Help MWCT Win the Holiday Charity Challenge!

Today’s blog post is about an extremely important opportunity to directly help MWCT!  We’re competing in Mozilla’s Firefox Challenge, a competition held over the holidays to see which charity can raise the most money.  You can learn more about the challenge here, but it boils down to this: Mozilla is donating $50,000 to the charity that raises the most funds, and with your help we can all work together to get MWCT this money! 

Support our continued work with the Maasai of Kuku Group Ranch!

So donate if you can, and tell all your friends – the competition runs for nearly two more weeks through January 10^th.  Mozilla is donating $50,000 to the 1^st Place charity, $30,000 to 2^nd Place, and $20,000 to 3^rd Place; we’re currently locked in a battle for the lead.  As an added incentive, Edward Norton is donating a bunch of signed merchandise almost every day from now until the end of the contest!  You can learn more and win the prizes on this page. 

Win signed merchandise from famous actor Edward Norton!

With your help, we can win the prize and help MWCT expand its goals for the coming year!  Please spread the word, and donate if you can – we truly appreciate all of the support and generosity you’ve shown MWCT in 2012, and we’re looking forward to an even brighter 2013. 

http://www.crowdrise.com/edwardMFC/fundraiser/edwardnorton

Conservation Update - Lion Hunt Stopped

Today's news is about one of the scariest parts of MWCT's Conservation Program - but also one of its most important.  The traditional response to livestock predation of Maasai cattle and goats has been to hunt and kill the offending lion, hyena, or leopard.  With the introduction of our Wildlife Pays initiative, MWCT has sought to change this paradigm by partial compensation to herders for verified losses, thereby helping the Maasai to see these endangered predators as a potential source of income rather than a nuisance to be eliminated.

A Maasai zone elder speaks with the warriors, convincing them to abandon their lion hunt.

Two weeks ago our system was tested to the extreme, as a pride of seven lions killed a big bull owned by a Maasai.  He was understandably very upset, as he had planned to sell the bull at market the following weekend to help pay for his sick child's treatment.  News quickly spread, and a group of 26 morani, or Maasai warriors, gathered with dogs and spears to track and kill the lions.

Luckily we also heard the news, and our Wildlife Pays verifying officer traveled to the scene as quickly as he could to attempt to calm them.  Finding the warriors nearly in a frenzy, he called for backup and we sent several MWCT Rangers, our community outreach area, and the Maasai zone elder of that region.  After a long discussion and much careful pacification on the part of our employees, the warriors were finally convinced to discontinue their hunt and dispersed.

After a long meeting and much convincing, the warriors agreed to disperse and the situation was resolved amicably.

The whole incident, while scary and regrettable, was nonetheless a great success for MWCT's Conservation Program.  It marked the seventh time this year we have been able to successfully stop a lion hunt before a kill was made, compared to just one successful hunt as a result of livestock predation.  Considering that this year was expected to be a particularly volatile one, with many young warriors being initiated, these numbers are a great success.  With your continued support, we can continue our work through projects like these, preserving the heritage of both the wildlife and the Maasai.

Maasai Olympics Regional Competition

In mid-November Iltilal village hosted the regional level of competition for the first-annual Maasai Olympics celebration (read more about the initiative here), and it was an amazing spectacle!  It was a great success, with the entire community coming out to watch and very enthusiastic about the competition.

A strong moran throwing a javelin as part of the spear-throwing competition.

The morani, or Maasai warriors, spend most of their time herding cattle in the bush, only rarely coming into contact with other Maasai who live in the villages of Kuku Group Ranch.  With their striking red shukas, intricate beaded jewelry, and elaborate hair so distinct from other Maasai, they are truly a sight to see.  The young Maasai children crowded around the competition areas, straining to catch a glimpse of these strong warriors.

This moran's hair is particularly elaborate, but all Maasai warriors are very proud of their carefully-kept hair.

The competition went very well, with each of the various events (200m sprint, 5000m run, spear throwing, rungu throwing, high jumping) determining a champion to send onto the final level of competition, the tribe-wide Maasai Olympics to be held on 22nd December with Maasai from all over East Africa.  Even with the previous night's rain washing away some of the carefully placed chalk lines for competition, nothing stopped the community from coming together for this fun and important cultural event.

Close of shot of the beautiful beaded jewelry and sandals made from recycled tires.

The community support was the most important part of this whole inaugural event, and it is this sort of adaptation that will allow the Maasai to adjust to the modern world while nonetheless maintaining their important cultural traditions.  As an added incentive toward this goal, MWCT is funding a trip for the winner of the 5000m run to go run the 2013 New York Marathon in America.  We look forward to another great round of competition and cultural celebration at the final level in a couple weeks!