How you can help
The Maarifa Foundation is a registered not for profit organisation run 100% by volunteers. We invest 98% of all money raised into our projects that directly support education for conservation and to help children most in need living in Maasai community Kenya.
Out team in Australia and Kenya are dedicated, passionate, like minded individuals, focused on community-based solutions for enhancing livelihoods and conservation. Through education and essential services, we are supporting communities, that support habitat, that support wildlife.
We are grateful to our supporters, donors and partners – those who also see the connection between healthy ecosystems, abundant wildlife and prosperous communities and who want to make difference.
In the Maasai communities bordering wildlife areas, we assist by paying school fees and providing uniforms, shoes and solar lights for students most in need. Combined with our in-class and field based Education for Conservation program, sustainability projects and employment of Maarifa educators from the community we are supporting both communities and conservation.
But we can not do this alone. We need you, and offer a range of ways to get involved and make a positive impact including short and long term school fee bursary support opportunities as well as corporate and business sponsorship packages (which can also be one off support – like sponsoring an event or 1 year of school fees) or long term (such as a multi-year financial commitment to a child’s schooling costs).
Together we can change lives, conserve wildlife and protect futures.
Join Our School Fee Support Program
Despite their rich culture and proximity to Kenya’s major region of eco-tourism, the Maasai are one of the most marginalised and poorest tribes of East Africa. Less than 10 percent of Maasai children complete primary school – and even less have the opportunity of a secondary education. Without support, these young people are at risk – with little opportunity to reach their full potential and give back to their community in the future.
The Maarifa Foundation recognises that investing in education is an important factor for achieving long-term conservation outcomes. Our school fee support program set students on a path toward becoming responsible individuals and environmental stewards who increase their families’ incomes, contribute to economic development, and promote harmony between wildlife and society.
Our minimum 50% female policy ensures that girls, who are often the first to be overlooked, are at highest risk of drop out, leading to outcomes such as early marriage, are equally supported. Educating girls is the single most effective avenue to achieving economic and social growth.
Did you know less than 10% of children in Maasai communities complete primary school?
Supporting one child or a whole class, for one year or more - you are helping to shape futures and change lives.
One-off or longterm, individual or class sponsorship - your support will change lives
Our eligibility criteria and 50% female policy ensures student selection is transparent and fair. We deliver 3 separate programs based on the type of school (day or boarding) and the resources available:
Illoirero Primary School: 100% fee support for 50 students attending this day school – a fee of only $50 a year per student (2021, 2022, 2023)
Kishermoruak Primary School: 16 students attending this boarding school are grateful recipients of a bursary program supported by Solomons Group (2022 and 2023) – a legal and financial company based in Brisbane, Australia
Secondary School Bursaries: In 2023 we introduced a secondary school bursary program. Eight eligible students (bright and needy), who attended Illoirero and Kishermoruak Primary Schools, receive 50% of the years school fees paid up to a total of 22,500 ks per year.
