The One Horizon 2-day family ties cultural tour is a rare opportunity to visit families in their homes from two different Kenyan ethnic groups – the Maasai and the Kikuyu. You’ll be warmly welcomed into a Maasai village and your hosts will show their age-old way of life and rites of passage. This tour will give you deep insight into the customs and structures of rural Kenyan family life and the highlight is the genuine interaction you will experience by sharing stories and laughter.

DAY 1 - Maasai family ties - Today you drive to an authentic Maasai village on the outskirts of Nairobi where you spend the day with the men, women and children, and one of the elders, Daniel, will take you on a tour to explain how the Maasai have managed these precious lands for centuries. Spend time with Maasai mothers and help them build a new manyatta – a traditional Maasai homestead, while Maasai warriors will teach ancient skills such as spear-throwing and how to use local plants to make medicinal remedies, and will invite you to join them as they herd their cattle. In the afternoon the women will share their stories as they help you make your own piece of traditional beautifully-crafted beaded Maasai jewellery.

DAY 2 - Kikuyu family ties - There are many grandmother-headed households in Kenya that care for a number of generations, and today you are hosted by gracious grandmother Helen at her rural home. She will show you around her innovative pig farm, and you can pitch in with the chores if you’d like to. This is a project supported by One Horizon as an initiative to improve the livelihoods of grandmothers by economically empowering them through small-scale farming. Helen earns a sustainable income from the pigs, while the bio-gas system from the waste powers her home. You also help to cook a traditional Kenyan lunch and share it with some of the other grandmothers in the community. You will be inspired by listening to their powerful stories of life, change and progress and how the program has helped keep their families together.