Gamewatchers Safaris' Community Development Initiatives
Over the years, Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps have participated in various projects to provide benefits and amenities for our partner communities living alongside the conservancies. We support a number of initiatives aiming to improve the lives of local communities, to which our customers are invited to make contributions.
Donations go a long way in assisting the communities surrounding the conservancies and can make a positive difference in their lives.
See below for more details of our current projects. All initiatives detailed here are managed by our Wildlife Habitat Trust, ensuring 100% of collected funds directly benefit the projects without any administrative fees. We can arrange for your contribution to be collected by credit / debit card (Visa or Mastercard) via our secure online payment system. Thank you.
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Adopt-an-Acre
Population Growth and Habitat Loss in Kenya: Kenya’s population has increased fivefold in 50 years, leading to the rapid disappearance of wildlife habitats. This is causing a change in migration patterns and increasing human-wildlife conflicts.
The “Adopt-an-Acre” initiative allows supporters to adopt a piece of land in our conservancies by contributing to the Wildlife Habitat Trust. These funds are crucial for maintaining staff salaries and land leases, especially during tourism downturns. This program aims to sustain the conservancies and protect the biodiversity they contain by providing alternative income sources to local communities, reducing the need for harmful land practices.
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Adopt an Acre Options:
- 1 Acre: US $35 (US$15 for Maasai land lease, US$20 for staff wages)
- 5 Acres: US $175 (US$100 for land lease, US$75 for wages)
- 30 Acres: US $1050 (US$600 for land lease, US$450 for wages)
Donors of 30 acres or more receive a matching credit from Gamewatchers Safaris, applicable to any stay in our Porini Safari Camps in 2024 or 2025. ie a donation of US $1050 results in a US $1050 travel credit!
Find Out More: Adopt an Acre
The Koiyaki Guiding School Scholarship Fund
The Koiyaki Guiding School was established in 2005 in order to provide a tourism training institution for the Maasai. The school is located in the Naboisho Conservancy and takes in 26 students per year.
The aim of the Scholarship Fund is to create opportunities for promising youth who show a passion for wildlife and conservation, but who may not be able to afford the school fees.
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Staff at Porini Camps come almost entirely from the local community. As the company continues to expand it creates more opportunities for community members to be hired by us.
Your donation will allow for a student to be enrolled in a certificate course in Tour Guiding and Operations by the Kenya National Examination Council. Your donation will assist with payments for tuition, meals, school trips, excursions and accommodation.
Participation in the course improves employment opportunities for local community members, as well as encouraging long-term conservation efforts for the Maasai Mara and other Kenyan ecosystems.
How You Can Help:
- US $100 for partial support
- US $2,300 for full course sponsorship
Porini Boma-Strengthening Programme
We enhance traditional Maasai bomas (enclosures) with chain-link fencing, treated posts, and secure gates to protect livestock from predators, reducing human-wildlife conflicts. This minimizes the likelihood of retaliatory killings and poaching, as predators remain within conservancy areas.
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The reinforced bomas ensure that predators that target their natural prey are no longer threats to the community. This means that the predators located within our conservancies are not going to become victims of revenge killings.
The predators are also less likely to fall prey themselves to poachers as they will seldom stray outside of the conservancies in search of easy meals.
How You Can Help:
- US $150 towards the project
- US $1,500 for building one Predator-Proof Boma
School Sanitation Project
Addressing the critical need for proper toilet facilities in Kenyan rural schools, we help maintain health and education standards. Our efforts, including the construction of toilet blocks in several schools, contribute to better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) conditions.
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Current Goal:
- US $14,000 for Ilmonchin Primary School to provide adequate, separate sanitation facilities for students and teachers.
Provision of Water to Selenkay Villages
In response to increasing droughts and water scarcity, we have facilitated better water access for communities near the Selenkay Conservancy, including providing water tanks and organizing bi-weekly water deliveries.
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Ol Kinyei & Selenkay School Bursary Fund
We are supporting the families of the Ol Kinyei & Selenkay Communities with our Bursary Fund, alleviating some of the financial burden of the childrens’ education. As well as paying termly fees, parents incur the additional costs for uniforms, books, school activities and in many cases, school rehabilitation projects – despite the fact that primary education in Kenya is free. These hardships often result in under-educated youth with little hope for healthy careers.
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The Bursary Fund assists students in covering essential education-related costs and ensures that they are able to complete important stages in their education, which is a crucial step in guaranteeing a solid career path. Through the growth of the Bursary Fund, it is our hope that in the future we will be able to support students in secondary and tertiary education.
