Support for the Maasai & Samburu Tribes in Kenya

Elevate is donating $1,000 and matching up to $2,500 to raise life-sustaining funds for families in Kenya. We invite our friends, colleagues, and clients to join us with a financial contribution to help the people featured in the stories below with education, food, and supplies for daily living.

ELEVATE'S JOURNEY TO KENYA

This past October, four of Elevate's team members (and 20 of our nearest and dearest friends) took the trip of a lifetime to Kenya, Africa. While there, we spent several days with the Maasai and Samburu people witnessing first-hand the realities of life for semi-nomadic pastoralists in Africa. Despite the daily struggle for basic necessities (such as food & water) the families we met were filled with joy as they opened their villages to us. They were some of the happiest people we've ever met.

The Maasai and Samburu still follow ancient traditions - living off the land, collecting cattle as a sign of wealth, sleeping in small huts with dirt floors, and arranged marriages and lack of education for women.

DANIEL AND THE MAASAI - EDUCATION

Daniel, the leader of the Maasai village we visited, is working to change some of these traditions; specifically, educating his daughters and allowing them to choose their husbands. Education in Kenya is not free. Families must pay for their children to attend primary and secondary schools (up to $500 per year) and university (up to $2,000 per year).

While Daniel and his family work hard to provide for themselves (the women make and sell exquisite beaded jewelry and the family makes money opening their village to tourists), paying for education is difficult. Working with One Horizon, a non-profit organization that works with native Kenyans to provide resources, we hope to pay the $3,000 annual tuition for Daniel's children.

ERIC AND THE MAASAI - FOOD & SUPPLIES

Eric is a Maasai Warrior and runs excursions at the first Kenyan camp we visited. Eric took us to his small village of a dozen homes made of clay and cow dung to meet his family. Cattle, which are how the Maasai acquire wealth, are prized and sleep in the middle of the village for protection. Like Daniel, we experienced typical life for the villagers - where food and water can be challenging. A portion of the funds raised through this effort will provide food and supplies for Eric's village.

JAMES BOND AND THE SAMBURU - FOOD & SUPPLIES

We met James Bond (we called him 007 because he is about to have his 7th child, two of which he adopted when they were abandoned) who is a safari driver and also his local tribe's ambassador. We visited James' village where we fell in love with the children. Like other tribal Kenyans, his people work hard beading and crafting to make money to survive. In his village, homes are made from found trash such as discarded cardboard, plastic bags, and scraps of wood. The village moves location regularly based on sources of water and available land to farm (often competing with wildlife like hippos and crocodiles).