Community Outreach & Crisis Intervention

Reproductive Health

Factual and culturally competent reproductive health information is crucial to increasing educational attainment, employment opportunities, and financial security in Maasai communities. Although program delivery can be logistically difficult in remote areas, Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa develops culturally appropriate curriculum and creates safe spaces for Maasai girls and women to learn about their bodies, ask questions, and build community. Through these targeted educational efforts, LFAS empowers community partners to achieve their own goals while improving and maintaining the overall health of Maasai mothers and their children.

Flood Victim Support

Extreme weather and severe flooding are frequent events in communities in extreme poverty. Agriculture is dependent upon two growing seasons in West Kilimanjaro—March monsoons and fall rains. Homes, crops, and livestock are all seasonally affected during monsoons. With climate change, these monsoons are more unpredictable and have necessitated Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa to provide rapid emergency relief during severe flood events, delivering essential food supplies, clean water, and temporary support to help families recover their livelihoods.

Forced Displacement Support

When climate disasters or land conflicts force families from their homes, already vulnerable rural communities face immediate shelter and food insecurity. In Maasai mud brick homes, the materials used are animal dung, straw, water, mud, and wood. During forced displacements, families hurriedly deconstruct homes to reclaim the most valuable material that can be brought with them—wood. In these times, the other parts of homes that can’t be readily transported are left behind. Emergency aid, temporary shelter materials, and vital resources to help displaced individuals rebuild their lives are provided by Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa.

Health Clinic Visits

In Tanzania, the official language is Kiswahili, however, in Maasailand, Kimaa is the predominantly spoken language. Medical, health clinics and pharmacies all use Kiswahili to communicate with patients. When Maasai women in villages grow up speaking only Kimaa and are provided limited education due to early child marriage, their Kiswahili is conversant, but not fluent. Therefore, going to seek medical care can be complicated because of the language and cultural barrier. LFAS partners with Maasai medical professionals who strive to improve the quality of healthcare for Maasai families. Transporting or connecting families to Kimaa-speaking health clinics is an important function of any NGO that is a civil service organization.

Elder Care & Emergency Support

Female elderly community members in rural Tanzania are at risk for a variety of reasons. Patriarchal culture and female child marriages often result in elderly women lacking social safety nets, thus leaving them uniquely vulnerable during times of crisis. Through our targeted emergency care initiatives, we provide seniors with food staples, materials for shelter repairs, and essential medical care to ensure they are never left behind. Above is an example of before and after shelter repair.

Covid-19 Relief

At the height of the pandemic, immediate mobilization was necessary to safeguard our rural communities in Kilimanjaro Region. Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa distributed protective face masks to schools and families, provided vital sanitation supplies, and delivered emergency food relief to households hit the hardest. The COVID-19 Relief model utilized has proven a useful template for subsequent crisis intervention programming to date.