The overall aim of the Bursary Fund is to:
• Increase and improve access to educational institutions;
• Improve gender equality and disparities by promoting both boys and girls in the community;
• Assist students in their transition between primary, secondary, college and university;
• Improve retention and completion rates of both secondary and tertiary education; and
• Reduce the impacts of poverty.
Our continued support of these communities assists in maintaining the important balance between ensuring the preservation of wildlife lands and sustaining improved livelihoods of the landowners.
Parents must make the following contributions every year per child. Please sponsor one child or more by assisting with the following primary school payments:
- Uniform: US $35
- Books: US $30
- Activities: US $20
- Term Fees: US $45 – 150
Beekeeping Micro Enterprise for Youth & Women
This project empowers youth and women by fostering conservation awareness and sustainable income through beekeeping. We support the purchase of beehives and beekeeping equipment.
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Contribution Options:
- Beehive: US $75
- Beekeeping kit: US $85
- Training: US $100
- Complete project (10 hives, stands, training): US $950
Advancing Digital Education: Digital Smart Learning Project
Committed to empowering youth with digital skills for better job opportunities and effective living, we aim to sponsor schools with digital learning kits, including a server with the Kenya Primary School syllabus, a projector, tablets, and necessary training.
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The Smart Learning project seeks to empower students and local community on use of ICT learning that will empower the community and provide equal opportunity to learning for the Selenkay community. The main training objectives are to:
• Introduce digital learning
• Train teachers and some community members on basic skills to operate the server, projector and tablets
• Access the offline digital library materials on the server
• Learn how to use and connect the equipment to Bluetooth
• Upload and download lessons, photos and videos on the server and projector for student access
The Smart Learning Project is important because it will enable the Selenkay community and students to access offline education which was not available to them previously. The equipment has a portable solar pack that will provide energy to ensure easy access to the education material.
Our goal for each Complete Kit:
- US $7,500 per school
Menstrual Health & Education: PadMad
We are supporting women and girls with our partnership with PadMad. In rural Kenyan schools, it’s common for girls to miss 3-7 days of schooling each month due to their menstrual cycle, leading to educational disparities and stigma. To combat this, we have partnered with Madhvi Dalal of PadMad, an initiative focused on keeping girls in school and promoting dignity, health, and environmental responsibility through sustainable menstrual solutions.
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Donations will be used to purchase comprehensive menstrual kits, each containing 5 liners, 1 liner holder, 2 small daytime pads, and 2 large nighttime pads. These kits are reusable, biodegradable, and have a lifespan of five years. Produced locally in Kenya, these kits are a step towards menstrual equity and environmental stewardship.
Contribution for Deluxe Menstrual Kit:
US $7 per kit
Education in Conservation: MAARIFA Collaboration
In partnership with The Maarifa Foundation, an Australian non-profit dedicated to conservation education founded by Kristy Thomson of the Gamewatchers team in Australia, Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps are supporting young learners in Kenyan community conservancies. The foundation’s goal is to foster a deep-rooted interest in conservation and wildlife among the youth, who are the future leaders of their communities.
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The Maarifa Foundation collaborates closely with Gamewatchers and Community Advisory Committees at each school to address the specific needs of the communities effectively. In response to the challenges posed by Covid-19, the Foundation prioritized getting children back to school. Initiatives included funding for school fees, uniforms, shoes, and solar lights for after-dark studying. This support was first extended to Illoirero Primary School in the Selenkay Conservancy and later to Kishermoruak Primary School in the Ol Kinyei Conservancy. These projects are managed locally, with Daniel Mamai overseeing Selenkay and Ben Tongoyo, a long-time company member, managing Ol Kinyei.
The Maarifa Education for Conservation Program focuses on three core principles: Share, Experience, Action. Its objective is to cultivate conservation-aware citizens and sustainable communities for the future. Planned activities include:
- Mazingira (Environment) Clubs offering expert-led sessions for student engagement.
- A school twinning program connecting students with peers in Australia to exchange stories and experiences.
- Educational trips to Amboseli National Park for Illoirero students and Maasai Mara National Reserve for Kishermoruak students.
- The construction of a library enriched with materials on the environment, wildlife, and conservation for all age groups.
- The establishment of a sustainable kitchen garden and energy-efficient stove, teaching students about sustainability, nutrition, and resource management, while providing healthy daily meals.