An
all Maasai Organization
"A
Maasai without culture is as a zebra without stripes.
If
we abandon our way of life, our next step could be extinction.
Help us to preserve our way of life",
Kakuta Ole Maimai.
Hello Friend –
My name is Kakuta Ole Maimai Hamisi. I was born and raised in a small remote Maasai village at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, southern Kenya. While I love the cows I also saw wonderful opportunities in Western education. I always wanted to be a proud cow herder with a western education. A few years back I left my village to attend The Evergreen State College, USA, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Each villager sold goats and cows to see me complete my education in America.
After graduate school, with a Master of Arts in Sustainable Development from SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont, I decided to return to Kenya and give back to my community. Africa continues to struggle with the problem of brain drain. I do not want to be part of this problem.
With
my return to Merrueshi I started the first primary school, high
school, village health center, vocational training school and
commissioned a 10 Kilometer pipeline for clean water for the
entire community. It is a dream comes true for a person who
grew up in a mud hut. The journey has been far from easy but
gracious and inspiring. The most important aspect of my community
development work has been friends. I’m grateful to all
my friends who continue to support my vision for a better community.
My
philosophy is that change is inevitable. We would like to be
agents of our change rather than victims of change. My dream
is to help empower the Maasai people through education, health,
and economic development. It is our hope to integrate the Maasai
way of life with the modern world, while conserving and celebrating
Maasai cultural heritage. Having lived in two worlds, the Maasai
and the Western world, I have a better vision on how to create
a sustainable future for the Maasai people.
See
our mission for our"Fully Integrated
Development Strategy."
Together,
we can fight poverty and build strong communities.
The
information and perspectives you'll find on this web site are,
unlike most web sites on the Maasai, presented by a Maasai native
rather than an outsider. Since most people in Maasai land do
not have access to the Internet, the Maasai Association transmits
Maasai voices to a virtual community.
This
resourceful website was developed to help the outside world
learn and understand the Maasai people and our way of life.
Be our friend today by joining our email list on the right column.
We'll keep you informed with our programs and projects.
