Maasai Leaders Guarding Indigenous Rights in Tanzania
Two Tanzanian activists working to advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights and priorities joined us to share details about their work, the issues faced by the Maasai communities they work with, and progress being made to address them.
Through this recorded discussion, you will learn about the challenges faced by tribal communities in Northern Tanzania, from education, gender injustice, food insecurity and the climate crisis, and how two activists work to address these issues using divergent, yet complementary approaches. We have so much to learn from this collaborative partnership as international development actors and global citizens working towards a better world.
Meet the Panelists
Clamian Kitesho, Executive Director of the Nashipay Maasai Initiatives
Clamian is a Maasai leader and elder with the Maasai community living near Makuyuni Tanzania. As the Executive Director of the Nashipay Maasai Initiatives, a registered NGO in Tanzania, he has oversight for their vision of a resilient, self-sustaining, and informed local community that is able to adapt to, thrive in, and engage creatively within contemporary Tanzania.
Key to the work of NMI is the operation of several social enterprises including Nashipay Maasai Pre and Primary School, Maasai Eco Boma, their Demonstration Permaculture Garden, and the MamaPower Duka. He is also the owner and senior guide for Warrior Trails.
Clamian sits on the Makuyuni Public School Board and takes a leading role with the Council of Elders in his home community.
Namayani Rapey Edward, Climate Change Coordinator, Pastoral Women’s Council
Namayani was born and raised in Kiteto District, Manyara Region back in 1980’s within the Maasai community. I am a postgraduate young planning and climate change profession with a vast experience in planning, climate change, coordination, community engagement and research within my community and in Tanzania. I schooled in different levels from primary to secondary level in different schools from 1995-2009 where I completed my Advance level education and managed to join the Institute of Rural Development Planning for my first degree on population and development planning completed in 2012. In 2016 I joined the University of Dar-es-salaam for master degree in Climate change and sustainable development of which I completed in 2018.
For more than 8-years, my experience is much based on coordination and supervision of different project like land use planning, sustainable rangelands management, Participatory Rangelands Management all related to environmental conservation, gender issues and climate change as a cross cutting agenda in the sustainable development goals and the 2030 agenda.
Facilitated by:
Colleen Hanley, Consultant, Facilitator, Interculturalist & Vice Chair and Secretary of BCCIC’s Board of Directors
I gratefully acknowledge I am guest on the traditional and ancestral lands of the K’omoks people. I retired a few years ago, Emeritus, from North Island College as Associate Director, North Island College International. I also held positions as counsellor, community developer and instructor during my tenure at North Island College.
I have had the privilege of working extensively for and with Indigenous peoples, and with students and business colleagues in South America, Europe, Africa and throughout the Asias. I have provided strategic planning, organizational development, intercultural engagement and research consulting services for non-profit organizations in the health, social services, and education sectors. I have served on national, provincial and community boards of directors, more recently with SIETAR BC, the BCCIC and with the Comox Valley Global Awareness Network.
Currently I am deeply involved, through both InnovativeCommunities.org Foundation and as a volunteer, with Nashipay Maasai Initiatives, a registered NGO in Tanzania.
This initiative is delivered with support from the Government of Canada.