This archive report was first published on 13 May 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Narok County has been closed since last month, leaving local traders in a state of uncertainty.
For women like Nashuluni Maitai, who sell beadwork and other artefacts to tourists, the closure of the reserve has meant a significant loss of income. Maitai, a 35-year-old resident of Narok County, had been preparing for the annual wildebeest migration spectacle, which usually brings in a windfall for her business.
"I had bought beads and materials ready to make many ornaments that I could sell. I have been preparing since January but now I am grounded because of the Covid-19 pandemic," Maitai said.
According to Rose Sairowua, the Beadwork Production manager at Maa Trust, a local non-profit organisation, about 700 women are contracted by the organisation to make bead work crafts which the organisation buys from them and sells to curio shops in the lodges.
"Right now, they have no work, meaning no income for them," Sairowua said.
With the closure of the park, the local community who depended on tourism, including tour guides and drivers, waitstaff, conservancy owners, and small traders, are now on the brink of poverty.
Leonard Sadera, a freelance tour guide, has retreated to his village in Marianda to herd livestock after he was rendered jobless.
"I had bought a new Land Cruiser to be ferrying tourists. My target was the wildebeest migration season, but now I have no work. My vehicle is just parked yet I still have to repay my loans. Life is hard," he told The Standard.
