Oliveseed Foundation

We're thrilled to share that the new rainwater catchment system is up and running at the Oliveseed Women's Work Center — just in time for the rains we had this week! A cleaner alternative to carrying water a long distance from a river shared with wildlife. 💛💧🌿

Barbs and Ali set up a children's library in small Amazigh village in the south of Morocco last month, and it was a heartwarming experience, as these kids had never had access to books before. They loved it! We are thankful to everyone who has ever given to Oliveseed and our program Morocco Library Project. As Ali says in this article, "I can’t think of another more valuable gift we can give to these kids, their mothers, and their families than books and education."

Turning Point for a Better Future: A Children's Library for Ait Oumanouz "We saw little kids caressing books, smelling them, reading stories, and looking at pictures. "

Meet Ken Njapit, future conservationist and safari guide in the Maasai Mara! Ken is amazing. He has held on to his dream for many years, and finally he's well on his way, through a college program at Wildlife Clubs of Kenya. We're helping Ken achieve his dream through our scholarship and mentorship program. Take a moment to read the thoughtful story he wrote. 💚 🐘 🌳

Empowering Young African Minds: A Personal Journey with Oliveseed Kenya Meet Ken Njapit! We're helping him achieve his dream of becoming a conservationist and safari guide.

A few days ago, Barbs and our partnering teacher Ali Amhal created a children's library in a small Amazigh village near Biougra, in the south of Morocco. Ali had built a one-room schoolhouse for literacy classes for women, and we decided it would be a perfect place for a library for the village's children as well! The kids here had never had access to books before, and they were so excited!! And the mothers were just as happy as the children. The library is in English, French, and Arabic; and as with all our library projects, we'll add to this over time. A teacher is providing classes for women, and we are engaging her to maintain the library. A great day for all of us! 📒📕📘

A sneak peek at the upcoming anthology from our 2023 Short Story Competition in Morocco…❣️We are thankful that once again Hajar Azizi is illustrating the stories for us! This one is from “Weaving a Life,” a sweet story from high school student Ghizlane Derouich about a family in a rural hamlet and their young daughter who learns to weave carpets on her own to help the family survive in the hardest of times. The theme this year was “family resilience.”

With Amos in California the past few weeks, we had the opportunity to build relationships with the City of Palo Alto and their international sister cities. Palo Alto has 8 sister cities around the world. We attended the SustainCity Summit with representatives from California, Mexico, the Phillipines, Japan, and Europe, to discuss the problems of climate change and ideas to mitigate it. Amos spoke on extreme challenges faced in Kenya from droughts and flooding. You never know, but we feel something good can come from every new connection made in this world. 🌎🌍🌏

The construction of our second Manyatta library is near completion. We were on site in September when it was barely twigs & granites; now the roof is thatched with plastering work on going. We're expecting to have it ready for kids during the December Holiday. This wouldn’t have been possible without support from our kind donors and the local community who generously donated space for the library. The project targets are to benefit hundreds of less privileged kids at Olchoro Cultural Village as well as the neighboring communities around Enoonkishu Conservancy in the northern Mara. Many regards to our ground team for the noble work, the new library is 100% inspired by the local traditional housing design.

Three weeks ago, Ali Amhal and a group of his colleagues brought tents, blankets, nonperishable food items, and other supplies up to the villages of Tinmlil & Bouskin, to help families suffering in the aftermath of that terrible earthquake. Ali, a teacher of English in Morocco, is a longtime partner of ours in our Morocco Libraries program. We'd like to thank everyone once again who donated to our fundraiser. And we'd like to thank Ali and his friends, for helping people in need and while they were at it, for sending thoughtful messages back to us. 🙏

A year ago we embarked on a journey to empower women in Masai Mara through micro enterprises. We met Norkiropil Kasoe from Emarti village and interviewed her regarding her daily life; she narrated a long story about how her small business went down as a result of the covid crisis, leaving her without a job or an income. Her story was not only devastating but also compelling, as it reflects poverty and lack of alternatives synonymous with the lives of many local women in the Masai Mara. In September 2022, through the generous support from various donors, we managed to pull together resources and set up the first Women’s Work Center in Emarti village. Now Norkiropil and 14 other women in her village are happily reinstated into a decent working environment. Recently we concluded skills training, acquired the necessary tools, and secured market access for the products made by Norkiropil and her group. These are photos taken during the first day of the work center groundbreaking just one year ago. We are so excited to see new opportunities coming up alongside the growth of the center and glad that this project has become a savior to multiple women and will continue to impact many more lives in the future.

To everyone who donated to our fundraiser for earthquake relief in Morocco, THANK YOU!!! We're helping teachers in our Morocco Library Project network as they assist several villages in the Taroudant Province of the Atlas Mountains. Ali Amhal and Omar Titki already delivered tents, blankets, nonperishable food, and other necessities to families in two of the most hard-hit villages, and these funds helped make it possible. Here's their report. It's amazing what can happen when friends come together like this. Thank you once again. 🙏

Humanitarian Assistance to Earthquake Victims in Tinmlil & Bouskin Villages Entire villages in Morocco were devastated by the earthquake on Sept 8th. We were able to assist families in two hard-hit villages.

