OUR IMPACT
Maasai Partners, under Ngorongoro Community Network, Inc. was founded in 2011 by Judith Lane. Since then, our network has served as a connection between our Tanzanian communities and other non-profit organizations. By finding, supporting and collaborating with other non-profits, we have helped to organize and fund a variety of projects within the Arusha region.
CURRENT & PAST PROGRAMS, AT A GLANCE:
Kindergartens
Goat Program
Clean Cook Stoves
Women’s Microloans
Scholarships
Health Care
Beekeeping
Read on below to learn more about each of these programs!
We built three kindergarten classrooms in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, completing them in 2016. Children, who would otherwise enter primary school unable to succeed, can now have a chance at a more effective education.
Prior to this, children did not manage to pass the National Exam which is required for them to continue onto their secondary education. Maasai children, who speak only Maa (which has no written langauge) would enter first grade with no reading/ writing/ counting skills and were not even able to hold a pencil or speak the language of the teachers (Swahili). With the addition of kindergarten they were now ready to move on to first grade able to read, write, use numbers, and speak Swahili (the official language of Tanzanian schools).
This project was community-requested and high up on the priority list of the Maasai community. Correctly identified by them, the benefits have been tremendous, and quantitatively impactful.
In 2016 Maasai Partners teamed up with Sisters for Peace and AMSO to complete our third and final kindergarten in the conservation area. Prior to this none of our three villages had enough classroom space to provide kindergarten for it’s children.
We have given out hundreds of goats to village women who previously owned no livestock, providing a much needed source of food and income.
Reduced CO2 levels by 90% in 100 Maasai homes.
Working with Maasai Stoves and Solar, this initiative gave skills and jobs to the initial 20 women trained to build the stoves, which virtually eliminated smoke and toxins from inside homes and drastically reduced local deforestation and fire-related accidents involving children.
This was a pilot program for us; unfortunately we found that transportation costs were too high (due to the remoteness of the area) for it to be an ongoing, sustainable program.
We have supported dozens of Maasai women and their families through direct buying and selling of their beadwork (thank you to those who have supported this effort) and also by connecting them to other supportive partners.
We have given out thousands of microloans to Maasai and Iraqw women through collaborations with various Tanzanian community-based organizations such as GWOCO (Ganako Women’s Community Organization), ReCAF (Resilient Communities Africa Foundation) and AMSO (Alailelai Maasai Sustainability Organization), as well as by partnering with US-based non-profits such as WMI (Women’s Microfinance Initiative) and UK-based non-profits such as WTWT (Weston Turville Wells for Tanzania). This program offers these women an opportunity to start or expand a business, support their families and gain important skills and training. By organizing community projects, the microfinance program empowers women within their communities to create positive, tangible change so their impact is obvious to all members of the community.
We have sponsored more than 40 students through various private, English language-based schools including Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary, and University (Graduate and Post-Graduate). We have also put students through private vocational programs. We are currently sponsoring 28 students in total, and always adding more! Without these scholarships, the students would not have been able to continue, or finish, their education. They are always very grateful for this support.
We sponsored over 500 medical visits to FAME Medical in Karatu, where patients receive top-level medical care.
We sponsored 150 families to receive health care access before the Tanzanian government ended the program.
This means those who might otherwise not have the financial means or physical access to medical attention were able to visit either a local dispensary or health center.
We support a full-scale Mobile Medical Clinic in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, run by Dr. Shemaghembe.
When comparing Dr. Shemaghembe’s impact with that of the government in 2022, for example, his mobile clinic administered 36,775 vaccines, mainly to children under 5 years old, which constituted 54% of all vaccinations given in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area that year. The government static health clinic staff administered the other 46% of vaccines, in comparison. Dr. Shemaghembe has continued to surpass them each year since.
FAME Medical Clinic in Karatu
Dr. Shemaghembe’s Mobile Medical Clinic