Walking with Maasai currently relies on ad-hoc donations from individuals, churches, trusts and businesses to cover the cost of salaries and maintaining the vehicles that are essential to supporting the activities in Olorte.

A charitable trust, called Walking with Maasai (UK) is in the process of being registered to raise and manage funds to support this essential operation.

If you would like to contribute to Walking with Maasai’s work, please send a cheque made payable to Walking with Maasai (UK) to:

Walking with Maasai (UK)
82 Cumberland Road
London
W7 2EB

The work of Walking with Maasai is very varied with something of interest for everyone. There are many ways to get involved from helping with fundraising to visiting us in Kenya and sharing your skills and experiences. Here are some ideas that may suit you:

Fundraising

We require funds to run the many areas of our operation, from paying staff salaries in Kenya to maintaining the 4×4 vehicles to working capital for our initiatives. If you have ideas for fundraising events or would like to run any such events for us, we’d love to hear from you.

Participate in our projects

Each of our projects relies on volunteers to make them successful. If you would like to come to Kenya to help build houses, a bridge, an airstrip or an Eco-camp, let us know. Not only will you find your visit satisfying as you contribute to supporting the Maasai community in Olorte, you’ll also have an opportunity to spend time in one of the most beautiful places on our planet, with opportunities to experience the most exciting wildlife.

Sharing your skills and experiences

So many of us take our skills for granted and even feel that we don’t have what it takes to change the world. But Walking with Maasai can provide you with opportunities to use your skills and life experiences to really make a difference. Even things like facilitating meetings or helping to develop a simple business idea can change families’ lives in the community for the better. Of course, vocational skills like teaching, medicine, business and engineering can be directly applied even on a short visit.

If you’d like to know more about any of these opportunities, please get in touch by emailing us at hennie@walkingwithmaasai.org.

Walking with Maasai exists to protect and restore the rich and beautiful Maasai culture, working with the local community of Olorte to help it gain greater control over its future. There are many challenges facing the Maasai, not least of which are the burdens of preventable disease and production of sufficient sources of food. There is very little commercial prosperity in the area, due in part to its remoteness and, as a consequence, daily life is often a struggle.

As a registered charity in Kenya, Walking with Maasai operates all of its activities according to its clear founding principles. Not only does it believe that these working from these principles is of value to the Maasai community of Olorte, but also that they are of value to the developed world that has much to gain through joining the journey and walking with Maasai.

Quality of life

The Walking with Maasai team work across the breadth of the community, seeking to enable all, especially those who are marginalised or living in poverty, to identify their needs and work towards improving the quality of their lives.

Education

Since its foundation, Walking with Maasai has run courses to equip the members of the community with literacy, technical, vocational and life skills. Education is valued by the team as being fundamental to enabling choice and informing good decisions.

Health

Seeing reminders on daily basis of the health issues that cause unnecessary adversity, Walking with Maasai work with the community to provide affordable and accessible healthcare. Providing information about hygiene, nutrition and sanitation is one of the key components in reducing sickness and disease.

Conserving the environment

Seeking to conserve the beautiful surroundings of the Loita hills, and to ensure that the land is available for future generations of Maasai, the team run training programmes in environmental management and forestry.

The Maasai are in London (11 July 08)

Six members of the Walking with Maasai team arrived in London on Friday 11th July to spend a month in the UK raising awareness of the charity’s activities. During this time Andre, Kashu, Francis, Leudi, Wesley and Patrick will be visiting schools in the south-east, talking to children about the Maasai way of life in rural Kenya and demonstrating the traditional dances of the Maasai warriors.

The team have been surprised by the supportive response of the public as they’ve walked the streets of West London. Not surprisingly, their striking appearance has turned heads and even stopped the traffic.

London is different in so many ways to the tranquillity of life in Olorte. “Why aren’t the pavements made of grass?” asks Kashu as he struggles to adjust to life in the capital.

Walking with Maasai is a non-profit organisation established by and for the Maasai communities in the Olorte region of southern Kenya. The organisation was established to assist the Maasai in a sustainable way through the initiation of community-based projects that are aimed to equip, educate and empower the local people. Walking with Maasai focuses on running all of its projects in an environmentally and culturally sensitive way, promoting the conservation and wise use of natural resources.

