Join Emily Mariola, Flex Yoga Wooster, participants on the March 2024 Kenya Trip, and the Village Experience
in raising funds for our partner organizations in Lamu, Kenya. We have been working alongside these partner communities
for over 12 years and continue to support and strengthen our relationships with them each and every year. We hope you will
follow along on our journey and contribute to the community project that speaks to you.
SERG LAMU
SERG Lamu - The Shela Environmental Resident’s Group clean up project services over 200 households and hotels daily. SERG focuses on waste management, beach and community cleanup, plastic collection and recycling, and school education. We will be working with SERG during our trip to clean up the beach and provide them with brand new gloves, rakes, and baskets for waste collection.
Amount needed: $500
SHELA'S MASAI COMMUNITY
Shela’s Masai Community - Shela is home to a diverse community including over 40 Masai that live and work there. The Masai in Shela come from villages in the Elerai Conservancy near Amboseli National Park. They come to Lamu to sell their colorful jewelry to the tourists visiting year round. The sales of this jewelry are what sustain the Masai Community, provide school fees for their children, and feed their families back in their home villages. We have worked with this community both in Lamu and in Amboseli for many years providing food during the drought and COVID relief supplies. We will be working to help the Masai improve their retail shops along the seafront by providing umbrellas for shade and new tablecloths for their displays.
Amount needed: $1000
SHELA WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION
Shela Women’s Association - this group of women united to form a Community Based Organization in Shela Village to help empower and uplift themselves. They embark on income-generating activities to highlight their culture, food, and local traditions. We have worked alongside the Shela Women’s Association to develop a Swahili Cooking Class, a Swahili Cookbook, and a small retail business. We will be visiting the women in their homes and delivering essential household items to their families such as cooking gas, every day food items, cleaning supplies, and more. We will then be participating in their Swahili Cooking Class!
Learn More About Shela Women's Association HERE
Amount needed: $1000
UBUNIFU LAMU INITIATIVE
Ubunifu Lamu Initiative - this organization was created in 2020 at the height of the COVID crisis around the world. Children from vulnerable communities were invited to the founder’s home (Nyambura Wahu) for nutritious snacks, creative arts activities, environmental projects, yoga, music, and dance. This ensured that the children were looked after and kept busy while their parents searched for work. Three years later, Ubunifu Lamu Initiative, with funding from The Village Experience, opened its brand new Recycled Arts Community Center in Mararani Village. We will be working with Ubunifu to provide the children and their families with essential food items such as cooking oil, chapati flour, ugali, beans, rice, tea, sugar and more. We will also stock the organization’s food pantry to ensure no one goes hungry.
Learn more about Ubunifu Lamu Initiative HERE
Amount needed: $1000
HIPPO DHOW
Hippo Dhow - our responsible tourism partner on Lamu Island. Captain Yusuf and his team provide sailing trips, boat transfers, farm experiences, cultural walking tours, and community immersion activities around the island. They have worked with us since day one on best integrating into the community and making a positive impact. We will meet their team, visit their homes, and provide necessary and needed school supplies for their children, household items, and food.
Amount needed: $1000