Basecamp Foundation USA

Pencil sharpeners in the hands of the Maasai

The town of Talek, sitting between the Masai Mara National Park and nearby Mara Naboisho Conservancy, is a major hub for the Maasai people in the area, including those whom we hope benefit from Basecamp Foundation’s efforts. Wednesdays are market days in Talek, where people come from far and wide to buy and sell their wares and livestock. For these people it is a also a chance to catch up on the latest gossip, get a hair cut, fresh water, or visit the health clinic. For a foreigner like me, this weekly event is a great opportunity to people watch and meet the locals.

My name is Grace Osoi. I joined Basecamp in the year 2004. First I work at reception as a head receptionist for 3 years. After that Basecamp management decided it is a good idea to to try women empowerment in the Maasai community, so I was given a challenge  to become a camp manager.

I was sponsored  to go to one of the best college in Nairobi Kenya Utalii where i learned hotel management. After that in 2007 I was given the task of managing the camp. This was really a challenge for me because from past history in Maasai community women are not considered as leaders, so I was a bit sacred, especially with Basecamp staff being 95% Maasai and many of them being men and older than me.

But I decided to take the challenge and thankfully everything went so well my fellow Maasai men staff accepted me and I can say I am comfortably enjoying working here at Basecamp. I am more fascinated with the idea of Basecamp empowering women to give them the opportunity to explore their talent Basecamp Maasai Brand.

This bio, written by Grace, is not the first time she has told her story. See an interview conducted in April 2011, and another from a couple years ago.

My name is John Saruni working with Basecamp Foundation Kenya as a Community Projects Officer stationed at Mara Office. My daily responsibilities includes supervising Basecamp’s five Cs programs, namely

• Capacity building – where we have students sponsored under our program from Primary school, High school and University level. Most of sponsored students are mainly girls as they are the most affected by early marriages, pregnancies and they are the least considered by the community to benefit from Education.
• Care Program – This Program is a unique project running in the region called Biotisho.  Biotisho is a Maasai name that means wellness which is the key word that we use as an entry point to the society whenever  we talk about the existence of HIV& AIDS which for a long time the Maasai community have refused to accept.
• Culture Program-This project has attracted over 118 women doing the bead-work at a workshop in Basecamp Maasai Mara .The project has since benefited the women whereby  some pocket an average of Kshs 15,000 per month which goes to helping their families. The women have so far been empowered to become entrepreneurs .
• Conservation and Land Management-In this program we have empowered the Maasai community living with wildlife to come together and set aside their parcels of land for conservation. Through this a conservancy was born on 28th March 2010 named Naboisho  conservancy .
• Climate Program-This program seeks to intervene in the global warming facing the entire world.In this case we are engaged in tree planting, where Basecamp guest are encouraged to plant a minimum of 5 trees @US$ 25 for carbon offsetting emitted to the sky’s while traveling both by Land and on Air.

John standing near the fig trees at Naboisho Conservancy chilling in the cold weather.

Beside my supervision work on the above 5 Programs I also interact with Basecamp Explorer guests to give them talks on Basecamp’s programs impact to the society. I also develop projects proposals and in most cases assess community  needs and come up with ideas in relation to their needs, as well as mobilizing  community meetings and offering translation/interpretations when needed.

My most exiting moment at my place of work is when I am out in the field empowering a local Maasai lady to become a competent entrepreneur and be able to also participate in paying school fees for her daughter. Being in the field is not just a bed of roses as at times you find it hard to change the way of life to a society that is still clinging on to their culture which bars women from participating in home building.

Jackson at Talek community Health clinic

Hello, my name is Jackson Sasine a Maasai born and brought up in Mara in a village adjacent to Mara Naboisho conservancy. I joined BCF early 2010 as a health project officer, responsible of carrying out community outreach to mitigate HIV&AIDS preverence among other health challenges within the workplace and communities around Naboisho conservancy and Talek area. This revolves around reaching out to people in the community with HIV and general health information as well as provision of homebased care services to the infected.

Challenges faced in rolling on this program include; transforming the Maasai cultural practices which are predisposing to HIV infection, denial of status by HIV infected individuals among other.

Men forums are meant to bring men together for open discussion on issues about HIV&AIDS prevention and management. This is the most interesting part of my job.

Hello, my name is Ms. Jemima Sairowua. I am the BCF  Project Officer for Basecamp Maasai Brand.  Most Maasai products have a traditional significance behind them. Therefore, I would like to explain about Oloiboni necklace. Its design is inspired from a ceremonial necklace given by the Maasai spiritual leader- the Oloiboni, to someone as protection and good fortune. Originally the little leather pouch with a  plaited suede strap and suede medallion with beads and cowries shell was filled with special herbs and worn as an amulet.

To see more of our products and their significance, you can visit the BMB Website

Hi all, I am Dickson Ole Kaelo and Basecamp Foundation Kenya projects manager in charge of conservation and sustainable development projects for the Masai Mara Destination. Since joining Basecamp two and a half years ago, I have had the opportunity and responsibility of developing and implementing projects that are centered on using responsible tourism as a tool to sustainably conserve the priceless Masai mara wildlife and habitat while benefitting the Maasai families who are custodians to one of the 7th wonders of the new world.