Custodianship and care of all that is around you... nature, people, trees, animals, air... An ancient concept that needs to be embraced everywhere in the world, now more than ever.

We were guests of eco-architect Hitesh Mehta at the International Landscape Architecture Convention in Nairobi, and we brought Maasai elder Tilal Ole Sairowua with us to speak to the crowd on the meaning of "olmanyara." Here are his 4 minutes. 🌳

Mzee Ole Sairowua on the meaning of Olmanyara We were honored to be guests of eco-architect Hitesh Mehta at the 2023 International Federation of Landscape Architects Convention in Nairobi. Hitesh spoke a...

Amos and Barbs are at the International Landscape Architecture Conference in Nairobi this weekend with elder Mzee ole Sairowua, who will be sharing a few words on custodianship of nature during Hitesh Mehta's keynote speech on Ancient Wisdom. Related to the sustainability-focused community center in our plans for 2024, the concept is olmanyara.

A lovely moment at the Oliveseed Women 's Work Center, as project officer Hellen Nchoko shares the design for beaded stars as holiday ornaments (and many other uses!). The women are doing gorgeous work combining leather and glass beads, and stars are one of their creations for the upcoming season. ⭐️

For everyone who gave to our fundraiser to help earthquake survivors in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, THANK YOU. The funds are already being put to work in the hard-hit village of Tin Mellili, led by our partner Ali Amhal. Last weekend, the team brought tents, blankets, and nonperishable foodstuffs for people whose homes have been destroyed in this village in Taroudant province. We're doing this initiative with the teachers Ali Amhal and Larbi Arbaoui (Larbi's part coming soon), long-time partners of ours from our program in Morocco and dear friends.

We could use a little more funds, so if you're in a position, please consider helping. Every bit goes a long way and changes lives of people who are really suffering. 🙏

Access to clean drinking water is an ongoing challenge in the Maasai Mara, and small-scale filters can really help. Thanks to our partner The MAMA Project, we're bringing portable filters to homes and schools where we work, for people who get their water from sources like rivers. We added one to the Manyatta Library in Ololchura the other day, with training on how to use and maintain the system. The kids couldn't wait to try the water! This high-quality filter from LifeStraw can serve the whole village.

The Women’s Work Center in the Mara brings so much joy. We built it over the winter in the Sekenani area, and now 15 women are here making beautiful creations with their traditional beadwork — and soon to come, sewing and milk delivery. We had a celebration the other day, and the women danced their way around the room to express gratitude and pure joy. What better way to celebrate than through music, dance, and color?! 🌺

Celebrating the Oliveseed Women's Work Center! One of the great joys of our program in Kenya is the Women’s Work Center near Sekenani. 15 women are here making beautiful creations with their traditional b...

This is the second “Manyatta library” we’re building in a Maasai village. This one is in the Mara North region, and will be in a local round style with thatched roof and earthen walls. It’ll be sweet! When educational resources are close to where people live they become so easy to use, and these kinds of spaces become a little community center as well. Targeting to open it in a few more weeks! 📚

Communities throughout the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco were devastated by the 6.8 earthquake on September 8th, with the loss of over 2000 lives and significant damage to entire villages. We are helping some of the most hard-hit communities in the Taroudant region of the High Atlas with tents, blankets, food, water... whatever is needed. We've had a library program in rural Morocco for the past ten years, and our deep relationships here allow us to reach communities that need the most help. Please consider making a donation to this effort; any amount will help. Thank you. 🙏

Race Against Time: Children of Morocco need you, organized by John Hockenberry Families and entire villages in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco … John Hockenberry needs your support for Race Against Time: Children of Morocco need you

We visited Nairasirasa Primary this week and are hopeful that it will be our next school library and learning center project.🤞This school in the countryside outside Narok has about 700 students in grades 1 to 8, along with a preschool — a library here for all grades and levels will make such a difference. We're also excited that we're engaging the Maa Diaspora Community in the U.S. to work with us on this project! Many thanks to Diaspora member Leah Kapeen for introducing us to this school.

Our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters in Morocco in the wake of that heartbreaking earthquake Friday night. Friends, if you're in a position to help relief work on the ground, here are a few ways you can give. Every contribution will make a difference in the lives affected.

How to Help Morocco Earthquake Victims As the death toll of the Morocco earthquake tops 1,000, survivors are in need of relief. Here's how you can help now.

Oliveseed recap meeting with one of our great supporters Leah Kapeen & her daughter from Washington. Barbs and Leah met during the last August Maa Diaspora conference held in Chicago where they discussed on the expansion of Oliveseed programs to schools around Narok Masai City, we are so excited to support Nairasirasa Primary School with a fully furnished library and learning center; one of the underprivileged community school within Narok Town Municipality. Thank you so much Leah for supporting our initiatives, it’s true that collaboration and mutual partnership are so essential in delivery of community services.