Help us get White Stone Village Foundation off the ground!

The White Stone Village Foundation

From Surviving to Thriving

The White Stone Village Foundation is a new Maasai-led initiative started by Meg and Paul Loth focused on cultivating land stewardship while honoring ancestral cultural practices and knowledge in the Maasai village of Loiborsoit within the Simanjiro District, Tanzania.

Currently, the Loiborsoit area has become home to newly displaced Maasai from Loliando, who have been forcibly evicted and are still experiencing PTSD. The village is facing a critical intersection of forced displacement, climate migration, soil degradation from colonial-introduced unsustainable monoculture farming, flood loss, and the further effects of the climate crisis.

Our collaborative vision is already in action to restore natural vitality and help build a more resilient, supported, and thriving community in this 20-mile-radius village by integrating the following projects in Loiborsoit:

Current projects:

The Demo Boma

A small Maasai homestead consisting of 3 family houses.

The demonstration boma is a real working model of Maasai-led homesteading with food gardening, tree planting, and diversified livestock raising that shows how these integrated practices can create a sustainable way of life that both honors traditional Maasai cultural values and ancestral knowledge of the land.

Budget for continuing this project is 1 million TZS (400 USD) per month (4,800 USD per year).

The Sustainable Farm

This project is working with several farmers and Maasai land stewards on 15 acres of biodiverse native agricultural crops cultivated together using more sustainable methods that protect environmental health for community and village sustenance. The goal is to become completely sustainable over the next 5 years. We are utilizing peer-to-peer mentorship from Maasai farmers in Kenya who have been successfully using cattle-integrated permaculture farming.

Budget needed to continue: 30,000,000 TZS (12,000 USD).

Waste Management

This is an ongoing initiative to compost, recycle, and collect all plastic, transitioning away from single-use plastics into reusable and repurposed materials throughout the village.

Budget: 200 USD per month (2,400 USD per year).

Re-Forestation Program

Planting and protecting 100 native tree species per season, and caretaking native plants and land using traditional indigenous methods of respect, reciprocity, and relationship with nature for long-term ecosystem recovery and support.

Budget: 2,000 USD per year.

Flood Loss Reimbursement

Heavy flooding caused many farmers to lose crops this year. This was financially devastating, as many of these farmers had taken out high-interest loans to cover their initial costs, loans they planned to pay back with money from crops that were lost.

We are hoping to raise funds to help recover some of this loss.

Estimate: 6,000 USD.

We are looking to raise funds for:

- covering initial startup costs

- reimbursing funds used during the recent flood loss in the village

- funding our first projects

Initial startup costs:

650 USD for registering as tax-exempt

10,000 USD for staff labor and salaries for the first year

Fundraising Goal: 33,000 USD