Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: KenyanPlato on February 06, 2025, 05:07:32 PM
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Trump belligerence won't impact this organization that I support because most donors are Americans not federal govt
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Women in Olmoti, Kenya, standing proudly in front of their new water tank.
How Changes to USAID are Affecting Water is Life Kenya
Dear KenyanPlato,
We want to update you on how recent changes to federal aid programs such as USAID are affecting our work in Kenya.
To keep it simple: We are unaffected.
We say “Thank you” a lot in these email newsletters. The reason is that our grassroots organization—that began 18 years ago in Newark, DE—is supported by thousands of incredibly generous individual donors and several private foundations. If you’re reading this email, you’re one of the people who makes our work possible.
Here is a breakdown of our funding sources, per our 2023 financials:
72% Individual Donations
23% Private Foundations / Grants
5% Beaded Handicraft Sales
0% Federal Aid
Early on, Joyce and Larasha realized that this work is powerful and uplifting, not only for the beneficiaries in Kenya but also for our supporters in the U.S. When we present our work at a church or conference, people approach us wanting to get involved. Many say they have been waiting for something like WILK to come along.
We hope our donors are uplifted by our message of hope and direct approach to helping people fulfill their potential.
Over time, we’ve prioritized involving as many people as possible in our mission and spreading hope to our U.S. donor family. As a result, we’ve focused more on individuals and less on federal grants. This decision—and YOUR donations—have liberated us, allowing us to do incredible work and spread hope in the process. Thanks to you, we are continuing with “business as usual” in Kenya.
So, once again, we say “Thank you.” Your generosity has ensured that our work with Maasai communities in Kenya will continue, without interruption, long into the future.
ASANTE SANA — “THANK YOU SO MUCH,”
The WILK Team
Women rejoice while collecting clean water for the first time in Lositeti (February, 2024).
Hope for Widows Program Update
More Rain, More Business, & More Goats!
It's been raining in Kajiado County, Kenya, so we were only able to meet with widows from the Lenkisem group at the beginning of the month to check on their businesses.
Now that the holidays are over and kids are back in school, business is better. Also, from the goats these widows received at the recent Goats, Grants, & Graduation Ceremony, eight baby goats have been born and more are on the way!
Lenkisem widows at their recent meeting (February, 2025).
We hope that, once the rain stops, we'll have even more good news from the other widows' groups.
Spotlight: Black History Month
Maasai History is Black History
In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting unique aspects of Maasai culture. In doing so, we hope to show why it’s important to help the Maasai maintain their culture in an ever-changing world.
Women and their children gather for a WILK meeting.
Maasai culture is old, traditional, and multifaceted. Maasai are semi-nomadic pastoralists originating in the grasslands of East Africa. Their culture evolved as herding communities followed seasonal rainfall in search of fresh pasture. In fact, if you look at the below map of human migration, the very first humans (~ 250,000 years ago) were from the same area the Maasai have lived for thousands of years.
Source: https://phys.org
Maasai culture is both fixed and flexible. Since the beginning, it has been under threat, first from natural threats like drought and lions, and later from colonial superpowers. Modernity, especially land-use laws, has forced Maasai culture to change. Though the Maasai can’t totally continue a nomadic existence, they still keep many of their cultural traditions.
Maasai is one of 45 recognized indigenous tribes in Kenya and is one of the few to inhabit its ancestral lands—along the Kenyan-Tanzanian border. Recently, Maasai have recently been relegated to areas less conducive to nomadic life. However, what has remained through the centuries is an aspect paramount to Maasai life and culture—livestock keeping.
A map of Maasailand across the Kenyan and Tanzanian borders.
Cows are everything to Maasai herders. Culturally, men with the largest herds of cattle are considered the wealthiest. The Maasai word for cow (“Engiteng”) has the same root as the word for God, (“Engai”). People love their livestock like family members, calling each by name and caring for them as children.
Although the concept of “cattle as cash” is ingrained in Maasai culture, the ways cows are cultivated have had to change over time. Through our Livestock as a Business program, herders learn how to maintain healthy cows that can be sold for a higher price. Rather than having the most cattle, Maasai are learning to make better business decisions without changing or abandoning their cultural traditions.
Even Maasai women are livestock herders.
The culture has had to adapt to a changing environment, too. With more extensive droughts occurring more often, sufficient water and grass are harder to find so men have had to extend grazing practices beyond their normal areas. Our new Planning for Pasture program is supporting the renewal of critical grass resources that have been depleted in recent years due to poor management.
Respect for Maasai lifestyles, beliefs, and practices is necessary if we want to work together. The Maasai have been resilient enough to withstand colonization, plagues, and conflicts. WILK’s role is to help Maasai have the basic essentials of clean water and economic freedom so they can choose how to live. We introduce new ideas into an ancient culture, in turn helping Maasai preserve their traditions. At the same time, this increased freedom allows families to for benefit from social institutions (like schools and businesses).
A Maasai herder watering his cows at a WILK borehole.
As Maasai culture continues to adapt and change, so will our approach to working together. We hope this glimpse into the ancient Maasai culture was insightful as you celebrate Black History Month!
2024 was our most successful year ever. We’ll provide a financial update in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you need any documents for your 2024 taxes, don’t hesitate to email us at info@waterislifekenya.org.
And, if you’d like to kick off your 2025 giving strong, please visit our website and make a donation today. Your support makes all the difference!
With hope,
The WILK Team
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