MERC has existed for over three decades through collaboration with people in Western societies who believe in the future of the Maasai community and who share what they can.
Monthly Donations
MERC’s monthly donors understand that the hardest thing to fund in the case of small grassroots organizations is also the most critical: that is the operating budget that puts gas in the tank and food on the table for community organizers, that keeps the lights on at the Dopoi Center after student and tourists groups go home, and the pay salaries of the Center staff who have made this work possible.
Monthly donations of ANY AMOUNT feed this work! Please consider this form of giving, and follow the DONATE button above OR Send a check to:
MERC, 563 Dameron Drive, Prescott, AZ, 86301
* MERC is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit, and all donations are tax deductible. For more information, reach out to Mary Poole, [email protected]
Long Term Projects
We also greatly appreciate collaborative giving toward several larger projects, which can include money, and also ideas and introductions to possible networks of support.
MERC and Prescott College launched a campaign in 2018 to finish the Dopoi Center to create revenue streams through expanded field studies and tourism. Longstanding close friends of the project, organized through the Fiddler Group, provided the funding for the most recent phase of this development. We are currently soliciting contributions to complete tourist accommodations to create economic sustainability.
For more information, please reach out to Mary Poole at [email protected].
Dopoi Center new housing is nearing completion
MERC is also raising funds to build the Maasai Automotive Education Center in collaboration with Arizona State University.
If you are interested in collaborating on this project, please contact Mark Henderson at [email protected].
As we give from the heart we also receive, because giving connects us to each other.
Maasai understand the value of what we have to share.
Our Art.
Maasai aesthetic is unique and we love to see all people wearing our jewelry! To buy jewelry from the Olosho Collective, tee shirts, and other gifts, click here.
Drinking traditional medicine at Dopoi as a covid preventative.
Our Cultural Knowledge.
Across Maasailand people are turning to traditional medicines as a preventative for Covid-19, and are drawing on the community’s trust in each other to share information and care for elders while practicing social distancing. For more, click here.
Our Vision.
Meitamei Olol Dapash and Mary Poole have written a book, Decolonizing History in Maasailand, which expresses the larger vision of our work together. The book and is being reviewed for publication and will be available for sale in 2021. Other publications can be found here.