• who AM I

    Providing A Voice For The Maasai Girls and Women through Education

     

    I am a Community Mobilizer a strong advocate for Education for Girls in the Maasai Community. Through out my work I have been able to lead and stimulate community members to participate in their own community's desired development actions.

     

    Imagine yourselve as a girl in the Maasai Community. The promise of dowry to your family is a powerful incentive for arranging a daughter’s marriage as soon as she “crosses the childhood bridge. The cultural pressures against women’s education are nothing short of overwhelming. While growing up FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) was a core cultural practice among the Maasai community. Over 35 years later, its sad to say this practice continue to deny many girls an education. This has been the situation of girls in the Mara. I was lucky to have a father who embraced education, he believed in the capacity and dignity of the girl child and all women. He took me to school and was well aware of the benefit of investing in her daughter’s education. But i never forgot how many other Maasai girls are disproportionately denied the right to an education.

     

    While working in the City.I decided i would not just watch but do something about it. I resigned my Job and went back to the Maasai Mara and Founded Mara Learning Centre. By working in partnership with my husband. We advocated for a girl learning environment by offering scholarships and creating awareness for girl child education.

    I have seen girls shunned by their villages and even their families run to us because they wanted to go to school instead of getting married. I’ve seen girls who had to run away from home and leave everything they knew just to get an education!

    My ultimate aim is to use education and see an increase in girl & women empowerment in Maasai Mara, to achieve optimum value from a capacity of well trained and professionally oriented resource base and change lives of the less privileged. My lifetime goals have always been to engage in activities that will promote increased community effectiveness, capacity, self-reliance, and empowerment

  • "If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman" Margaret Thatcher

    MY MOTTO

  • My WORK

    A job Is not just a Job, Its Who You Are!

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    Family, Gender and Education Coordinator: March 2016 – Present

    Nashulai Maasai Conservancy lies adjacent to Maasai Mara National Reserve to the north. We lease 5,000 acres for conservation from 45 landowners. We encourage land use systems that protect wildlife, preserve culture and reverse poverty! Because all three elements; the people, the land, and the wildlife are linked. My work involves Community level engagements and mobilization to support Family, Gender and Education activities.

     

    Its good to note that community empowerment is not possible without education. Although there are several schools in the Mara, many of these schools lack basic facilities and are plagued by a shortage of teachers, absenteeism from students and dropouts. Through Mara Learning and Development Centre i am in involved in facilitating community work in the area surrounding the conservancy, we have been involved in various initiatives to support these schools. These initiatives include; the provision of solar lamps, toilets, scholarships, community library, clean water, desks, and mobile computer training facilities.

     

    I also promote and supervise Early Childhood Education by engaging a broad spectrum of community members of different ages, organizational affiliations, and community sectors (e.g parents, religious groups) who are affected by and essential to addressing the problem of FGM and advocating for girl education.

    Am able to do this by Identifying local level partners, support and facilitate the partnership in the implementation of planned activities. To the point of when i am able to mobilize and facilitate the engagements of stakeholders during planning and development meetings, workshops and seminars.

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    Manager 2011 – February 2016

    The local Maasai communities surrounding the Mara ecosystem are faced with a myriad of problems. Scarce medical facilities, severe droughts, high unemployment, high illiteracy, lack of access to clean water, destruction of the natural environment, and harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation and early marriages of girls.

    Oldarpoi Mara Camp was started as an Initiative of - I See Maasai Development Initiative (ISMDI). Our mission is to empower the Maasai economically advocating for education and by leading a campaign to eradicate such practices as female genital mutilation (FGM), create opportunities for employment for Maasai Moran as tour guides and eradicate poverty .

     

    My work involved ensuring smooth running of the camp, managing staff, guest management and in turn using the profits to find sustainable development projects in the community as solutions to the mentioned problems.

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    Distribution Service Officer 2003 – July 2011

    While working for GNLD as a Distribution Service Officer, a job i held for over 8 years. I started to figure out what inspired my interest and passion. In the journery to discover my purpose, I yearned to do something that had impact and tangible results. In July 2011, I left my successful corporate job on a mission to find my happy life of impact that I am now enjoying. All this came by taking one step at a time and exploring many different passions. I have never looked back since then

  • MY EDUCATION

    Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

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    VALUES EQUIPPED: Vision, Courage, Empathy, Change-making, Global Mindset

    My learning experience through Amani Institute was a game changer. i have been equipped with skills to create social impact that aligns with my purpose. Through their new model of education and training. The School enabled me to develop new practical skills and experiences as a took kit for my professional life. I grew in personal understanding of my own leadership journey. I would recommend Amani for anyone looking for a career of impact and a global network necessary for long-term career success.

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    Promoting excellence in management

    I studied Business Administration at Kenya Institute of Management -KIM Diploma and certifications equipped me with hands on management and leadership skills that i have used in my workplace and business.

  • ImpacT

    Check out my latest updates on my work, passion and hobbies!

  • LET'S CHAT!

    Connect with Me and Get a Tour to the Maasai Mara, Enjoy Safaris, Conservancy and Our Community Projects

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    My Home Kenya

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    Lets Connect on Facebook

  • The Blog

    Check Featured Articles among other publication about our work

    I WALK carefully in the cool night air, focusing a kerosene lantern on the stone-paved path....
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    October 17, 2016
    Margaret Sakian Reiyia (35) and Nelson Ole Reiyia (40) of the Masai Mara in Kenya are bred Maasai...
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  • CONTACT ME

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