Mission: The mission of the Maasai Children’s Initiative is to advocate for social justice and development for Maasai children, particularly girls, by providing educational opportunities while promoting cultural preservation. Through our efforts we support children’s education, nutrition, technology, and community health assistance as well as the development of sustainable income-producing projects, eco-tourism, and intercultural exchange.

Vision: Our vision is that all Maasai children, boys and girls, progress into secondary school; that adequate nutrition is maintained through school feeding programs; that students become adept at computer use; that they be able to read and write in the national languages: Swahili and English; and that they are empowered to make good decisions regarding marriage, health and sexuality.

Objectives:

  1. To provide educational opportunities for all Maasai children and overcome the historic underrepresentation of Maasai girls at all grade levels;
  2. To support school feeding programs to improve child nutrition, increase school enrollment and improve academic performance;
  3. To empower Maasai women through culturally-sensitive public health and family planning programs, adult education and sustainable social and economic development;
  4. To promote computer literacy and international understanding by providing Maasai children and women regular access to the Internet;
  5. To promote the maintenance and preservation of Maasai cultural heritage.

About the Maasai

The Maasai are a noble and dignified people who have proudly maintained their traditional lifestyle and cultural identity. They live a nomadic lifestyle, raising cattle and goats, wearing traditional clothes, and living in small villages called manyatas, which are circular arrangements of mud huts.

However, the Maasai are one of the poorest tribes of east Africa, despite their proximity to Kenya’s major region of eco-tourism. Throughout Maasailand, less than one in ten students completes primary education. As a result, the level of literacy among Maasai girls stands at a record low of 2%, while the Kenyan national average level of literacy is an all-time high of 98%. The factors responsible for this imbalance include:

  • Sustained poverty, exacerbated by continued land loss and declining livestock base;
  • Poor learning environments and facilities;
  • Geographic isolation;
  • Inadequate nutrition;
  • Restrictive cultural practices, including pressures against female education and empowerment;
  • A restriction on speaking the indigenous language of the Maasai, Maa, in schools supported by the government, resulting in a high proportion of young children not understanding the instruction.