teenage years. Historically formal education had not been highly valued in this community, especially due to the nomadic nature of the Maasai tribe. But things, they are changing!

The profits generated by this group are used to pay for school and uniform fees, in support of the education of girls from their village. Many of these women have not had such a chance themselves, but see the need to offer increased options to girls so that they can have better lives and further enrich their community. There is even one elder woman in the group, said to be over 100 years old, who shows up regularly to be part of the change.

The collective is also harvesting honey from local hives they tend, in order to supplement these educational endeavors.

The Green Lion is honored to partner with this wonderful Collective of Women who are actively demonstrating the change they want to see in the world.
Goals of the Maasai Women Collective for 2019 include:

Building a concrete pedestal to support the donated water tank, which will provide a women at the church site and in the neighboring community with a reserve of usable clean water.
Completion of the concrete floor inside the church building, where they can meet in inclement weather.
Developing and fully implementing a sustainable business plan that will allow them to support more girls pursuing their education.
Building a Roadside Kiosk where they can sell their goods to passing tourists on their way to safari trips/game drives at the national park.

The hope is that all of these goals established by the Maasai Women Collective will be met with the help of participants coming for programs that will assist these efforts.

Like superheroes sans capes and all, these Maasai women of all ages are making a difference in the lives of themselves, their daughters and their community.

This Collective is working together diligently, actually using their own skilled hands, to make a difference for girls. They are the “change agents” in their village and what they are achieving is an education for their daughters, while creating a new way of thinking and being for all the members of their community.

As you can see, the values of the school are to: Grow by Learning, Pursue Excellence, Embrace Diversity and Inclusion, Practice Integrity.

With the support of the community, faculty members at this local school in the Mara are eager to provide an opportunity for collaboration and cultural exchange for students who would rarely have the chance to get to know people beyond those in their local community. With this new experience, new curiosity about the world is developed and where there are questions, there are usually people seeking answers as well.

The school assist program will give participants a chance to truly “get in where they fit in”. That means that they can assist teachers in the classroom with different subjects, they can work in the garden to increase healthy food production, they can help with the various ongoing construction and renovation projects in the works or they can coach sports/outdoor activities for the students.

All of these efforts will help to build bridges of understanding for everyone involved. Participants will give as much as they get, learning as the grow themselves. They are as enriched by this experience as the students and faculty they will collaborate with.

The Green Lion

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