Some of the key aims to help the Maasai gain greater control over their future are:

• To develop healthcare initiatives that reduce the burden of preventable disease
• To run education programmes that enable the Maasai to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of their use of the land
• To share the skills and experience of supporters of the organisation with the Maasai to help alleviate poverty

Whilst Walking with Maasai currently relies on sponsorship to run its operation, its long-term aim is to become financially independent through a joint community venture to establish an eco-tourism business. Based in a remote and very beautiful forested area of the Loita hills, the Maasai share their habitat with some of the world’s most impressive wildlife. Visitors who choose to walk with Maasai on wilderness safaris will in turn be supporting the community through the provision of much needed income and creation of employment.

Walking with Maasai is co-run by local Maasai members and partners from South Africa, the USA and the UK.

One of Walking with Maasai’s main initiatives is to create an eco-tourism business in which visitors can literally walk with Maasai among the incredible wildlife of the Loita hills.

As a business run by the Maasai, income generated will go directly back into the community to improve facilities and to assist those who most need support. The business also creates much needed employment opportunities.

Why eco-tourism?

Sound, community-based eco-tourism is a key to rural communities becoming actively involved in the conservation of their natural resources. The Maasai people have always been known to live in harmony with the natural environment. Even though this is still the case to a large extent, today’s way of life and way of co-existing with the living environment is rapidly changing. Once, the Maasai were a truly nomadic, pastoral people but now communities are now settling down in more permanent villages, exploring agriculture and a more accumulative lifestyle. This, together with obvious population growth has changed much of the way the Maasai see wildlife and other natural resources today. Where once there was hardly any conflict with wildlife, there is now constant friction and competition for grazing land and agricultural land.

Harmony between the Maasai and the environment

Now, Maasai people find that the wildlife is a threat to crops and settlements. Villages also put more strain on resources such as trees that are used for timber for construction and firewood. Grasslands frequently get overgrazed and water sources get depleted during droughts. The only way this vicious cycle can be changed is if local Maasai communities can actively benefit from the wildlife on the land. This involves counting these wild animals as an asset, rather than a menace that should be removed.

The eco-camp

Under the leadership and guidance of Parit Kashu, Kimero Simpano and Andre Brink, Walking with Maasai are in the process of helping one of the Maasai communities to set up an eco-tourism project that is hoped to make a difference in the Loita Hills. When complete, the eco-camp will have six permanent safari tents set on wooden decks, a lounge overlooking the Loita hills and the Olkeju Arus river and gorge. The eco-camp will feature a complete self contained kitchen/dining area for groups who want to hire the whole camp for themselves and do their own cooking. The camp will also have an environmental education centre and will serve as a training venue for local community members and school children. The eco-camp will be built from locally available materials. All timber used will be harvested from trees in the area of operation that have naturally died, damaging no live trees. The camp will also make use of solar power for pumping and heating water.

Wilderness trails

Using the eco-camp as its base, Walking with Maasai will run wilderness trails into the surrounding wildlife-rich wilderness areas. Visitors will be guided by professional Maasai guides from the local community, trained to the highest standard of field guiding. Maasai elders and traditional Maasai Warriors will accompany groups, following ancient elephant paths into the Forest of the Lost Child, sleeping out under the African night sky and visiting real, traditional Maasai homes.

Walking with Maasai is a non profit organization established to facilitate, train and assist a rural Maasai community in Southern Kenya’s Loita Hills to establish a community based Eco Tourism Project. Our aim is to help create a sustainable community project that will empower the local people, create jobs and training opportunities.The vision is that the establishment of an Eco camp and wilderness trails will bring in much needed revenue that will go towards various community projects such as the mobile clinic, health education, adult education and capacity building, local schools and environmental education and conservation. Being initiated by and owned by Maasai, Walking with Maasai is fully committed towards protecting and redeeming this beautiful culture.

[singlepic=32,320,240,,]The Adult Literacy School started when a group of Maasai Warriors came to Walking with Maasai and asked if they could teach them to read and write. This is a very unusual request because the Maasai see education for the weaker Maasai in the Tribe.  

David Koyie is a Maasai who was a warrior once but has gone to school and also finished his Teachers Training Diploma. He has a passion to see his fellow Maasai Warriors learning to read and write.

The Adult Literacy School teaches the Warriors to read and write in KiMaasai (Native Language), Swahili and English. A School like this is very important because the Maasai tends to be left behind because they can’t be involved with voting and other important activities in the community.

Since the School has begun, 17 Maasai Warriors has finished the National Curriculum exam and passed. Currently this school is self funded and David is looking for Sponsors to help with the development of this project.  

What is this project about?

This is a project to build a bridge over the Olkeju Arus river in southern Kenya. The river affects up to 6,000 Maasai in the Olorte area when it floods twice each year, cutting them off from medical care, the local school and provisions. Each year the lives of children, the elderly and livestock are lost through drowning.

