An Angus architect is making a return visit to Kenya to build on his relationship with the Maasai tribe.
Jonathan Reeve, a chartered architect with Voigt Architects in Arbroath, spent a week in the African country in March after designing a school and cultural centre for the Maasai tribe.
Jonathan, 39, presented his designs for the project at the Maasai Conference in Amboseli.
Now, he is turning his attention to the local housing in the region and is spending the week working in a village to improve its traditional houses.
The Maasai are one of the last indigenous tribal communities in East Africa.
Jonathan’s links with Kenya began in 2015 while volunteering on a house building project.
Two years later he was invited by two American charities to get involved with schemes at a small, traditional Maasai village in Amboseli close to the Tanzanian border.
He said: “Currently, this community does not have any access to clean water, toilets, electricity or a school facility.
“Over 95% of the people live below poverty; the majority of the Maasai people remain uneducated and illiterate because there are not enough schools in the area to support all the children.
“Following the visit to Kenya in March and a meeting with the villagers, a plan was developed to help improve some of the homes in a Maasai village.”
Traditional huts are oblong in shape and are built predominantly by the women, usually taking one to two weeks to build.
There is no natural light, they have open fires with no ventilation which causes eye and lung problems and numerous cases of children getting injured or badly burned falling into the fires.
Jonathan explained the charities Amor Ministries and My Chosen Vessels have been working to develop appropriate solutions whilst recognising the Maasai’s cultural identity and the fact they have been constructing homes for thousands of years.
He said: “Simply parachuting in and telling the Maasai they were building their homes all wrong would be insensitive, unhelpful and culturally wrong.
“An approach was taken that would work with the Maasai homes and prototype some measures on culturally appropriate alterations to retain their identity and form.
“I will join a global team from Amor and MCV from the USA to help prototype these measures on four of the existing homes carefully chosen by the local village as a live method of R&D.
“The current intention is to upgrade the homes which belong to the four female matriarchs of the village.
“I have seen it as a real privilege being able to help people across the world working as part of a global team.
“I’m excited to be getting my ‘hands dirty’ instead of just designing buildings.
“I’m also very much interested in the Maasai culture and how it is connected to Scotland.
“There has been a suggestion their traditional dress originated from kilts worn by Scottish missionaries in the 1960s and introduced to the Maasai and I am hoping to take a kilt with me as a cultural exchange.”
Jonathan is self-funding the transportation and accommodation costs but is seeking to raise funds towards the upgrade of the homes.
It is hoped the upgrades will not only improve the houses but the health of the families living within via lighting, cladding and a new chimney.
Anyone interested in sponsoring an upgrade of a complete home, which costs £450, can visit www.amor.org/donate
