Martin Saning’o Kariongi Ole Sanago
Weeks have gone by, and my national exams were nigh since Mr Martin Saning’o passed away from COVID-19. I had a dream. In the dream, Mr Martin said to me, in Swahili, with a rough translation to English, “Dare to dream big, never give up and always have a spirit big enough to achieve your dreams. Never give up, my son and remember I love you!”. I woke up emotional that day, but I also had a thought. He has done great work that most people are unaware of. I wouldn’t want his works to go unnoticed – I would want people to know of his work and the benefits he has brought to the Maasai community in Terrat, Simanjiro. This is his story.
Martin was born in the early 1960s in the Simanjiro district of northern Tanzania, located in the Maasai heartland—the high, arid plains south of Arusha. Like many Maasai of his generation, Martin and his family cannot be sure exactly when he was born, but he believed he was born in 1960 or 1961.
Martin was one of the few Maasai children to receive an education at the time. He used his education well. He wanted to give back to the society that raised him, so in the early 1990s, he founded IOPA—Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement. Although IOPA’s first priority was to deal with land rights, it also addressed health and water supply problems that the Maasai in Terrat faced.
Martin became an activist and made critical moves to ensure that the Maasai weren’t displaced from their traditional lands. At the time, the government had been displacing the Maasai from areas they claimed to be ‘National Park areas’. His moves were seen as ‘too critical’ by some in high places, and as a result, the government initially refused to register IOPA.
As impossible as it may seem, Martin sued the government for displacing the Maasai from their traditional lands. At the time, more than 6,000 Maasai had already been displaced by the government from National Parks. IOPA, led by Mr. Martin, filed several cases against the government, which later resulted in a landmark ruling by the High Court in IOPA’s favour.
Martin recognised that education was the key to enlightening the Maasai on several key aspects: land rights, their health, their livestock, the ongoing changes in the outside world, and other essential matters. He figured that a community radio would effectively serve this purpose. He established a community radio station, the first of its kind in Tanzania. He worked his fingers to the bone – many sleepless nights – and finally, the ORS FM first broadcasted news in 2002. The radio was, in fact, the first-ever community radio in Tanzania – or, in a larger perspective, East Africa. It broadcasts news in Kimaasai (the native language of Maasai) and plays Maasai music.
After the idea of the community radio, Martin also realised that electricity was needed—not only for the radio station but also for the receivers of the information it portrayed. He worked on several projects in association with various international organisations to bring electricity to the Maasai people.
Martin also worked to help women facing different challenges, most especially those in the Maasai areas – they were more prone to treacherous practices – such as beatings from husbands, mutilation and harassment. IOPA created a haven where beaten women would go to and tell their stories. It also tried to prevent female genital mutilation, FGM, child marriage, and women’s oppression. IOPA dedicated some of its resources to educating women and raising the status of women in the Maasai society. IOPA also sought to help women economically. IOPA established dairies in Simanjiro with a long-sighted view of enabling women to sell milk and earn money, which they used to meet their own needs and those of their families. In the Maasai culture, the only resource that belongs to women is milk.
Martin’s work had a broad and liberal outlook, touching almost every age group and social class by the time. For children, IOPA helped establish more than 50 pre-primary and primary schools across the region.
Martin’s work didn’t go unnoticed – he was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2003 and caught the attention of Dutch philanthropist Dini de Rijcke, with whom he began working through her foundation, Stichting Het Groene Woudt (SHGW). Through its collaboration with Ashoka and SHGW, IOPA successfully achieved many of its objectives. The Dutch foundation provided IOPA with five dairy plants and generators to power them across the region, and each dairy could process up to 2000 litres of milk into yoghurt, cheese, ghee and butter per day. These products were sold nationwide. In cooperation with these organisations, IOPA also worked on several water supply projects that bore fruit, as the people in the dry Maasai lands now have access to water with much greater ease than before.
The women’s refuge centre was expanded to include guest houses that could accommodate visitors to the area. IOPA also added additional generators to build one of the first mini-grids in the country, supplying more than 1,000 people in Terrat village with electricity. The government had previously considered it too expensive to connect Terrat to the national electricity grid.
Martin was bestowed with various awards for his outstanding work, including the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 by the Schwab Foundation and the World Economic Forum Africa, the Ford Global Community Leadership Award, and the Dubai Global Innovator Award.
Martin suggested that IOPA had to try to create viable micro-businesses so that even after funders ended their collaborations, IOPA would still be able to run its activities and thrive. Today, IOPA’s remaining operational projects include ORS FM radio, several dairy plants, the conference centre, the water business, the guest house, and the education and health support project in Terrat.
In 2019, IOPA was renamed Orkonerei Maasai Social Initiatives (OMASI) – an NGO – due to government laws and regulations. By the end of 2020, Mr. Martin had achieved most of his goals and dreams.
On March 1st, 2021, Martin passed away. I can say that he hasn’t genuinely died because his works still live on – he lives through his works. He has left a legacy and very big shoes to fill. This story of Martin is intended to inspire anyone with big dreams, anyone who is fighting against all odds to achieve their goals. I hope I have done his story justice.
If you will it, it is no dream; and if you do not will it, a dream it is and a dream it will stay
– Thomas Herzl –
Martin Saning’o Kariongi Ole Sanago
