Economic Development

Over the past three years we have completed many projects that have contributed to the economic development of Mairowa. The most important by far is the water project which is comprised of a well, a 120,000 liter water tank, and an irrigation system. Clean water is now available for drinking, bathing, building, agriculture, and cooking. Like an oasis in the desert, having water available everyday is changing the lives of the Massai people.

Most Massai do not eat eggs or birds due to superstitions, but by feeding eggs and then chicken meat to the children in our feeding program, we were able to show than that their superstitions were not true. We built over a dozen chicken coops for local widows and supplied each coop with 8 – 15 chickens. These chicken coops provide the widows with food to feed their families and also a source of income since the widows can sell their extra eggs in the local market. Now when we go to Mairowa, we see chickens everywhere.

When we started building the school, we required that all of the bricks be made locally in Mairowa. With water available, locals were hired and taught to make the bricks to help build the school. This created some jobs and gave locals useful skills and a sense of accomplishment through their participation in the project. The next time we visited we noticed new brick homes were being built and this trend continues today. In 2008 we sent one team to help build homes for a blind man and his son and a widow and her children then we sent a second team to work on homes for teachers at the school.

In January of 2008, we approved and paid for the plowing of one acre of land inside the school compound and ran a water line to it for irrigation. The results have been incredible. They have been growing a variety of amazing crops ever since that are used to feed the children. The extra produce is sold at the market which provides additional income for the village. On Saturdays, women from the village come to learn how to plant and care for the village garden. In the spring of 2009 we will introduce small drip irrigation systems that can be used to provide water for individual gardens at their bomas.