Dickson in Maasai attire speaking at a community gathering

I have been working in the Mara for the last 13 years undertaking research and community conservation projects and gained knowledge and experience on the real challenges and potential solutions to sustainable manage this semi arid savanna.

I am 40 years old and spent my early days as a young livestock herder on Lemek group ranch some 30km from the Maasai Mara National Reserve and within the northern boundary of the greater Mara-Serengeti ecosystem. As a young Maasai man growing up in a traditional family within the Mara ecosystem, I have witnessed wildlife numbers declining and their distribution shrinking as more land become unavailable to wildlife and livestock due to expanding arable cultivation and human settlement growth and the complications brought about by poaching, land subdivision and climate change.

I have been involved in the establishment of community conservancies covering some 870km sq. of land for wildlife conservation and a guaranteed income for the Maasai families from responsible ecotourism operators.

An exciting day for me is during community meetings when I am engaging maasai leaders using both traditional knowledge and scientific data to find solutions to the challenges facing the community.

Bringing on board hundreds of Maasai families and ecotourism operators from diverse background and winning support from government agencies and reconciling the needs of the maasai and their livestock and the requirements of wildlife and tourists seeking an exclusive experience are among challenges that I face in my daily work.

Our recently established Mara Naboisho Conservancy has potential to inspire community conservation in East africa and become a model for community conservation through out Kenya.

Did you know we have a youtube channel? Here are a couple highlights…

In an effort to engage stakeholders of Mara Naboisho Conservancy, and the members of the surrounding communities, Basecamp Foundation will once again be holding an Ecostorm community event this June.

This year’s Mara Naboisho Ecostorm will be held on June 22nd – 24th 2011 at Koiyaki Guiding School in Masai Mara.  Discussions at this Ecostorm will be centered on comparison of approaches to formation and management of conservancies and critical processes and elements that define a conservancy.  In addition, the workshop will explore the various socioeconomic, environmental, legal and administrative tools that are necessary in the development process and management of conservancies.

The overriding theme of the workshop will be ‘Creating a Conservancy’.  Sub themes will include the following:

• The process of creating a conservancy
• Tools for setting up and effectively managing a conservancy
• Management approaches
• Governance structures
• Stakeholder management
• Conservancies as tourism destinations
• Risks and opportunities for conservancies

Speakers and participants will be drawn from conservancies in Kenya including Northern Rangelands Trust from Northern Kenya and Amboseli and Mara conservancies.  Government ministries and institutions will be invited to engage with stakeholders.

Basecamp Maasai Brand aims to empower disadvantaged women’s groups in the Talek region of the Masai Mara in Kenya, and to maintain and enhance the handicraft skills, knowledge and designs of the Maasai’s famous bead and leather work.

Here, Basecamp Maasai Brand Project Officer, Jemima Sairowua, talks about some of the challenges of her work, and her hopes for the future of BMB. -Phil Woods

How did you get involved in Basecamp Foundation?

I was looking for a job and saw an advertisement in the newspaper that they were looking for a Maasai woman who could come in as a project officer for Basecamp Maasai Brand. I applied and they took me since I had an advantage of being a lady from the Talek region.

What is the advantage of being a woman from Talek?

The advantage is I can talk in vernacular, I can communicate with the ladies and they can understand me as well. We can speak the same language, Maasai.

What are the challenges for you as a Maasai woman and for the women you work with?

The Maasai women we are working with are various ages, many older than me. Some cannot understand English, so I have to translate what the clients say to the women. We also have a challenge of literacy. Most of them are not educated so during payment we have to use another form of signature whereby they use a thumb stamp in ink instead of a pen. We also have to go the extra mile in explaining to them how we ship orders and sales for the year. Its really a challenge. There is a big challenge of job employment in the Maasai community. These women have limited chances because they are not educated. We are proposing an initiative where we are looking into having education for elders, so that they’ll be able to do things like to write their names and be able to sign for payments.

The women here rotate daily, so a woman will work one day a week. Doing this, how much does a women make per month?

It depends on their experience, how fast they are, but on average they can make 1000 Kenyan schillings (about $12 US) and the fast ones can make over 2000 Kenyan schillings, (over $24 US) working here four days in a month.

If the women working here didn’t have Basecamp Maasai Brand, how would they earn money?

Before it was hard for them, because they used to sit down and wait to for the men to provide, and it wasn’t reliable. It was difficult for them. Unless they would sell the small bracelets they make at home. But that wasn’t like this, because they used to stand at the gates to the national park selling their small products and the quality of their products wasn’t as good as it is in BMB, so it was really a hassle for them.

What do you see for the future of Basecamp Maasai Brand?

I see the future as bright, because since it has started its now eight years and its now a self sustaining project. We are now hoping to go higher in accommodating the Maasai women, not just in Talek region, but in Sekenani and other regions in the Masai Mara, so we’re looking to expand to more outlets for Basecamp Maasai Brand. Basecamp Maasai Brand has been an economic revolution to the Talek women, and we look forward to doing more for many Maasai women.

And Basecamp Foundation’s other projects?

Every promise that Basecamp has ever made, the’ve been able to fulfill, especially focusing on people’s lives, the climate, health, everything that’s pertaining to the people here. They’re really touching lives and serving a purpose here.

http://www.MaasaiBrand.com/