The Silan Safe House in Kajiado, Kenya—now 80% complete—will be the region’s first dedicated shelter for girls aged 13–19 escaping Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage. Thanks to a generous $1,200 contribution from Africa Insight and Arabella Advisors, we have resumed work on completing the floors and plastering. Once operational, the Safe House will serve about 50 young women and children annually, providing 24/7 care, counseling, healthcare, legal aid, education support, and life skills training in a secure, supportive environment. By addressing immediate risks and empowering survivors with safe exit strategies, the program aims to reunite them with families when possible, return them to school, or connect them with safe community-based care, creating long-term change in the Maasai South Rift Valley.
Zeke Goat Breeding Project – Progress Update
Since its launch in September 2020, the Zeke Goat Breeding Project has moved into an advanced stage, closely following its activity calendar.
Initial Setup
Launch & Orientation: Members were briefed on project strategies, and 160 goats kicked off the program. (80 were initially contributed by the community and 80 matched by funds thanks to the GoFundme campaign https://www.gofundme.com/f/maasai-school-goat-project by Zeke Vant Hof.
Committees Formed:
Goat purchase
School lunch program management committee
Mating management
Veterinary Support: A Veterinary Agent hired to advise on goat health and management.
Goat Herd & Care
Initial Herd: 160 goats (145 females, 15 males) started the herd—females locally, males from a neighboring commune for breeding quality.
Feeding & Precautions: Goats graze on local vegetation; extra care is taken during the rainy season to avoid illness.
Breeding Results - 2025
To date the program has 105 female goats, 15 kids and 5 male goats in the program, 20 goats sold to supplement lunches past two terms kids (11 males, 9 females).
No deaths recorded in the herd or kids; only two abortion cases, both now pregnant again.
Community Impact
A breeding program for non-members allows locals to mate their female goats with the organization's male goats.
Termly/yearly fund generated to supplement the lunch program at Enkoireroi school.
The project continues to support livelihoods, improve goat health, and expand breeding access in the community.
Enkoireroi School Feeding Programme Update
The sight of students eagerly queuing to watch the food truck delivering for their meals at Enkoireroi School is always a joyful one. For many, mealtimes have become the highlight of their day—something they look forward to not just for nourishment, but for the comfort, energy, and stability these meals provide.
Delivering the food supplies to the school
Our school feeding programme continues to serve as a critical support system for students, helping to ensure that no child has to learn on an empty stomach. In 2025 alone, over 54,760 meals were served at the Enkoireroi School, and its sister pre-schools for the past two terms, offering a proven model that we have adapted and implemented here at Enkoireroi.
Programme Overview
Each school day at Enkoireroi, students receive a wholesome breakfast and a balanced lunch, thoughtfully planned to meet their dietary and developmental needs. Recently, we introduced fresh fruits into the lunch menu, providing vital vitamins and adding colour and variety to each meal. This initiative has enhanced not just physical health, but the emotional and academic wellbeing of the students.
Impact
The benefits of the lunch project are evident throughout the school:
Improved school attendance and punctuality.
Better concentration and engagement in class.
Enhanced emotional well-being.
Mealtimes have become a dependable, joyful routine for students, offering not just sustenance but a sense of belonging and care.
The Heart Behind the Meals
Behind this transformative initiative is a dedicated team of cooks whose contribution often goes unsung. At the helm is Marisa, our head chef, who begins her day before sunrise. Her dedication, warmth, and consistency have earned her the love and admiration of the children.
Marisa Keturer cooking at Enkoireroi School
“To me, this isn’t just a job—it’s a calling,” Marisa says. “We make sure no child goes hungry.
” Her other parents' team are deeply committed to ensuring that every meal is cooked with care and served with kindness. Their behind-the-scenes efforts are integral to the success of the lunch programme.
Children’s Voices
Our students share with delight their favourite meals:
“My favourite food is githeri corn and beans!”
“I enjoy eating the fruits they give us—watermelon, oranges, and bananas are my favourites!”
These sentiments reflect the success of the programme in creating not just nutritious meals, but meals that children truly enjoy.
Holiday Feeding Initiative
When schools close for holidays, many families struggle to meet their children’s nutritional needs. To address this gap, we have extended the feeding programme to include holiday food packs for any food supplies that remain at the end of the term for families. This initiative ensures children continue to receive essential nutrition even when school is out of session.
This combined approach—daily school meals and holiday feeding support—offers a consistent safety net for our most vulnerable children.
Solar Light Distribution - Lighting Up Young Futures!
We are pleased to report that Day 1 of our solar light distribution went very well!
A big thank you to the teachers and school teams whose support and coordination made the distribution smooth and impactful.
After spending a long time in the customs warehouse, the solar lights finally got some much-needed sunlight—charging up and ready to serve the learners who need them most.
