Napokie Project

The Napokie Project is aimed at putting the agency back into Maasai communities to be self-determined with the power to dictate their own development based off the specific educational needs of the Maasai people. We want to create an educational template that addresses cultural needs and inculcates cultural knowledge and practices into the curriculum while at the same time teaching Maasai children basic needs to succeed in school. Our initiatives will begin with three projects in Tanzania directed by the representatives from each project. The first project is located in the district of Simanjiro where there is a running nursery school called the Namelock Nursery School. The school was started by a Maasai activist named Nasinyari Marko with her own money, but the school is in need of resources to become sustainable and to continue its development. The Namelock Nursery School currently has an active school board with eight board members from the community including a Maasai elder working as the chairperson. The second project is located in the village of Mrandawa. Mrandawa has thirty-seven students being taught by two teachers under a nearby Acacia tree. The third project is the Napokie Arusha School that focuses on teaching reading and writing, along with Swahili and English to Maasai men and women that come into the town of Arusha from their villages to find employment. Many Maasai travel to town due to struggling socioeconomic conditions in their villages, usually caused by land disputes and periodic droughts that have killed off many of the cattle that the Maasai depend on for food. Maasai men commonly find employment as watchmen who guard houses sometimes up to twenty-four hours a day while women tend to rely on selling Maasai beadwork in the markets and on the street. Maasai are relegated to this position in the town of Arusha due to their lack of education. Many Maasai coming into town do not know how to read or write or speak the language of Swahili. The Napokie Arusha School focuses on adult education for men and women in the town of Arusha. In addition, we will be teaching subjects adhering to the national standards of education so future graduates can take the secondary school national examination and receive their secondary school certificates. We believe that in the future they will be able to assist in the educational development initiatives in their villages. Therefore, the education of Maasai in Arusha will assist in the development of education in Maasai communities. These three projects will have a productive resource-sharing partnership under the Napokie Project. Our long term mission is to create a self-determined, unique school program and educational curriculum that is aimed at the specific needs of the Maasai. We are beginning with building a nursery school in Mrandawa to give the children basic needs to succeed in primary school. In addition, we will be focusing on further developing the Namelock Nursery School in Simanjiro while beginning a Maasai-oriented primary school. In the future, both communities will have running nursery, primary, and secondary schools that address the needs of the Maasai children. All three projects will involve the help of volunteers who will teach with the local Maasai teachers and tutor the local teachers to develop an excellent school curriculum. Once this is completed, we will spread our template to other disadvantaged Maasai communities. Throughout the process we will be encouraging the full participation of the communities and will incorporate Maasai knowledge and history into the curriculum, putting a particular focus on inviting Maasai elders into the classroom to teach the children about their traditional knowledge. This project is unique because it is run by Maasai from each community who understand the needs of their community and the importance of creating fluidity between the necessary formal education and the children’s traditional education. Our methods to reach our objectives will involve obtaining funding from sponsors and interested organizations, encouraging the full participation of the communities to help us meet our goals, and creating a sustainable volunteer program that will involve suggested donations that will go into the program, along with needed teaching assistance and curriculum formation. We are aimed at creating a unique community project that will be centered on putting the agency back into Maasai communities. The Napokie Project is directed by the Maasai activists/organizers from each village/project; thus, the decisions and organization of the project will be dictated by the community of each village rather than any outside force determining a community’s needs and development. The Napokie Project’s central purpose will be creating an atmosphere of self-determination in each community.