It is pleasing to see at least one of these concerns has been dealt with and the Masai community have decided that the land on which these community project stand should now be allocated and owned by the community, this is a big step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, the WC open tender for a lease is still pending despite the agreement with the incumbent business operator expiring on OCT 2010. It is hoped that the community committee will handle this in a plural manner, so as to obtain the best business deal for the KGS budget.

The Koiyaki Wilderness Camp is one of the main contributors to the KGS budget, so an open bidding process for this business will end up giving the best deal to the school budget.

KGS graduation will take place of 11th June; to date 7 students failed their KPSG bronze exam, but will re-sit this on the 19th May. This year only 20 students were admitted to KGS due to a lower number of sponsors.

The school facility is now being used as a base for the Koiyaki Outreach program jointly funded through the OOCT and Base Camp Foundation who have signed a MOU dated form the 1st Jan 2010 to cover this 4-year program.

Sarah Lariam and Grace Nasenyia based at KGS run the Outreach program which deals mainly with women’s education and business sustainability, computer capacity building in primary schools, HIV hygiene and general health education.

KGS will also introduce courses in conservancy management, ranger training and wildlife monitoring over the coming year.

The Koiyaki community have been lobbying for this issue to be resolved over the last year and this will be an important step to enable this community project to continue accessing donor funding.

The graduation date for the present group of students in residence has been set for 11th June 2011.

The School is linked with an intern programme organised through Basecamp Foundation where foreign students can spend time at the Guiding School networking different skills with the students and the greater community. It is hoped that this programme will contribute approximately USD20,000 to the School budget.

Koiyaki Wilderness Camp lease matured in October and negotiations are in hand for the renewal of this lease through an open tender system so as to obtain competitive commercial bidding for the continuity of this lucrative contract.

Naboisho Conservancy, on which the School is situated, is now registered as a community conservancy modelling itself on the successful Olare Orok Conservancy (www.oocmara.com) which was registered in May 2006. Naboisho will have a tourist bed allocation of approximately 132 beds and will be underwritten by 5 safari operators as well as the Koiyaki Wilderness Camp.

Every year the plains of the Mara  are the backdrop for the incredible migration of over one million  wildebeest from the Serengeti. But this  area is also the heartland of the Maasai people, and they have shared  the land with the wildlife for generations.

For many visitors to this  region, Maasai culture is of particular interest, often of greater  interest than the reserve itself.

However, in many cases, their guides  to this area are not local Maasai. At present only a handful of the  local people benefit from the tourism business, due to lack of training  and skills.

Most of the tourist camps in the Mara ecosystem employ a  majority of staff from outside the area. The  Koiyaki Guiding School aims to redress this situation, with the  creation of a Wilderness Camp for tourists, and a specialized school  providing localized training in bushcraft and skills necessary for  conservation and management of wildlife and tourism.

The  camp is located in Koiyaki Group Ranch, which adjoins the northern  boundary of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, at the northernmost end of the  great Serengeti/Mara wildebeest migration route.

The school was officially opened on July 12th  2005 by the Head of the Kenya EC Delegation, Dr Derek Fee. The  Wilderness Camp will generate revenue from eco-tourism and the school  will produce qualified field guides for employment within the Masai  Mara ecosystem.  The Guiding School aims to train local people to equip  them with skills required in the highly competitive tourism industry.

The detailed courses cover Anthropology, History, Customs, Natural  History, Animal Behaviour, Environment and Wildlife Management, Camp  Management and Cuisine, First Aid and Guest Relations.  The complete  training course consists of three eight-week terms, with an additional  internship placement at a tourist camp in the Mara.

Excerpt from an article dated March 2007 on www.magicalkenya.com

Known  for their red clothes and diet of milk and blood, the Maasai live in  Kenya and Tanzania and are by tradition cattle-herders. They have  become a marginalised group, thanks in part to the British colonial  policy of displacing them to allow settlers to farm and, more recently,  to the creation of national parks on Maasai lands. Today some work in  tourism but do menial jobs and are therefore rarely seen by guests.
Until  now, less than five per cent of Kenya’s 2,000-odd certified safari  guides have been Maasai.

Koiyaki Guiding School aims to improve that.  The residential school is about 16km north of the Masai Mara National  Reserve in remote acacia-dotted savannah where antelope and zebra  graze. The Koiyaki-Lemek community’s school was started with the help  of Ron Beaton, a third-generation Kenyan. He and his wife Pauline have  been in the safari business since 1984, and they have trained and  employed Maasai men as guides. By enabling more Maasai to become  guides, says Beaton, the school will put wealth in their hands and  create environmental awareness among their families.

There  are just two full-time teachers and several visiting instructors but,  according to the chairman of the Kenyan Tourist Board, Jake  Grieves-Cook, the educational standard is higher than at any other  institution in Kenya. The school premises are rudimentary. Students  pay a fee of KSh5,000 for the year, about the price of a cow, says  Simon Nkoitoi, the school’s administrator.

Among  the three female graduates, Betty Maitau has already had five offers of  employment. My family is very impressed, especially as this is mostly  a career for men,says the 23-year-old. In polygamous Maasai society,  it is rare for girls to receive an education. In her speech on behalf  of the European Union, a major sponsor of the school, heather Elkins  said to the audience at the graduation: Now you see what girls can  do. I appeal to you, please send your girls to the school.

In the Masai Mara National Reserve, famous among  safari-goers for its annual wildebeest migration, 80% of the guiding  jobs are held by outsiders.

The Koiyaki Guiding School is trying to  change that by training local Maasai, and Ol Seki Mara Camp is one of  the school’s largest donors.