A look back on 2025

Short Story & our goals

Five years ago, I, Sigrid Sadjak, traveled to Tanzania by chance and without any particular intention. It's incredible how this decision changed my life and the lives of many others forever! - Because I met the Maasai Kaira Manangwa Laizer. His ACTIONS touched me, his VISION became mine. Our belief in what is possible drives us forward.

When the vision of one becomes the vision of the other, the potential doubles. And when many people join forces, great things can be achieved.  Sigrid Sadjak

We have been working in Kaïra's Maasai community since mid-2021 to promote education in the broadest sense, starting first and foremost with the construction of the ERAMATARE SCHOOL.

The aim is to create new perspectives while preserving culture:

• Free/low-cost, high-quality education in the Maasai cultural sphere

• Opportunities to learn craft skills

• Strengthening women's rights (empowering women and girls, abolishing female genital mutilation)

• Introduction of organic farming for sustainable self-sufficiency

• Gentle, numerically exclusive tourism as a source of income

• Basic medical care

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all donors and volunteers, whose support has enabled us to achieve so much since the ERAMATARE project began in mid-2021!

Further donations, volunteers, and charity events are very welcome!

Reality is what you do. Sigrid Sadjak

Achievements in 2025

Five school classes

In January 2026, our 30 oldest students will already be entering the 4th grade. They started in our first preschool class in January 2022. It is very gratifying that during my visit in January 2026, I will already be able to talk to some of the 150 children who are now attending the school.

Safari with children

After the school year ends, we go on a two-day safari with 15 children and four teachers. The top five children from each class are allowed to come along. For most of them, it's their first time leaving their village...

The experience of these days shows that we should give children more opportunities to see the outside world and gain new experiences.

The world is a book. Those who never travel see only one page of it. Augustinus Aurelius

Imagine this becoming a new sponsorship opportunity: excursions or safaris WITH SPONSORS AND CHILDREN from ERAMATARE SCHOOL!

Does this sound like something you would be interested in? If so, please contact me!

School registration & challenges

The registration of our ERAMATARE SCHOOL in January 2025 is a milestone and a real cause for celebration. After overcoming many bureaucratic hurdles, our school has gained public recognition. The children now receive state-recognized certificates and can attend a secondary school after completing primary school (from January 2029).

With registration, we are subject to Tanzania's current curriculum, which is the next challenge for teachers and children. The starting point for us is difficult:

• The children speak Maa, a Nilotic language that has no written form, as their mother tongue.

• Most come from illiterate families, meaning that their parents cannot support them with schoolwork. What's more, they have no table, writing and drawing materials, or books at home.

• Using pen and paper is completely new to the children, who first have to practice their fine motor skills.

• Reading, writing, arithmetic, science, etc. are taught in English, i.e., in a foreign language.

• In Engaruka, many of the things mentioned in books do not exist. Trains, planes, railways, sidewalks, asphalt roads, electric stoves, washing machines, carpets, vacuum cleaners, thermometers... Many expressions therefore do not exist in the children's native language. It is difficult to understand something in class when the children have no idea what is being talked about.

• In addition to English, the children have to learn the national language, Swahili, which is also a foreign language for most of them.

• The training of teachers cannot be compared to ours in Austria.

You are welcome to volunteer if you speak English well and

• can support the teachers methodically, under the motto “Teach the teacher.”

• and/or enjoy discovering the world with children in a playful way. Maybe you like to read, act, sing, do crafts, or garden...

The more often children have the opportunity to hear and use English individually, the faster they learn, the greater their understanding, and the greater their desire to learn.

We want to find ways to offer children more authentic experiences. Locally and through excursions.

Seeing something yourself is worth more than hearing a hundred news stories. Proverb from Japan

We imagine that this will become a new sponsorship opportunity: excursions or safaris WITH SPONSORS AND CHILDREN from ERAMATARE SCHOOL!

Would that be something for you? If so, please get in touch with me!

Water pipe construction

There are moments that remain etched in your memory. When water flows through the more than seven-kilometer-long pipeline to the ERAMATARE SCHOOL for the first time, I have tears in my eyes. After three and a half years of effort, a bitter setback, and great perseverance, our dream has come true: our school has been supplied with clean tap water since September 13, 2025.

Our thanks go to IOG Engineers Without Borders, Tyrol Regional Group, who took on the project planning, financing, and implementation. With the official handover to Kaira, the project was successfully completed in September 2025. As a symbol of life, growth, and the future, a tree was planted together. It stands for what this project is all about: sustainable development through cooperation, trust, and perseverance.