We remain truly grateful to our partners, especially Solar Buddy, and all supporters who have made this project possible. A full progress report will be shared with the team soon, and we are committed to ensuring that every child receives their light.
So far, the lights have been successfully delivered to the following schools:
Oloika moshoro Primary
Nkama primary school
Eroret Comprehensive
Mpirishi Primary
Enkoireroi school
Olodungoro Primary
Nkuyan Adam school
Taritik Primary
Each school received their allocated (125) units, and the head teachers have acknowledged receipt with appreciation. In some schools, distribution was accompanied by short sessions on how to use and maintain the solar lights properly.
Community Response
We’ve received overwhelming positive feedback from both pupils and teachers. Many schools have shared how the lights are already making a difference for pupils' evening study time and household use. Some schools recorded video thank-you messages which we are compiling for sharing.
Outstanding Requests
Over 1,300 additional requests for solar lights have been received from the same school communities, highlighting the continued and growing need for these resources.
Recharging the solar lights in Kajiado in readiness for school distribution
Oloika Moshoro solar lights distribution
Eroret school solar lights distribution
New year, New kitchen for Nkuyan Adam school!
In December last year, once again we are proud to partner with CANNASSIST African Relief Trust to start work on construct of a chool kitchen at Nkuyan Adam school in Kajiado West, the kitchen will be fitted with an energy saving cookstoves and hand washing station. With an additional works on classroom repairs and improvements.
Together, we will improve the quality of life for over 250 children in this Southern Rift Valley, Kenya.
This joint effort will address the educational inequalities for students in this region, and give students an opportunity to fully concentrate on their education, as well as increase their study time and keep them motivated! Progress of the kitchen construction todate.
Our school kitchen is now open!
The school kitchen, financially supported by German Embassy Nairobi and facilitated by Mando Maasai, is the first of its kind in Enkoireroi. It seeks to reduce excessive use of firewood, promote a healthier working environment and improve hygienic practices while preparing school meals.
The latest arrival in Enkoireroi - a 21,000 litre tank
The latest arrival in Nkuyan, a 20,000-litre tank to collect water during the rainy season. Maasai women, known as Maasai Women Empowerment, built it using bricks made of compressed earth (more about the technique here). Many hours will be saved by not having to fetch water from sources several miles away, plus the quality of the water will be much better. Another tank was recently completed at the Silan safe house.
Twenty-eight-year-old Agnes says money earned participating in Maasai Women Empowerment that helps with expenses for her eight children – school fees, clothes, food, etc. Having faced water shortages all her life, she decided to join the project to alleviate this issue, despite her husband trying to convince her not to so his favorite wife could replace her. She didn’t give in.
Agnes
Elizabeth’s Presentation for World Water Week
Elizabeth Lesale
I am Elizabeth Ntukai Lesale, born 25 years ago in the southern rift valley in Kenya in a small village called Eremit. If you have trouble remembering my name, just call me Maasai Women Empowerment.
There are many lofty quotes about “building blocks of society.” Below is a real one. This handmade brick is changing lives. How? Let me explain.
During our dry season people and animals have to go long distances to a water source. It falls on Maasai women to spend 5-8 hours a day collecting water – not to mention finding firewood, bear children, build the house and prepare food.
I kept asking myself, How can I change this? Well, together with other women we are making the impossible possible.
This little brick is key to making this happen.
Since Maasai women traditionally do not own herds, we have little voice in the community. But if we run small businesses and have income, our standing changes dramatically.
Tanks are needed to capture the heavy rains that usually happen in our region in March, April and May. There is much less rain during the rest of the year and normally none December through February. That is when the long walks to fetch water take over our lives. There are other repercussions. Livestock are obliged to move closer to any available water; this, in turn, leads to over–grazing in areas with a radius of about 10km. Granted, five catchment dams were built in the 1980s, but stored water in these lasts only three or four months.
Building with compressed earth is an old concept that has received renewed interest. This actually has a more important sounding name than “little brick”. It’s Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks or ISSBs. I like “little brick” better, but let's be technically correct.
Once a site for a water tank has been selected, soil is dug from the foundation area and nearby. The sieved, clay-ey soil is then mixed with a small amount of cement and manually pressed into a form. Note that electricity is not needed. Upon removal from the press, each block is checked for texture and quality before being stacked to dry. After 14 days, the bricks are fully cured with no need for firewood, thereby not contributing to deforestation nor resulting mud-slides. No extensive training in masonry is needed. The press is highly portable.
We received a grant to start this initiative from an NGO by the name of – you guessed it – MANDO, short for Matonyok Nomads Development Organization. Matonyok is a Maasai word meaning working together for success.
