Empowering Women

Imagine if your spouse controlled every cent of the family budget—and you never had a penny to call your own. Imagine the impact on your life, your well-being, your self-worth. That’s how life has always been for Maasai women. But at the Esilalei Women’s Cultural Boma, things are starting to change.

The Cultural Boma, an innovative and ambitious conservation business venture, is built on a simple premise – women are the key to wildlife conservation. Here, Maasai women are leading the charge for conservation and building their own economic and social capacity through a modern cultural tourism enterprise.

A boma is a traditional Maasai enclosure with huts made from mud and cow dung. A cultural boma is designed to attract tourists interested in seeing the way that Maasai live and typically features cultural demonstrations and handicrafts. Though Maasai cultural bomas have become a regular stop on many wildlife safaris, few are of high enough quality to be sustainable businesses or authentic enough to do justice to the cultures they represent.

The goal of the Esilalei Women’s Cultural Boma is to create a viable small enterprise that combines conservation-based tourism with opportunities for disadvantaged women.

Built on the site of an older, less successful boma, the new cultural boma boasts a building that reflects Maasai design but is also modern, full of light, and complete with interactive displays, photos and handicraft sales—all sitting side by side with a more traditional boma. Here, choruses of warriors perform traditional dances, while the women make, display and sell their intricate handicrafts.

At Esilalei, the women of the boma manage everything from making handicrafts to running the tourism enterprise. The Esilalei Women Cultural Boma has demonstrated not only that empowering women can benefit conservation but also that conservation can benefit local women. The boma helps Maasai women build confidence, leadership and business skills and become female role models in the community.

“Wildlife conservation happens when women participate,” says Josephine Simon, AWF’s Community Conservation Officer for Gender in Tanzania. “Conservation is about the next generation – our children. And, women are the ones who teach the children."

With marketing help from AWF and new efforts to promote the boma to tour operators and bus drivers, the Esilalei Women’s Cultural Boma promises to be an economic success. But more importantly, it is giving these Maasai women their economic independence. In 2003, the average monthly income for the women of Esilalei was just $300. In 2004, the average was $900.

Already, a new emphasis on children’s education and health is beginning to show. Women are making their voices heard, their priorities known and their impact felt throughout the community.

Located on a key road for visiting national parks in the northern circuit, Esilalei is a convenient addition to most safaris, and many safari drivers are familiar with it. From Arusha, after turning left at the Makuyuni junction, Esilalei is 17.5 km down the road. From Serengeti-Ngorongoro-Manyara, Esilalei is about 16 km after MtoWaMbu. The boma is open every day 8 am - 6 pm. Visitors may come without notice.

> Click here to view a brochure about the Esilalei Women's Cultural Boma.

The Mshikamano women's group was started in 2000 by 30 women from Mwada village in Burunge Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Babati District.

It is located about 138 km due west of Arusha town in Manyara region in an area which borders a portion of Kwakuchinja Wildlife Corridor and Tarangire National Park to the northwest, Manyara Ranch to the north and Lake Manyara National Park to the west.

The main objective of forming the group was to help these women reap the benefits of growing tourism activities in the area following establishment of Burunge Wildlife Management Area where at least two tented lodges (Maramboi and Lake Burunge) are operated by a private investor (Kibo Safaris Ltd).

In August 2004, with financial support from the USAID, AWF trained the Mshikamano women's group on business skills, marketing and improvement of design, style of baskets, mats and other weaved products, and mats which they sell to both locals and tourists coming to the WMA. The impact of this training was realized very soon when the group was selected to represent the district at Saba Saba Agricultural Show the following year in 2005 in Dar es Salaam.

USAID continued to support this group by financing construction of a simple business center, which the group has come to refer in Kiswahili as a banda. Upon completion, they will use this facility as a business office, store, and a meeting point for the group. Construction started late in 2006 and was completed toward the end of 2007. As a result of having this simple structure, in December last year, the Mshikamano women's group received the order to make baskets for Lake Burunge Tented Lodge. They earned a historical amount of $1,125 on a single order which is a remarkable income by their standards. The center is also benefiting none-member women who are given access to sell their products at the banda at no charge.

In June 2010, the Mshikamano women's group participated in a popular summer 77 trade fair in Dar es Salaam. As a result, they received an order to produce products worth $1,530. This will be a permanent business link if they sustain production of quality products.

Members of the Mshikamano women's group are dedicated to their work in spite of many challenges facing their enterprises, such as lack of capital needed to purchase raw materials for their handicraft production. They would also like to add new products such as beads and shukas to their banda to meet the needs of their clients. The total of Tshs 5,000,000 will add a lot of value and strength to their enterprise and benefit more disadvantaged families who depend on this enterprise for their livelihood.

> Click here to view the Mwada-Mshikamano Women's Group Brochure.