Stringing beaded jewelry with Maasai women.
August 14, 2026
Anne Marie Gattari
We were welcomed this morning to the bustling homestead of a multi-generational family in the east corner of the Maasai Mara. There, we got a glimpse of how this family of nearly 200 live – milking and caring for a herd of cattle, making and selling elaborate beaded jewelry, and raising their children together.
This family is among many families in the 5,000-acre Nashulai Maasai Conservancy who live every day by the promises of their mission: Conserve Wildlife, Preserve Culture, Reverse Poverty.
Our small group traveling with Zawadisha’s Secret Gems of Kenya were invited to observe and participate. Our morning started with trying to milk a cow, as one of our travel partners, Chandra, so aptly put it. The cows could smell our American strangeness and wanted no part of us. So, we moved on and found more success in other activities. (https://www.zawadisha.org)
We also joined in on the welcome dance performed for us by the women and children. I stood at the end of the semi-circle trying awkwardly to move my head and neck rhythmically when a little boy, maybe four, took my hand and, without words, showed me the movement.
In that moment, I thought of my four-year-old grandson, Oliver. As young boys, these two live worlds apart. One day, however, they will be men. And I expect they will be more alike than different.
Despite their geographical distance and cultural differences, they are being taught the same values – to respect and love the earth, the animals and each other.
Nashulai Conservancy was created in 2016 by the people who live there, making it unique among the 25 conservancies of the Maasai Mara. (https://www.nashulai.com)
Elder and Co-Founder Nelson Ole Reiyia explained that their efforts are simply to undo the damage caused by colonialism.
“We’ve abandoned our colonial-era fenced-in plots of land,” he said. “We’ve pulled down the fences to reopen the ancient migration corridor, and we’ve brought back a hardy, indigenous cattle breed to restore the grasslands.”
All this within five years.
And during our two days in Nashulai, our group had the opportunity to see exactly what he means. We went out on a late evening game drive looking for lions. No luck there.
But we happened upon a herd of nearly 150 wildebeest taking advantage of the open migration route. These beasts had come from Tanzania and were on their way to the Naboisho Conservancy, explained Pariken Sumare, the warden of Nashulai who acted as our field guide.
Earlier in the day, we sat under a desert date tree learning how to make elaborate beaded jewelry from some of the women and girls. I couldn’t communicate in words with the young woman next to me. But I soon understood the pattern of colors and the most efficient way to get the microscopic beads onto the wire.
At one point I looked up. I watched and listened. A blue sky, a light breeze, beads pooled in the brilliant colors of their shukas, their hands and fingers in constant motion, the whisper of instruction. Stringing beads, side-by-side, was our common language.
Beadwork, passed down through generations, helps to preserve their culture. It also creates economic opportunities for the women.
In just two short days, our group was blessed to live – for a moment – each of the three parts of the Nashulai’s mission: Conserve Wildlife, Preserve Culture, Reverse Poverty.
I like to think of it as the way to live – anywhere and all the time. If we do, I have no doubt my American grandson Oliver and the little Maasai boy holding my hand will grow up to be the same kind of man.
Good and honest and kind. Then the earth, the animals and humans might have a chance.
