Entrepreneurs of All Ages in Sikirar

Over the last several months, the community of Sikirar, in Kenya, has committed itself to new ways of generating sustainable income. The Emaiyanata women’s group has been learning how to write reports, divide roles and work in teams while choosing a leader with the skills necessary to lead them in sustainability projects. Through a positive attitude and coordination they believe they can find new ways to support their families.

Not to be outdone by the mamas, a men’s group has formed as well. Fifteen community men have banded together with the goal of farming goats. Each member will provide a goat and help the others rear healthy adult animals. Later, the men will sell their choice livestock at an increased price and invest their earnings in leasing land for further farming.

Even the children have gotten involved in building a sustainable future for Sikirar! Since planting their own kale garden earlier this year, the students of Sikirar Primary School have added guavas and onions to their crops and begun selling surplus food back to the community.

Not only that, but the students have invited their parents to help in the garden project as well. For a Kenyan community that has traditionally focused on animal farming rather than agricultural projects, this involvement marks a shift in the new, innovative ways that Maasai men and women are thinking about sustainability and alternative income.

With Sikirar Primary School recently implementing an environmental curriculum, the community’s families will soon be planning even more ecologically friendly ways to develop their land and their future!

To learn more about Free The Children’s work in Kenya, visit www.freethechildren.com/kenya