Kids vs tourists

The Maasai of Meserani sat under a tree in a Maasai boma skyping a Year 9 geography class at Bolton School to teach them about the effects of tourism on the Maasai.

The future of geography teaching!!

It's that time of year again...

We asked the students at Meserani Education Centre what their New Year's Resolutions were...

These are people with big ambitions, hopes and plans. At Meserani Education Centre we provide the education people need to fulfil their ambitions and live their lives.

It costs £5 a month to give one person this education.

Bit of a bargain really.

http://www.livlife.org/donate

Just preparing an assembly to give at a school on Tuesday and came across this stark contrast of two images.

On the left is Bolton, an urban area not far from Manchester. On the right is Meserani, the village we work with in rural Tanzania.

How are the Maasai going to survive if their only option is to live off their livestock and there isn't a patch of grass in the area to graze cattle on?

Just wanted to post a photo to say thanks to all you Mobloggers for your help last week!

Delighted to say that we won the competition and the funding so we'll be able to continue our work in Tanzania and helping people like Anna above.

Thanks heaps,
Max

Most of those that use our centre are from the Maasai tribe. They still live a traditional lifestyle, the way they have done for hundreds of years. It's important to them that they keep living that way, so it's important to us, too.

They still live in huts made out of mud and dung and learning how to build these is an essential part of a childs' education. They get taught that (and countless other things from fire building to cow herding) by their siblings, parents and grandparents. It's been that way for hundreds of years. We teach what's new to them and what they need in the modern World - literacy, maths, English and even (at their request), computers.

I'm going to close with our regular footer at the moment...

Please, we still need your vote to help us win £45k of funding to continue our work.

It's really easy to vote. You need a Facebook account and about 10 seconds of time...

1. Click on the following link

2. Scroll down to the second Wall Post & Click MAX to vote for me

3. If it asks you download a facebook application click "allow"

Then that's it - your vote is cast and I say a huge thank you!

Voting closes at midday on Thursday 17 September (UK time)... so get voting and pass it on!

Thanks,
Max

Got an amazing welcome to moblog with our last post, so thought we'd share another of our photos...

This is Samweli - he's one of the kids who comes to our education centre in Tanzania. He's an AIDS orphan and lives with his three sisters in the clinic next door to the Centre. He's HIV positive himself, yet he's one of the smiliest kids you'll ever meet. Without being told, you would never know his background. He's a typical 8-yr old boy, cheeky yet shy and polite and he thrives on the activities at the Centre - the drama, the arts, the music, the lessons, the sports. He thrives like the other 2,000 or so people who come.

Please, we still need your vote to help us win £45k of funding to continue our work.

It's really easy to vote. You need a Facebook account and about 10 seconds of time...

1. Click on the following link

2. Scroll down to the second Wall Post & Click MAX to vote for me

3. If it asks you download a facebook application click "allow"

Then that's it - your vote is cast and I say a huge thank you!

Voting closes at midday on Thursday 17 September (UK time)... so get voting and pass it on!

Thanks,
Max

We have a problem. Well, we had a problem. We are a charity who work with providing education and health news to Maasai communities in Tanzania. The Maasai are pastoralists who live off their livestock in rural areas of East Africa.

The villages we work in are very spread out and cover hundreds of square kilometres. We need a way of getting in touch with them.

Well, most Maasai have access to a mobile phone and by using the moblog technology we think we can get vital information about courses, diseases, vaccinations, medicines to them without any delays.

What do you think mobloggers? Has anyone heard of any other projects which might be able to help us?

We want to get cracking on this project as soon as we can, but first we need a bit of help - 10 seconds of your time.. it's all it takes. We're in the final of the Vodafone World of Difference competition and if we win we'll be able to roll moblog out to the Maasai in the next 12 months!

It's dead easy to vote. You need a Facebook account and about 10 seconds of time...

1. Click on the following link: http://bit.ly/Ah4JN

2. Scroll down to the second Wall Post & Click MAX to vote for me

3. If it asks you download a facebook application click "allow"

Then that's it - your vote is cast and I say a huge thank you!

Voting closes at midday on Thursday 17 September (UK time)... so get voting and pass it on!

Let us know what you think about the project... we're new to moblog so want the views of its dedicated users!