Community Service

The Sirinket Foundation

Sirinket Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Kenya as a community based organization (CBO) in 2005.  Developed by Sirinket Adventure Safaris Ltd as a way of giving back to the communities living in or adjacent to protected areas in East Africa, it forges unique partnerships between conservation initiatives and communities working in specific rural communities surrounding the larger Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.

Sirinket Foundation channels donations to recipient projects in East African Countries, funding local development initiatives, education, water provision, biodiversity conservation, community health and programs which demonstrate the benefits of conservation through ecotourism.

At Sirinket Foundation we do the background work so that your donation will be handled properly and according to international law. We know you want to make a difference, so we have gathered a group of dedicated local development projects that do just that. The projects you see on our website are all backed by a Sirinket Adventure Safaris, allowing for added transparency and accountability.

As an eligible non-profit making organization, Sirinket Foundation has met the CFC's fiscal accountability, governance and programmatic impact standards, some of the most rigorous in the giving community.

Sirinket Foundation collaborates with Kenyan and Tanzanian conservation stakeholders in strengthening community-based wildlife conservation and eco-tourism for wealth generation and poverty alleviation. Sirinket Foundation aims at changing community attitudes towards wildlife and viewing it as a resource to benefit from and not as a source of anguish. But for conservation to succeed, the needs of people and animals must both be taken into account so that conservation can be worthwhile for the rural communities involved.

What we do:

Our projects fall under the categories education, biodiversity conservation, health care and income-generating activities and include the following programmes:

• Education; Education world wide accords individual’s opportunities to transform their lives for the better and make positive contributions to the society. We build pre-schools and classrooms, develop bursary programmes, teach environmental awareness and build capacity in our communities, conduct vocational training and facilitate adult education programmes.
• Biodiversity conservation; Environmental degradation is a major constraint to development in the semi-arid area around the Maasai Mara/ Serengeti ecosystem. The problem is aggravated by the fact that these communities are pastoralists and normally keep large herds of cattle that in turn have led to diminishing grazing pasture and water points due to degradation of the environment.

  The promotion of alternative income sources that can take advantage of local abundant resources and are environmentally friendly, such as honey, is therefore favorable for these communities. Evidently, commercial bee keeping activity is not popular and is only done for household consumption due to poor access to information, quality markets and finance. Through this project that promotes commercial beekeeping and introduction of modern user-friendly technology [hives], women and the youth are able to participate in the project as owners.

• Health Care; Health Care is a key to progress - to ensuring human dignity and security. We build and equip clinics and support their operation, run HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, provide health care information and counseling, and help provide clean water.
• Poverty alleviation; The scourge of unemployment in rural communities can be tackled by identifying and empowering entrepreneurs, whose small, emerging enterprises can be an effective means of job creation. We identify opportunities and help start-ups, but in particular, we stimulate the potential for income generation through a highly successful skill training programmes, and through access to technology.

  We believe communities are most effectively helped only if they are empowered to help themselves. We therefore work within communities and encourage them to take ownership of all projects to ensure sustainability.

Sirinket Foundation’s principals:

1. Sirinket Foundation empowers communities adjacent to conservation areas, by working with them to identify their social, economic, health and welfare development needs, and to plan effective strategies for addressing those needs, on an ongoing basis.
2. Sirinket Foundation identifies local community members who can take charge of a project, and who will assist and leverage the implementation of effective and sustainable projects.
3. Sirinket Foundation supports SAS’s success in the people/land/animals balance, and provides SAS with effective and sustainable community development results.
4. Sirinket Foundation offers SAS guests the opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the people of Africa’s conservation areas.
5. Sirinket Foundation maintains a strong organizational base, with the ability to evaluate, fund and monitor projects at steadily increasing levels.

Volunteer Safaris

Traveling has always been about discovery, and it is through visiting other countries that we learn about the world. Tourism is not just a financial exchange; it is about the exchange of experience- learning about new places, faces and people. The best way to understand another culture is to experience it firsthand.

We support community projects, as SAS client you’re not only getting the best on safari but also helping in building a stronger community that will be indebted to you forever.

In keeping with our mission to contribute to the conservation of the environment and create opportunities for the local people to directly benefit from the money you spend on a Sirinket adventure, we offer you volunteer safaris. Include a service component specific to your group's interests: educational, medical or wildlife oriented. Work side-by-side with local people on volunteer projects as simple as painting schools and restocking libraries to providing medical treatment. Afterwards, explore the highlights of the region, but with a personal perspective on the country and its inhabitants.

SAS organizes volunteer safaris that allow guests to support important community projects through interaction with local people. For 2009, we have two Volunteer safaris:

• Project Maasailand
• Project Tanzania

SAS is committed to providing the most fulfilling and rewarding travel experiences in Africa, while assuring guests that their journey helps to preserve some of the Africa's most extraordinary places for future generations.

When you travel you open your eyes to a world that is very different from where you come from and this inspires you to help make a difference in the lives of people and communities that you have visited. Whether you have recently returned home from traveling, or you just genuinely wish to help make a difference in the world around you, you can help by making a contribution to Sirinket Foundation.

The Sirinket Foundation relies on funds raised through fundraising events from our travelers, well wishers and other donors.

If you are interested in organizing a fundraising event to help support our programs please let us know and we will provide you with as much information as possible about the project you wish to fundraise for.

To contact us with your fundraising ideas or how you can help, please email community@sirinketfoundation.org

Please know that your donation is important to us and truly appreciated. Your support will help us make a difference!

WORKING TODAY TO PRESERVE TOMORROW