How It All Started

Looking at all that has been accomplished since our first visit in 2012, I am humbled!! We were so inspired by meeting Clamian, meeting the Mamas, our safari and the beautiful people, animals and landscapes of Tanzania that I came home knowing that this trip was so much more than ticking one more item off my "bucket list."  I had to go back! I wanted to help in some way and we had the support of our Spiritual Community, The Centre for Inspired Living in Victoria, BC.  None of this would have gotten off the ground without their unconditional support.

We started by asking the Maasai, through our friend Clamian, how we could help them.  It took a couple of weeks for them to discuss this, because needs are great and resources non existent; there were big choices to be made.  They considered a medical clinic, water and a school -- all basic services that we take for granted but missing in the lives of these people.  They decided that education for their children was their #1 priority.  This was a goal that was totally in alignment for our Victoria group and we overwhelmingly agreed to help them. This was a Maasai community driven project right from the beginning!

The first thing the Maasai village asked for was a brick maker.  We raised $1200, they bought the brick maker and started making bricks for the first school classroom in late 2012.  We held 2 more fundraising events and raised enough money to build the small school.  In May of 2013 a group of 14 people from the Centre went to Tanzania to join the Maasai in "Raising the Roof" on the school.  It was life changing for the Maasai people and for us!!  One of the participants from this first group raised money and led an initiative to pipe water about 5km to the community -- a game-changer!  Another participant built a retail shop for the Mamas to sell their beautiful beadwork.  Two more women from our group were instrumental in introducing Friends4Good to our village and two more classrooms were built, one of them by a group of volunteers from Victoria -- in 8 days!!!  The mamas now have a second business; a sewing shop.  Friends4Good generously donated money to start a pig farm, which now has over 40 pigs and will support the operation of the school by 2018.

What's down the road?  It's mind boggling to me sometimes.  I Skype with Clamian about once a week; sows are birthing piglets, he's looking at a "poop to power" project to process the pig manure, the farm is being considered as a model farm for the region, water lines are being extended within the village.  They need to build roads, acquire solar panels, build more classrooms, hire new teachers and enrol new students. Maasai adults are learning new skills and being employed right in their own village.  So much to do -- I wish I were independently wealthy, so we could just move forward!  But I know we will find a way -- we always do!

Water, a human right?

I remember a story our guide, Jackson, told us last year about one of his clients, an Italian woman, who went home and raised enough money to bring water to his mother's village. (See my early post, "Jackson's story") For $5000, they brought water to the village and it changed everything.  The biggest impact was on the school children because it meant that 700 children could have their morning meal there -- often their only meal of the day.  That was a teachable moment for me --- look at the value and impact money can have for Africans when it is thoughtfully and lovingly directed.

I was looking at the receipts I received for the construction of the foundation and it struck me that water was close to 10% of the cost.  Do we even consider that as an expense when we are building something here?  Don't we just turn on the tap and use as much as we want?  We recently did a renovation and I don't remember ever paying for water!

Searching for, waiting for, and hauling water is an activity that takes up much of a Maasai woman's day.  When we were in Tanzania last year, we witnessed women standing in long lines waiting for water from a single well and then hauling it on their heads for long distances to marginally meet the needs of their families.

"The Mamas"

In Maasai culture, female relatives are all called "Mama" and one day Clamian took us to meet his "Mamas".  This was actually a women's co-op created to help women support their families.  You see, when a Maasai woman loses her husband to AIDS, illness or anything else, she becomes ineligible to re-marry and must provide for her children.

Clamian is a Maasai Junior Elder, so it is his responsibility to help his people.  He created this co-op to help these women support their children.  He told us a story about how one of his clients bought a cow for one of the women, giving her milk for her children and a degree of wealth, as in their culture, wealth is measured in cattle.


This large group of women make jewelry to sell to tourists.  Each one of them has a story, and we were anxious to help.

 We had such fun buying pieces that we thought would sell in the new Etsy Store, Jambo Creations

Now we had the connection, the circle was complete.  We could support the "Mamas" by buying their jewelry as the starting point for our own creations, sell it online, and send the profits to help the school to buy textbooks. 

We bid the "Mamas" goodbye and Clamian assured us that we had helped some people eat better that day.

Jackson's story

First of all, there was Jackson's story. One of his clients, an Italian woman, wanted to help after he had taken her to his village to visit his mother. After seeing that Jackson's mother had to walk for miles to get water, which she carried home in a big heavy jug on her head, this woman went back to Italy to raise money to bring water to the village. As a result of her efforts, the village had water, the school had water which enabled them to give each of the 700 children fresh water and breakfast each day. We asked him how much the project cost, expecting to hear a very large number for something that would make a difference for so many. $5000 was the figure and we were inspired that we too, could make a difference in some lives in Tanzania.

Jackson tells us about a village water project

And then as we drove along on our way to the Serengeti, we knew we wanted to do more and Jambo Creations was born over the next 10 days in our Land Cruiser and midwifed by our guides, Clamian and Jackson. Andrea had the initial idea. Why not create a line of fashion products to sell on Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/people/JamboCreations?ref=si_pr with the proceeds going to help the school?