Maasai women making bricks
The grant covered initial training and equipment necessary to make the interlocking bricks. Curved ISSBs are used to construct water tanks and pit latrines. Formed with a sort of latch, they reduce the need for mortar while increasing strength. Once a tank is built, a sealant is applied to the inside of the tank for waterproofing. The density and strength of these blocks are comparable to concrete blocks, but they weigh half as much.
We already have three public tanks funded and under construction. Fourteen families are applying for tanks. Within a year our goal is to sell 40 tanks to families in the area and build 5-10 tanks at public locations like schools, markets and health centers. Within a year of being fully operational we expect to impact 5000 people.
Of course I couldn't do this alone.
I mobilized my community – mothers, girls, elders and moran who are young warriors. On market days I would look for women who might participate. First there were just six women. That grew to 12. We started by sharing cups, utensils and tools for agriculture and bead making. Three years ago 37 of us formed the very first group to the address the water challenges in my community. Thus, Maji Mama was born in Eremit. I was chosen as secretary because of how far I had gone in school. I am the only woman who can read and write in English, Swahili, and Maasai.
We empower ourselves by selling bricks, tanks and latrines. Women can access loans to pay for a tank for their own for their homes. For many of these women this is their first-ever loan. With the tank they can see an increase to their families' well being and a decrease in their work collecting water.
By becoming self employed, women gain standing in the community. If we own a business, men listen to what we have to say. Having our own money means we can make changes we want in our homes and community.
I must emphasize, employment is critical at this time. Because of long droughts, many Maasai have lost the bulk of their herds. To generate income they have resorted to charcoal burning, which is illegal, dangerous and causes deforestation. Employment making bricks is safe, better paying and good for the environment.
By the way, our business model has four products that create revenue for us women shareholders – fully constructed 10,000-liter tanks for approximately 50,000KES – that's 430 euros or 500 US Dollars – or 20,000-liter tanks for double that. Thirdly, fully constructed pit latrines for approximately 50,000KES. We also sell individual bricks to build houses.
Women shareholders of Maasai Women Empowerment earn revenue in two ways. First, the cost of labor to build tanks or latrines is factored directly into the cost. Also a 10% margin is factored in which is distributed to shareholders. Some of this margin also goes into a contingency and repair fund.
With the help of both the local and international NGOs that provided our initial grant, we have established a number of indicators to evaluate success. In the area of business development, we are instigating standard operating procedures for contracts, labor, quality control and marketing that can be used as a model for other women wanting to start a business like this. In the area of sales, the goal is 50 contracts for tanks at households, schools and churches by the end of the year. We currently have 15 prospective contracts we are working on. We are also connecting community members who cannot afford the full cost of a water tank with microloans. We are beginning to speak to farmers about rain tanks for irrigation.
There are two main risks we face. First, it's rain and climate change. While rains usually bring a lot of water in the spring, that usually lasts only a month. The past four years of drought would have made it difficult to get water to make ISSBs. This year, however, Kenya has been experiencing floods. Not only have hundreds of people perished, the floods washed out roads and bridges, making transportation difficult and slowing the startup of our initiative.
The second risk is land titles. Historically, Maasai land has been communal. Now that the Kenyan government is forcing us to settle, some of our land remains communal, but part of it has been divided into plots. This has caused a lot of confusion. On top of this, the cost for title transfers is so high, many of the titles are in the name of only one or two families. We need to make sure that land titles are clear and provide support for those who need titles cleared.
I want every girl in Kenya to be a woman with a dream. Together, we 37 maasai women are setting the pace. Not only do our tanks provide access to water, they create employment and help the environment. With more water security, there is more time to work on ways to improve our economic situation, improve nutrition and address climate challenges. This is our building block for society.
Children's clothing in Nkuyan
MANDO worked with the NCi Foundations, a UK-based charity which distributes children's clothes, books, shoes and toys, to receive an initial delivery of much-needed baby clothes for families in Nkuyan village. This is one of the most remote communities in MANDO's area. When temperatures drop, children here suffer since they often have only a piece of cloth to wrap around them. They get sick frequently.
520 school lunches now provided daily
Thanks to private donations solicited by MANDO, 520 pupils have lunches at Enkoireroi Primary School (Eremit community in Kajiado county, Kenya). Because some of the children walk up to 10 miles to school, many would drop out without something to get them through the day.
Benefits were almost immediately discernable: Increased school attendance, more energy and focus in the afternoon, better overall health and increased enrollment at the school.
Thanks to David Van't Hof of Portland, Oregon USA, donations have made possible two school years of lunches.
Donations are needed to make the program ongoing as well as to expand to two more schools - Nkuyan and Eremit primary schools which have 350 and 650 children respectively. Cost would be $3315 and $5685.
MANDO's sister nonprofit organization in the United States, Investments for Developing Communities (IDC), takes in and forwards donations.
The Maasai community whose children go to the school guard stored food, pay a parent a small fee to cook the food and supply water and fuel.
