Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: News

Now, ongoing violence and tribal warfare threatens the already-suffering tourism industry upon which the Maasai people depend even more. "You wouldn't want to go for a safari when there's political unrest there," Park said.

The Leakey Collection was founded in 2002 as a "social impact project," and has stepped in to promote sustainable rural enterprise among the Maasai, Mukherjee said.

A percentage of their proceeds is reinvested in the community to build schools, hire teachers and fund water pumps. The Leakey Collection also creates jobs for over 1,400 Maasai women, whose skillful handiwork is utilized to create beaded jewelry with locally sustainable grasses.

And as schools falter for a lack of funds and the Maasai struggle with resource shortages due to the riots, the GCP's work is "even more important," said Engineering professor Jeffrey Babin, the leader of the GCP team in Kenya.

"It's not just a project about making money or being profitable," said Wharton MBA student Jennifer Akpapuna. "It's about sustaining a particular tribe and culture in Kenya."

While the group of students focused on the Maasai, the GCP main office focused on keeping the students safe. They kept in touch with the Kenya group as often as every three to six hours, said Linn de Barona.

When the main office didn't hear from the team for an entire day, they considered sending out a search team, said Linn de Barona. Luckily, that proved unnecessary.

Still, she continued, with the death count quickly surpassing 300 at the time, evacuation plans were put in place, including the option of chartering a plane or helicopter to transport the group back to Nairobi.

But that, too, was unnecessary: the students managed the drive back to the capital safely. The group even spent a few hours dining out without fear of the violence that would soon rock the country.

"We weren't cowering in our hotel room," said Mukherjee.

The only remaining inconvenience the group faced was slightly reorganizing their original departure schedules to avoid the massive riot that was expected on Jan. 7.

Since the GCP group has returned, the death toll in Kenya has climbed to nearly 800 and tens of thousands have fled the country in the past month.

"As sad as this situation is, it's made us even more determined to help out," said Mukherjee. "This work matters much more than it did when we started."

After all, he continued, "people's lives are at stake."

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