Barb Mackraz
A Library for a Manyatta
The smallest library with the biggest footprint! This is the story of how the first Manyatta Library came together in the Maasai Mara.
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Strengthening literacy & knowledge
Strengthening literacy & knowledge
Strengthening literacy & knowledge
Encouraging a lifelong love of learning
Meet the Board
Meet the Board
Meet the Board
MARA CONSERVATION
encouraging empathy for other life
MLP Team in Morocco
Advisors in Morocco
We envision a world where people have equal access to high-quality education and sustainable livelihoods, enabling them to build a strong, literate, resilient community; create a positive future for the next generation; and live in balance with a healthy environment.
September 2023: So far this year in the Maasai Mara, we've launched the Lemek Hills Purified Water Facility, opened the Oliveseed Women's Work Center, developed a library for Enturoto Primary School, distributed sanitary supplies to schools and home water filters to families, and built the 2nd Manyatta Library. In Morocco, we published the 2nd anthology from our national Short Story Competition for rural youth, and the 3rd competition is now under way.
For 2024, we're planning the 1st Sustainability Center and Public Library in the rural Mara, a vital resource for the whole region, and we need your support! Please read our Report on the Public Library and contact us any time to learn more. Thank you!
Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations is on a mission to improve lives throughout the world and protect the health of the planet through the framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We're committed to this mission and focus our work on innovations in these 6 areas.
What would happen if you built a little solar-lit library inside a village that had never had a library (or lights) before? We did it as an experiment, and this is what we found when we popped in by surprise 3 nights after opening.
"Once upon a time in the heart of the Atlas Mountains..."
The anthology from the 2nd MLP Short Story Competition is now in print. It's available at the Alfajr Book Store in Fes, or contact us for digital copies.
Why the Olive...
The olive tree has been a symbol of peace throughout the Mediterranean and Western worlds since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans; and in Maasai culture, the indigenous olive has long been a sacred tree signifying both nurturing and strength. It's amazing how this little tree, surviving droughts and conflicts through millennia, has taken on a meaning of peace, strength, regeneration, and resilience in so many places.
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