PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Education is ELAND’s most urgent priority for the people of Maasai because of how education transforms lives, raises children out of poverty, and creates a future for the Maasai people while also honoring their ancient traditions. ELAND’s educational programs extend beyond child sponsorship to include poverty reduction, child rescue, public health, natural resource management, cultural preservation, and economic empowerment for women.

ELAND Maasai women support themselves through the sale of beadwork, an art form they have maintained for centuries. Proceeds from the sale of beadwork help to eradicate poverty for women and their families, and help educate children by paying for school fees, text books, and food. The Maasai women have been the preservers, the guardians, and the protectors of the culture, tradition, and language, and make sure it is passed to future generations. Despite being illiterate, these women use their skills to sustain themselves economically.

• ELAND’s educational awareness and sponsorship programs support primary school and high school students, as well as a college fund. Additionally, they build awareness of the importance of education for all Maasai people.

• ELAND’s child rescue and retention programs rescue girls from genital mutilation and early forced marriages, rescue boys and girls from the child labor force, and rescue orphans and child parents from abuse.

• ELAND’s public health programs increase knowledge and awareness of family planning, HIV/AIDS, and other communicable diseases, educate and sensitize the community regarding the risks of female genital mutilation, and support the training of health personnel.

• ELAND’s women programs empower and train women in business and economic development. This enables them to have sustainable income ability, which raises their status within their families and community.

• ELAND also has programs that aim to conserve and preserve the Maasai indigenous culture and heritage, as well as improve the management of natural resources.

ELAND GOALS

• To find and organize financial support for primary and high school level students, which will help grow the new generation of Maasai leaders so they can rise out of poverty.

• To build college funds for Maasai students that will help them continue their journey as leaders towards a productive modern life in Kenya.

• To creative a positive, hopeful, and joyful awareness of the benefits of education to the Maasai people.

• To advocate for culturally sensitive development projects and policy development in the local and regional levels of leadership.

• To promote gender empowerment, equality, and sensitivity so that women have greater income generating and leadership opportunities.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT ELAND

Education/Children:

• Teach at the nearby Kimuka Primary School; a local public school in great need of teaching staff.

Public Health:

• Help to raise public awareness of the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, general healthcare practices, and family planning.
• Raise awareness and sensitize the community regarding the health risks of female genital mutilation.

Environmental Conservation:

• Participate in natural resource management programs, including documenting the endangered species of the Savanna Grassland.

Women:

• Work with Maasai women in business and economic development for their beadwork design, production, and sales.
• Teach skills in literacy, bookkeeping, and leadership. 

ACCOMMODATIONS AT ELAND

Housing

Volunteers are hosted in the home of the Program Director, within his family’s compound. There are 3 single-occupancy rooms for volunteers. Volunteers are provided with a basin of water for use in an indoor bathing area of the home. There is also an outdoor pit latrine, which is shared with other members of the family.

Meals

Meals are prepared by the Program Director’s mother.

Drinking Water

Volunteers are provided with bottled water.

Electricity

There is no electricity so volunteers are provided with kerosene lanterns at night. It is also recommended that volunteers bring flashlights.

Internet Access

Volunteers can access the internet in Ngong, which is approximately 30 minutes away by taxi.

Laundry

Volunteers are provided with water to launder their own clothes. Volunteers should bring their own clothesline.

MEET ELAND’S PROGRAM DIRECTOR: MOSES KINAYIA

Moses was born in the Ngong Hills of the Great Rift valley in Kenya. He has a Business Degree from Daystar University, Kenya and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Institute of public Service, Seattle University.

Being the first to go to school in his family, (literally running away from home with a desire for education), Moses has a great interest in responsibility and accountability. His dream lies in expanding the work of ELAND, reducing poverty and improving the economic future of his community, and networking with other non-governmental organizations in the developing countries to ensure accountability and promote socio-economic growth.

He is the fourth born in a family of 36 in the Maasai tribe in Kenya. His father was one of many nomadic herdsmen who keep livestock. The Maasai people are a community of nomadic herdsmen. The land they occupy is semi-arid and the climate is primarily suited for lowland animal rearing.

The Maasai economy is based on livestock production and is described as a pastoral economy. Cattle are the central focus of the economy because they provide mild and meat for sustainence; both are consumed by households and are not regarded as a commodity for trade. blood from the animals is also occasionally consumed.

At the moment, the Maasai live in the arid and semi-arid land only good for livestock keeping. Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, the Maasai have lost thousands of livestock. Due to recent prolonged drought and severe famine, Maasai resources are scarce. Maasai people refugees have inundated the land of their farming and hunting neighbors.

The current illiteracy level in the Maasai community and among the nomadic herdsmen is too high. Most people have not yet accepted education as a basic need for their children. Most are not aware of the benefits derived from acquiring an education. In Maasai land, polygamy is normal and accepted. It is believed that the more wives the better. Moses’ father was a polygamist who did not believe that daughters should attend school. He and his contemporaries believed that girls should grow up in the home, be trained in the art of homemaking, and then be married off.

For the misfortune of being born girls, Moses’ sisters and stepsisters could not attend school or choose to become whatever they wanted to become in life. Moses was opposed to his father’s attitude but nevertheless recognized his father’s position as a patriarch and community elder. The only recourse Moses had was his own persistence and persuasive argumentation. After a long time, his father agreed to take his sisters to school. Currently six of Moses’ sisters and eight of his brothers are enrolled in school. With that victory Moses became even more convinced that with patience and persistence, the older generation could change their minds about the importance of education for all Maasai youth—girls included. Moses has also attained a college education due to the support of  Seattle ELAND board member Melissa Denmark and family. For that he is deeply grateful.

Moses was inspired by his concern for and experience working with poor and marginalized people. Maasai people are often discriminated against, abused and at time perceived as backwards or untouchable. Stigmatized, they shy away from and fear public appearance and active participation in development programs that could improve their livelihood. Such communities face unique problems that cannot be handled as part of a grand national agenda. Rather, specific and strategic initiatives by ELAND and the new Maasai leadership provide a framework within which local communities could be assisted to improve their own lives.

Profile from http://elandmaasai.org/about-us/leadership