What will it mean to the Maasai community?

In addition to saving lives, the bridge will:

• Enable access to year-round medical care through a planned mobile clinic
• Connect people with the local airstrip, enabling emergency medical evacuation and medical specialists to visit
• Provide vital infrastructure to support community development and sustainable income through a planned eco-tourism business

What kind of Bridge is needed?

The bridge is expected to be a reinforced concrete and steel structure that is:

• Strong enough to carry vehicles as well as pedestrians and livestock
• High enough above the river’s 3m flood height to avoid damage from debris carried by the torrent, such as large tree trunks
• A total of 80m long, comprising a 30m span over the river and a 50m causeway

The Challenge

The project presents many challenges, such as:

• Being constructed in just 12 weeks by a team of UK volunteers and local, unskilled Kenyan labour
• Being in a very remote location, 6,000 feet up in the Loita hills, with poor road access, restricting the types of materials that can be delivered to site
• Going beyond simply utilitarian and aiming for architectural elegance, understood to be only the second of its kind in Kenya

How much will it cost?

Until the final design is complete it’s too early to say precisely. The initial estimate is £150,000, based on the current concept design, to cover all materials, equipment, transport and local labour. All time (including professional skills) from the UK will be given free of charge.

Where will the money come from?

A UK team of approximately 30 people will each raise enough money through personal sponsorship to cover their own travel costs and contribute significantly to the actual cost of the bridge. Corporate sponsorship is also required to meet the target, as is funding from charitable trusts. All money donated goes directly into the actual costs of the bridge and not into salaries or administration.

When will it be built?

It depends largely on how quickly the money can be raised. The current plan is to begin construction towards the end of 2009, funds permitting.

Who is building the bridge?

This project is led from the UK by Ed Pask, a qualified engineer and experienced project manager living in West London. The Walking with Maasai team leader is Morosua Sayialel. Sayialel will be responsible for managing the bridge project from Olorte and will mobilize the Maasai community and source suitable local building materials.

How can you help?

If you are interested in being part of the team, or would like to make a donation towards the costs of the project, please contact ed.pask@walkingwithmaasai.org.

The Olorte Airstrip Project

It is currently not possible to land a small aircraft at the Olorte Airstrip. This airstrip is in need of repair and of utmost importance for the logistical operation of Walking with Maasai in this remote area. The airstrip will be used for Medical Emergencies within the community and Community Projects such as the bridge building projects and Eco Tourism project.

Leudi Nyarket the Airstrip Project Manager, is currently mobilizing the community surrounding the airstrip area and are sourcing construction materials in preparation for the construction of the new airstrip.

Kenya

Walking with Maasai is a registered charity in Kenya and can be contacted at the following postal address:

Walking With Maasai
PO Box 530-20500
Narok
Kenya

Telephone:
+88216 51073287

E-mail:
info@walkingwithmaasai.org

UK

Walking with Maasai’s UK office is:

Walking with Maasai (UK)
82 Cumberland Road
London
W7 2EB

Telephone:
+44 (0)20 8567 7657

E-mail:
info@walkingwithmaasai.org

Walking with Maasai Staff Members.

Please browse sub pages for more information.

Leudi, Andre, Kashu, Florence, Wesley, Morosua Sayialel and Kimero

• Parit Kashu- Director, Logistics, Environmental Education and Field guide 
• Kimero Simpano- Director, Finance, Leadership Training 
• Andre Brink- Director, Coordinator, Eco Camp Manager and Field guide 
• Don Richards- Director, specialized guide 

 

 

• Leudi Nyarket-  Airstrip Project Manager, Environmental Education and Field Guide 
• Morosua Sayialel- Overseeing Bridge construction and Leadership Training 

 

 

• Wesley Kipkoech- Overseeing Mobile Clinic Project 
• Florence Simpano- Mobile Clinic Nurse

Walking with Maasai opened a clinic in Olorte in June 2006 to serve the Maasai communities in the area. The clinic was managed by Walking with Maasai and overseen by a local Maasai community committee. This clinic was a huge success and provided much needed medical care to this remote corner of Maasai land.

Currently Walking with Maasai is establishing a mobile clinic that will visit the most remote villages of the area of operation. Florence Simpano, a local nurse employed by Walking with Maasai is currently attending training courses on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and counselling. The courses Florence is attending are vital towards delivering effective HIV/AIDS and general health education to the community.

Florence are collecting valuable data on population density and health status of the Olorte community.