Have you heard about our projects?
We at Adumu Impact Fund have the ultimate goal of buying back Maasai ancestral land, and returning it to East African Maasai communities. These lands, that have been systematically taken through a government and private-entity supported project of land and wildlife tourismification, were once rangelands that supported the pastoralist way of life of East African indigenous communities like the Maasai.
While this project is core to our mission, there are a number of other Maasai-focused projects we’re working on as well, in the hopes of creating a more equitable safari tourism industry in East Africa. To center and empower the knowledge and skills that indigenous pastoral communities of the region harbor, we’ve chosen a few important projects on which to focus our energy, including:
_________________________________________________________________________
- Cultural Centers – Adumu Impact Fund is seeking to preserve the culture of Maasai communities for future generations through the building of Maasai cultural centers. In these spaces, our hope is that traditional elder knowledge and stories will be preserved and uplifted to sustain the longevity of Maasai culture. In addition, these Maasai-owned cultural centers will serve as embassies— places where visitors can learn about the history, language, and culture of the Maasai through respectful, interpersonal cultural exchange
- Maasai Owned Lodges – Many safari lodges in the region engage in anti-Maasai practices. Some lease out once-pastoralist land to indigenous pastoral communities for profits, while others forcefully evict Maasai communities from their ancestral lands. By opening Maasai cooperatively-owned lodges, Adumu Impact Fund plans to create sustainable, long term jobs for Maasai communities. As the Maasai inherently hold ecologically beneficial knowledge, their expertise in conservation and preservation will be beneficial to the environment, and to economic self-determination of the Maasai themselves.
- Maasai Warriors Training – While the Maasai have co-lived with East African wildlife for generations, recent increases in population size and changing livelihoods have altered the human-wildlife dynamic in the region, increasing the instance of dangerous conflict. Adumu Impact Fund is on the path towards supporting the anti-poaching efforts of Maasai warriors in order to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable wildlife species. By engaging in community based, indigenous centered conservation, we hope to cement the essential role of the Maasai in wildlife protection and anti-poaching efforts, while also transforming the livelihoods of poachers into wildlife protectors.
_________________________________________________________________________
If you’re interested in learning more about our projects, click on the projects tab at the top of this page!