Earlier this month, Land & Life Foundation and PARC celebrated the rehabilitation of a borehole in Borana conservancy with a newly installed solar pump. Land & Life Foundation organised for six Maasai women from two different women’s groups in Amboseli to attend the celebration and witness the commissioning of the solar powered borehole. PARC and Land & Life Foundation will be doing the same rehabilitation for the Esiteti Primary School borehole in Amboseli, Kenya which will provide water to the school and surrounding communities.

During their visit to Borana, the women were introduced to an incredibly inspirational group of women based in Laikipia - the Chui Mamas. The Chui Mamas are a women’s empowerment group made up of Maasai women from the Laikipia region who engage in income generating activities such as beading, soapmaking, dressmaking and tailoring. The area they come from has been subject to high levels of human-wildlife conflict, but the Chui Mamas understand the need for co-existence and therefore are also involved in conservation education helping to sensitise the communities in their area.

The women from Amboseli spent a day with the Chui Mamas and visited the Chui Mama’s Centre where they exchanged ideas and skills that could be replicated in Amboseli and will help to uplift women in the region. They learnt about soapmaking, dressmaking, beading and how best to retail them, how to set-up shambas to grow vegetables, and probably the most interesting - how to make paper from Elephant dung!