Providing Mentorship, Educational and Community Resources
Site
Kajiado County, Kenya
launched
October 1, 2018
partners
Maasai Indigenous Projects (MIP)
Located in the southern part of Kenya, Kajiado County is home to a Maasai community of approximately 200,000. In the Maa language, Elatia means ‘neighbor,’ and our partners chose that name to describe the next related project of building community centers adjacent to water wells.
Elatia Community Centers will be designed to be focal points for neighborhood activities. By building them next to the new water wells, they will be natural gathering places for the community to gather informally, as well as participate in various community activities. The Elatia Centers will offer educational activities and mentorship resources for youth and provide a venue for collaborative projects with communities in Wisconsin, USA. As community centers they can be used as hubs for various meetings, conferences on community issues, and youth recreational programs such as reading and chess clubs, soccer leagues and other athletic events. Furthermore, they will act as rescue centers for girls and women, who are either at risk of circumcision or who need reconstructive surgery after circumcision, or who are being forced into early marriage.
Indimark and the Maasai Indigenous Projects group will work with local communities to secure clean, safe, and easily accessible sources of water and to select well locations where community centers can be built nearby.
What We Are Doing:
1.
Secure agreements from local land owners to donate land adjacent to new water wells to build three Elatia Community Centers in Ilngarrooj, Loodariak, and Meindanyi villages in Kajiado County (Target Completion Date: mid 2019; Cost: $180 legal fees for all three sites).
2.
Conduct surveys and finalize blue prints and site plans to obtain zoning permits from local authorities with help from local representatives from the three villages (Target Completion Date: mid 2019; Cost: est. $4500 for all three sites)
3.
Continue fundraising to build and equip the Elatia Community Centers in each of the three villages. Enlist volunteers from Wisconsin and Kajiado County communities to help build the Elatia Community Centers (Targeted Completion Date: beginning of 2020; Cost: $75, 000 - $100,000 per community center).