The Resilient Women of Kenya

Overview

In Kenya women play an important role in society and are not only care-givers and protectors but are often responsible for key events in a family’s life. In Maasai communities’ women build the homes and ensure their young sons and daughters make the transition into adulthood in the traditional way. Other resilient Kenyan women include Kikuyu grandmothers who play a vital role in raising their grandchildren and extended families, and One Horizon supports a pig farm initiative to improve the livelihoods of grandmothers by empowering them through small-scale farming. By the end of this One Horizon day tour, you’ll have visited two local communities most travellers never get to see. Not only that, but you’ll get to hear their stories, see how they live, and gain a greater understanding of the strength of Kenyan women.

The itinerary

Meeting Maasai Women

The Maasai are proud semi-nomadic pastoral people who have age-old traditional cultural practices and rituals. Every member of the family takes on certain roles and responsibilities and it is the women that build the manyattas (homesteads), care for the children, ensure their young sons successfully make the transition from a young boy to a moran, or warrior, and their daughters are prepared for their weddings. Your One Horizon guide will pick you up from your Nairobi hotel in the morning and we go to an area known as Kiserian, the traditional homeland of the Maasai and you might catch a glimpse of herds of cows and goats being herded by the tribesmen. Here you will be invited to visit a village and meet some amazing Maasai women, and in one of the manyattas your host, partly through traditional verse and song will give insight into what being a Maasai woman means, with all its rituals and obligations. You’ll also get the opportunity to try some traditional food, join in the infectious singing and dancing, and the women will show you how to make a traditional Maasai beaded wristband to take home with you as a memory of your day.

Visiting a self-reliant grandmother’s farm

In the afternoon we drive you to a Kikuyu village on the outskirts of Nairobi, where Kenyan grandmas are often responsible for raising their grandchildren and others in their family when parents can no longer look after them. You meet some endearing and entrepreneurial grandmothers who are beating their generational cycle of poverty by operating their own pig farm, which is a project supported by One Horizon to improve their livelihoods by empowering them and providing an income through small-scale farming. Additionally the bio-gas system creates energy out of the waste to power their homes which means that the family no longer has to cut down trees for cooking and heating purposes. Your tour fees and visit support their training, as well as veterinary care and feed for the pigs, and this is a rare opportunity to support a grassroots social enterprise. You will be shown around and pitch in with the chores if you like, join in some joyful singing and dancing over a cup of local tea or chai, and by sharing lots of laughter and listening to their inspirational stories, you’ll get a real insight into the strength and resilience of these remarkable Kenyan women.