Maasai Development Inc. is devoted to Economic + Educational Development
to help preserve the Maasai Culture in Kenya.
Please donate if you can.
to help preserve the Maasai Culture in Kenya.
Please donate if you can.
Fall/ Winter Update 2024/25
Friends! Much has improved for our Maasai Friends. Rain has fallen this season at a somewhat normal rate. The grasses are growing nicely for their cattle and goats. We are soon to open the long awaited Centre of Excellence for 60 Young Ladies who need homes because they have either been orphaned or have been separated from their families due to early or forced marriages or for a myriad other reasons. As with all young people, every Maasai Young Lady has her own story. We will still need financial help to support the Young Ladies on a continuous basis.
The building is wonderful, and we will need help with funds for food, a matron to watch over them, a security guard to make sure they are safe, clothes and personal supplies. Thank you for considering a donation.
While the weather for the moment is calm and as it should be, the record drought of the past 4 years and the ensuing record flood of April 2024 have proven that there is no longer a “normal”. As much as 80% of the Maasai wealth, mostly cattle, perished during that time.
Chief Joseph and his Maasai people have come up with an idea that begins to address the weather variables and help mitigate the effects of climate variable. We are now raising funds to purchase and locate large (perhaps 1000 gallon) tanks in areas away from the well that we built a few years ago (which allows families in these distant areas to procure water without having to walk up to 3 miles to and from their nearest water source)!
When no water is available in the area, the burden of bringing water falls disproportionately on women and children. ESPECIALLY ON GIRLS! This network of tanks will be supplied from the well and water trucks will travel to each of the tanks monthly to allow for water for the people and the cattle in the next inevitable drought.
Currently, water is often used from ponds or streams and can be contaminated with cholera and typhoid bacteria which can lead to frequent illness and death. This network allows for fresh or treated water to be used thereby reducing illness. Access to water for personal care, cooking, drinking, livestock farming and agriculture improves the quality of life in the region.
If you can help with this project, please do! It is part of the continuing effort to stabilize the Maasai economy and to preserve their culture.
I will report more on the other methods of diversification of income for the Maasai that we have achieved or are working on later! Thank you!
-Steve Baroch
Founder + Director
Your contribution will enable us to support and empower the Maasai people to preserve their culture and way of life as well as support their sustainable development. We are very grateful for your generosity.
Maasai Development Incorporated provides Food Relief in times of Drought and famine. Sadly, this occurs frequently in East Africa in part due to the encroachment of modern society and in part due to a mean 1.8F temperature change in the past 60 years in Kenya.
We provide funds to build water wells and dams. We also provide help with drip irrigation to expand the variety of food sources. The Maasai people rely on herding cattle and goats for the majority of their income. Controlling their water supply is critical for this and for human consumption.
We provide Education Assistance for Maasai School Girls who are overlooked and often forced into early marriages or child labor. We have also built a school and day care center.
Our Maasai Friends, Chief Joseph, Cicilia, and John just completed a sweeping tour of the US, including Washington D.C., VA, CO, SC, NJ, AL, MD, NY, and CT!
They visited with thousands of people at Rotary meetings, Church events, a storytelling event, schools, an investment club, and even a dairy farm!
With a presentation of their culture and expressing their culture through song, dance and artwork, our Maasia visitors enriched our lives immensely.
We also were able to raise a significant amount of funding for Maasai Development's current project - building a Rescue Center for Young Ladies who are in need of a home.
We will have more information on that project in the near future. Thank you to all who hosted, met with and donated to our wonderful Maasai Friends!
Steve Baroch
Director of Maasai Development
We have recently completed funding and building a well for our Maasai friends which now provides water to an estimated 3,000 people, 1,200 cows and 1,500 goats and sheep. With the well in place and being used by the Maasai people, Maasai Development Incorporated is now embarking on an effort to help finish a Rescue Center started by community leaders.
It is a Maasai community initiative to offer education, health, protection, and counselling services to Maasai young ladies who have fallen into difficult circumstances. The Maasai people have already partially built the building, named the “Olmarori Centre for Excellence,” using funds collected before the pandemic.
It is a Maasai community initiative to offer education, health, protection, and counselling services to young Maasai ladies who have fallen into difficult circumstances. The further goal, as indicated by the name, is not just to house the Maasai women + girls, but to provide them with the tools to grow and be productive in the community.
Exact expenses are somewhat difficult to estimate due to inflation and supply issues. Our best calculations now lead us to set a goal of $30,000 for this project. This amount would allow for completion and furnishing of the structure and supplying cooking equipment. This amount also includes one year of operational funding for the Rescue Center, covering costs such as food, a security detail, supervisors and for clothes, etc.
A Word from Cheif Joseph ole Tipanko of the Maasai
Our goal is to allow the Centre to be operational from the very start and able to be sustained without interruption well into the future. The Dormitory will house up to 60 young ladies.
We have plans for later additions of a shower facility and a solar installation to remove reliance on the current grid which is unreliable. We will work on those additional stages after the center is open.
The “Olmaroroi Centre for Excellence” dormitory structure is already partly erected and stands on a 10-acre plot of government land which already houses the Olmaroroi Primary School. The young ladies will live in the dormitory and attend the school just a short walk away.
Would you be able to help support the building of this “Rescue Center” which will provide a place for these Young Ladies to thrive and avoid the difficulties that they have been forced into?
On behalf of our Maasai Friends whom we support, thank you very much for your help!
We have recently completed funding and building a well for our Maasai friends which now provides water to an estimated 3000 people, 1200 cows and 1500 goats and sheep.
Stay informed on project progress, opportunities to get involved and news from the chief.
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