EMPOWERING MASAI WOMEN/GIRLS THROUGH CONSERVATION

Thanks to your generous support we will be opening our "Community Watering Area" which will be administered by the Masai women. On November 27th, we will officially open the site which will become the meeting place for the women.

The area will have clean, purified water for the women to carry home for drinking. Also, they will have regular water to use for bathing and cooking. But most important, the water we will be pumping form our camp will reduce the women's daily walk from 3km each way to less than 1 km each way. This alone will make a big difference. We will also plant out 5,000 trees in the community.

In this area the women will have a garden are are currently being trained in agriculture. To start, the garden will have tomatoes, greens, beans and melons, but as the women progress we will add more food crops. "If we can get water and food we will be able to make a life for ourselves", stated a Masai woman.

The drought has had devastating effects upon the women and children. For the first time in the history of the Shompole Masai, men and women are commiting suicide because they cannot deal with the pressure. Life is just hard and some people cannot take it. One woman recently committed suicide because of the drought. "The woman bought cattle with her life savings as an investment, but due to the drought all the cattle died leaving her with nothing and she committed suicide." Peter Tingai/Masai Elder and Camp Manager

In addition, the new "Community Area' will have 2 hectares allocated for calliandra (fodder crops) so we can also feed the livestock. The herders will take turns to avoid overgrazing which is one of the major factors of desertification. We are also constructing a water trough so the livestock will also have water.

The problem with the river is that it is so steep when children are sent to fetch water for their families, sometimes they slip in and die. This is why people stay away from the river. But due to our solar powered water pump and your support, we are now bringing clean water and food to the Masai community.

We are looking forward to 2010 to see how well these women can progress. They have already proven more than capable in the nurseries and I am confident that by next year they will have a beautiful garden full of food. The food will be allocated to the community and the schools. The girls will benefit the most because they are the ones with the burden of fetching water. We will have a full camp of woman and girls everyday who will be tending the area. 10 women have signed up already to volunteer and we will let the children work the garden on weekends.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Shompole Primary School for winning first place in the Kenya Music Festival. You can listen to them on the video on this site made by Turk Pipken. To see how they live and the obstacles they must overcome each day, this is truly amazing. Yet it is the joy of singing and dancing that makes the children's days easier. They sign about everything from God to rain. A special thanks to Global Giving supporter Turk Pipken and his crew for sponsoring the bus to take the Masai kids to the festival. Turk visited earlier this year. A special thanks to Mary Drinkwater from Canada. She spent 30 days at the Shompole Primary School working with the children.

If you are in southern Miami on November 17th, check out our film produced and directed by Sopranos actor, Turk Pipken. Our film is one of eight films selected from around the world for the Miami Short Film Festival.

Thank you for your continued support. Your donations are changing the lives of Masai women and children in Kenya. In some cases, your donation is actually saving lives!