Simon Parkesui Ogiek Masai from Kenya

Simon Parkesui Ogiek Masai from Kenya 
visit to Beekeeping projects on Randall Island, NYC.

Simon Parkesui and Jay Smith

& Joseph Daniel Wilson Community Garden in Harlem, NYC, December 2014

 The Ogiek Indigenous Masai!

They Inhabit the Mau Forest of Kenya!

 
The Ogiek Indigenous People of Kenya are a very unique ethnic group. They have struggled for centuries. But still they persist. They persist and sustain in spite of colonialism, forest evictions, etc. 
   They  have won some victories recently. For the first time  
   in history, an indigenous people in Africa have argued their case at the
  African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. 

The Ogiek are one of Africa’s last hunter-gather peoples. Their homeland is the Mau forest in Kenya. In the forest they collect wild fruits and nuts, hunt, and harvest honey without overstressing these valuable resources. They do not take from the forest more than what is needed to sustain their livelihood. 

They are geniuses in maintaining the forest biodiversity. They nurture and respect the forest. They are natural caretakers.

Simon and Brother Hadj in Harlem tasting Harlem Honey!

“The Ogiek are the forest, and the forest is the Ogiek people,“ says Peter Kiplangat Cheruiyot. He is the Program Officer at the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP). Which is a non-profit organization founded by members of the Ogiek community. OPDP is one of the groups of Ogiek’s at the forefront of their struggle for survival; a battle that is facing about 20,000 Ogiek living in Kenya. Their struggle is to stay in the Mau Forest, to preserve the forest and their way of life.

Beekeeping in Harlem!