By Saruni Martin- Art in Tanzania internship

NGO Management

Human Rights

Martin Saningo

Weeks passed, and my national exams were nigh; since Mr. Martin Saning’o had passed away from COVID-19, I had a dream. In the dream, Mr Martin told 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 don’t know of. I wouldn’t want his works to go unnoticed – I would like people to learn of his work and the benefits he has brought to the Maasai community in Terrat, Simanjiro. This is his story.

Simanjiro

Martin was born in the early 1960s in the Simanjiro district of northern Tanzania. This is in the Maasai heartland – the high, arid plains south of Arusha. In common with many Maasai of his generation, Martin and his family cannot be sure exactly when he was born. But Martin believed it to be in 1960 or 1961.

Martin was among the few Maasai children who received education at the time. He used his education well. He wanted to give back to the society that brought him up, so in the early 1990s, he founded IOPA – Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement. Although IOPA’s first priority was dealing with land rights, it also eyed the health and water supply problems that the Maasai at Terrat faced.

Martin became an activist and made critical moves to ensure the Maasai weren’t displaced from their traditional lands. The government had been displacing the Maasai from areas they claimed to be ‘National Park areas’. His moves were seen to be ‘too critical’ to some in high places, and as a result, the government initially refused to register for IOPA.

As impossible as it may seem, Martin sued the government for displacing the Maasai from their traditional lands. At the time, more than 6000 Maasai had already been displaced by the government from National Parks. IOPA, led by Mr. Martin, filed several cases against the government, resulting in a landmark ruling by the High Court in IOPA’s favour.

Martin recognized that education was the key to enlightening the Maasai on several things: land rights, their health, their livestock, the ongoing changes in the outside world, and several other things. He figured that a community radio would effectively serve this purpose. He established a community radio, the first ever 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 there was a need for electricity – not only for the radio station but also for the receivers of the information they portrayed. He worked on several projects with different 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 get money, and they used it to acquire their needs and the needs of their families. In the Maasai culture, the only resource that belongs to women is milk.

Martin had a broad and liberal outlook in his work, which touched each and almost every age group and social class at that 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 got the attention of a Dutch philanthropist, Dini de Rijcke, and began to work with her through her foundation, Stichting Het Groene Woudt (SHGW). Through working with Ashoka and SHGW, IOPA 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 throughout the country. In cooperation with these organizations, IOPA was also able to work on several water supply projects, that bore fruits as the people in the dry Maasai lands got much easier water than before.

IOPA centre in Terrat

The women’s refuge centre was expanded also to be a guest house that could accommodate visitors to the area. IOPA also added additional generators to build one of the first mini-grids in the country to supply more than 1000 people in Terrat village with electricity since the government had considered it too expensive to connect Terrat to the national electricity grid.

Martin was bestowed various awards for his great work, such as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 by the Schwab Foundation and 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. Even after funders ended their collaborations, IOPA could still run its activities and thrive. Today, IOPA’s remaining running projects include ORS FM radio, a few dairy plants, the conference centre, the water business, the guest house, and the education and health support project in Terrat.

In 2019, IOPA was changed to Orkonerei Maasai Social Initiatives (OMASI) – an NGO – because of 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 considerable shoes to fill. This story of Martin is supposed to motivate anyone with big dreams, anyone who is fighting against all odds to achieve their dreams. I hope I have done his story some justice.

Similar Posts