Oliveseed Foundation

08/21/2026

Friends in the Bay Area. We're having an Oliveseed OPEN HOUSE tomorrow at the Pacific Art League in downtown Palo Alto from 1 to 4. It's a celebration of our work in the Maasai Mara, with refreshments, beadwork arts, and a great time. Please stop by! 🌺 🐘 🇰🇪 🇺🇸

You'll learn about our current programs in education and livelihoods for women at Oliveseed. Plus, the new Friendship alliance between Palo Alto and the Maasai Mara through the sister city org Neighbors Abroad of Palo Alto. The backdrop is a beautiful exhibit of art and artifacts from Palo Alto's sister cities around the world; the 22nd is the last day of the exhibit.

We hope you can come!

08/07/2026

SF Bay Area friends, join us this month at the Pacific Art League in downtown Palo Alto (668 Ramona) for the Connected Worlds exhibit, with art and artifacts from Palo Alto's sister cities around the world. This includes gorgeous beadwork from our new friendship alliance in Maasai Mara Kenya 🥰 — as well as beauty from 8 sister cities in Europe, Asia, and Mexico. Come by!

The opening event is Sat Aug 8th from 1 to 4. On Sat Aug 22nd, we'll have an Oliveseed Open House... more on that to come! 🌎 🌍 🌏

07/25/2026

Yeaterday Oliveseed recieved a prestigious trophy award by the East Africa Lake Victoria Basin Commission, in partnership with Narok County, as part of the Mara Day celebrations.
‎This recognition is a great testament to our continued commitment and dedication towards supporting communities living around the Maasai Mara and creating a positive impact through sustainable initiatives.

We are deeply grateful to witness our efforts making a meaningful difference in people’s lives, and we remain committed to strengthening our work and reaching even greater milestones together.

Narok, being one of Palo Alto’s friendly cities holds a special place in our journey and we warmly invite like-minded partners and well-wishers to join us in our upcoming engagements. Together, we can support initiatives that keep girls in school, empower women, promote environmental conservation and climate resilience, develop clean water projects, and create opportunities for youth empowerment.

07/25/2026

We're taking a moment to reflect on that beautiful day in March, when we launched the Ololchura Primary School Library, our 7th school library in the Maasai Mara.

The library was a beehive of activity when we stopped in for a visit the morning after opening and has been thriving ever since. We know that a great library is so much more than a collection of materials. It's a space for learning, community, exploration, and growth. It fills us with joy to see these students! 🌿

07/24/2026

Oliveseed is honored to be part of the ongoing Narok County Agricultural, Environment & Climate Change initiatives presided by H.E Patrick Ntutu, Governor Narok County, The Cabinet PS of Agriculture Hon. Rono among various sectors leaders.

Over the past 5 years Oliveseed has worked tirelessly to build Community Capacity in Narok County, advancing Sustainable & Regenerative Agriculture, Environmental Stewarships, and climate resilience, our efforts include development of Solar powered Boreholes Water Projects Disaster Response to perennial Mara Floods, Establishment of School Projects such as Libraries & Scholarships, Economic Empowerment initiatives & creation of a Sustainable Women Enterprise Center outside Sekenani Gate, among many more transformative programs.

We are sincerely proud being here today showcasing tangible impacts of our work & the shared progress we are making for Kenya future

06/15/2026

Meet Helen Nchoko, our Women’s Centre Manager who is currently sharpening her skills through a Training of Trainers (ToT) course in loom beading. Helen is learning new techniques that she will soon pass on to the amazing women in our community center. What does this mean? More creativity and even more beautiful products in our store. We are gearing up for the new season with exciting designs that celebrate the talents of our Maasai women where every bead tells a story. Every product supports a family. Every purchase helps empower a woman.

06/14/2026

We're delighted to say that we have a new intern at the Women's Work Center this summer! Anah Salenoi is a student at Kiriri Women's College studying Business Administration. She has a passion for supporting local women in creating social enterprises and asked if she could help while she's off school for 3 months. Of course, we were thrilled to say yes! Anah is helping us greatly with bookkeeping, developing an inventory database, and marketing our beadwork products to safari camps. Thank you Anah, and Welcome!! 🍂 🙏 🌹

05/09/2026

We launched the Ololchura Primary School Library in Emarti, Maasai Mara, on March 26th. The morning after opening, we paid a visit to see how it's doing and were happy to find it already a beehive of activity! More books and furniture are coming, but it's already beautiful and a busy learning place. This is Teacher Susan Muigai telling us about the students and her hopes about "catching up with the whole world." 🌹

05/05/2026

A happy memory with Barb and Larbi at the last Marrakech English Book Festival popped up today! We hope to attend the next one too, in January 2027, to once again honor the young writers in our MLP Short Story Competition. MEBF is a great festival every other year in Marrakech that celebrates literature in English by Moroccan authors or on Moroccan themes and stories. Our 4th Short Story Competition is finished, and we hope to publish an anthology by autumn.

Le Marrakech English Book Festival tiendra sa prochaine édition du 15 au 17 janvier 2027 à Marrakech. Cette nouvelle édition sera marquée par le 20e anniversaire du Prix international de la fiction arabe, connu sous le nom d’IPAF. Elle réunira des auteurs marocains et internationaux autour de...

04/02/2026

We have successfully concluded a 10-day mission in Kenya with Neighbors Abroad of Palo Alto and Oliveseed Foundation, marking a historic milestone as Palo Alto adopted Narok as its first African Friendship City.

Following last year’s visit by Governor Patrick Ntutu to Palo Alto, this mission was purposely planned to strengthened collaboration between our two cities. We are deeply grateful to the Government of Narok and the Maa community for their warm hospitality.

Narok stands as both a rapidly growing urban center and a vital cultural and ecological stronghold, supporting indigenous livelihoods and safeguarding one of southern Kenya’s most important ecosystems.

We remain committed to advancing Neighbors Abroad’s vision in Narok by deepening partnerships with grassroots institutions including the Masai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association and other regional stakeholders who are working tirelessly to preserve the environment, promote education and foster the spirit of sustainability.