Empowering Maasai 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. Already, 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.