Upgrading Ormakau Market for Maasai Women Artisans
About the Project
The Ormakau Market, located near the Hippo Pool area of Nairobi National Park, is where 30 Maasai women artisans sell handmade beadwork, woven baskets, honey and traditional crafts directly to visitors.
The market plays a vital role in community livelihoods and cultural preservation — but the current structure is broken, overgrown and no longer functional.
We are rebuilding it from the ground up as a permanent community enterprise hub for 30 women.
🎯 Goal: KES 1,000,000
💚 Supports 30+ Maasai women artisans directly
🌿 Linked to our weekly eco-tourism retreat — 80+ visitors per month guaranteed
⚠️ Community-led initiative supported by Naretunoi Conservancy
Project Progress
Launching the Ormakau Market Upgrade Initiative
We Are Rebuilding — 30 Women, 30 Stalls, One Community Hub
The Ormakau Market is about to change completely. When we launched this project, we spoke about upgrading what exists. After visiting the site, listening to the women, and understanding what this market truly needs to work — we have made a decision. We are not patching the old structure. We are rebuilding from the ground up.
WHY WE ARE GOING BIGGER
The current market has roughly 8 stalls in varying states of disrepair. The pathway is overgrown. There is no water, no lighting, no proper storage, and no sanitation. Repairing what is there would give us 8 functional stalls at best — and 8 stalls cannot serve 30 women.
We know exactly who those 30 women are. They live on and around Naretunoi Conservancy. They already make handmade beaded jewellery, woven baskets, honey, herbal products and traditional garments — at home, with no platform to sell from. That changes now.
WHAT WE ARE BUILDING
— 30 individual trading stalls rebuilt with proper timber and iron sheet roofing — A covered central workspace where women produce, collaborate and train together — A clean water point and lockable storage room — Solar lighting across 6 points — morning and evening trading — 2 proper ventilated pit latrines — Branded Naretunoi packaging for all 30 vendors — A 2-day business skills training — Signage and stall identity boards
Community labour — clearing, building, landscaping — is contributed by the Maasai families themselves.
THE GUARANTEED AUDIENCE
Naretunoi now runs a weekend eco-tourism retreat every Friday to Sunday. Every Saturday afternoon our retreat guests — up to 20 people — visit the community. That is a minimum of 80 paying visitors walking through this market every single month, growing every season.
These are not random tourists. They come specifically to connect with Maasai culture. They come to buy something real, made by hand, by the person standing in front of them.
WHAT WE NEED — KES 1,000,000
— 30 stalls rebuilt: KES 300,000 — Central covered workspace: KES 180,000 — Water point and storage: KES 130,000 — Solar lighting: KES 60,000 — Sanitation: KES 70,000 — Signage and branding: KES 30,000 — Branded packaging first batch: KES 25,000 — Business skills training: KES 20,000 — Fencing and boundary: KES 40,000 — Market launch working capital: KES 60,000 — Contingency: KES 85,000
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE
KES 5,000 — rebuilds one stall KES 25,000 — covers branded packaging for all 30 vendors KES 60,000 — puts solar lights across the entire market KES 180,000 — builds the central workspace where women will gather and grow
Donate via M-Pesa or card on this page. Till number 6490991 — Naretunoi Conservancy.
For CSR partnerships email info@naretunoi.co.ke or WhatsApp 0715 775 682.
The women are ready. The land is ready. The market is waiting. Help us build it.
Fuel this Impact
100% of donations go directly to field operations for this project.
Buy Goods Till
Naretunoi Conservancy
Recent Impactors
Start the movement