May this be the start of a long-term collaboration between ERAMATARE and IOG! Because there are still many projects where we need expert support.

Deforestation & countermeasures

Our school is growing, and with it the need for firewood and nutritious food. In 2025, we will therefore purchase 14 acres (approx. 5.6 hectares) of land next to a seasonal stream, where a natural forest thrives, among other things. This will provide us with our own source of firewood as well as grazing land. Kaira would like to purchase a few goats and cows for the school in the future to enrich meals with milk, a staple food of the Maasai. At the same time, this will enable us to protect valuable forest.

Until a few decades ago, the Maasai were nomads and gatherers. They moved around, living off their animals, the forest, herbs, roots, fruits, and honey. Due to political decisions (border demarcation, privatization, bans on entering national parks), this nomadic life is no longer possible, and agriculture is now practiced. Trees are being cut down to create fields, which has a particularly rapid negative impact in dry areas such as Engaruka. With the strong sunlight here, agroforestry would be possible and ideal. In addition to ignorance, poverty is the main reason why people process valuable trees into charcoal for quick money.

We are currently paying a “watchman” to at least stop the theft of wood and the charring of valuable trees on our land. Kaira is working to educate the population and explain the connections, because this is the only way to slow down and perhaps stop the process of deforestation, regardless of ownership, and, in the best case, reverse the trend.

One thing is clear to us: the more forest we can buy, protect, and thus manage sustainably, the better for everyone. Your donation makes this possible!

May our efforts be successful and inspire many others to follow suit!

At the same time, we are planting a wide variety of tree species at our school. On the one hand, to improve the microclimate at the school (shade, evaporative cooling), and on the other hand, to obtain fruit. It is very helpful that, thanks to the new water pipe, we can water and maintain the trees during the persistent drought.

We are currently planning to build a water retention basin on the school grounds and an adjacent vegetable garden. The next generation needs to learn about new, sustainable options and gain valuable experience!

If this topic appeals to you and you can contribute with your knowledge and experience on site, please get in touch! Only together can we achieve our goal!

Aid for drought relief

All living creatures in the Engaruka region have been plagued by a severe drought for months. Thanks to your donations, we were able to provide aid by distributing corn, beans, and oil to the poorest members of the Maasai community. As is so often the case in this world, these are mainly single mothers and elderly people.

In view of the repeated failure of the rainy season, measures are needed (worldwide!) that have a positive effect on soil recovery, rich, site-appropriate vegetation, and the water balance. If you feel helpless in this regard, start in your garden, consume consciously, and enable our work through your donation, for example! The earth is ONE system, everything is connected to everything else!

Charity events & occasions for wishing/giving gifts

Charity events and occasions (from birthdays to Advent celebrations to funerals) that benefit ERAMATARE are of great value to us. Firstly, because they bring in urgently needed donations, and secondly because they raise awareness of ERAMATARE. The more people learn about what we do and get involved, the greater our chances of covering our running costs and achieving our goals.

Money is energy. YOUR donations enable us to DO what we do!

In 2025, we express our gratitude to

• The two Rotary Clubs Innsbruck Bergisel and Seefeld for sponsoring a teacher's annual salary of €3,600.

• The children Ida Pöll & Julia Ettinger, for €2,600. Since 2022, the two have been working hard for ERAMATARE every year during Advent under the motto “CHILDREN FOR CHILDREN. When many little people do many little things, they can change the face of the world.”

• Marie Moreau and Elli Wachter, who also organized an Advent market and supported ERAMATARE with €360.

• Bettina Ehrndorfer-Lindenthaler and Margit Ann Berger, who worked with students at BafEP Salzburg on the topic of “Archetypes of Emotions” in art class. Postcards featuring motifs from the students' works were available for purchase in exchange for donations. With an additional contribution from director Johannes Gruchmann, a total of €3,060 was raised.

• The Ilse-Brüll-Gasse Middle School in Innsbruck, which, on the initiative of Miryam Leitner-Rudolph, donated the proceeds, €255, from the cake buffet on Parents' Day during Advent.

• Anita Koppelstätter, who put her Advent drinks party at the service of ERAMATARE.

• Markus Einfinger, who asked for donations to ERAMATARE instead of birthday presents.

• My family, who, on the occasion of the death of our dear mother Linde Wintersteller, a loyal supporter of ERAMATARE, declined wreath donations and asked for donations to ERAMATARE instead.

Donations & Standing Orders

Every donation helps and every donation counts, because we work 100% on a voluntary basis.

Although I don't benefit from it myself, I am always delighted when

• a large donation for ERAMATARE arrives unexpectedly

• a donation comes from someone I don't know, meaning that the ERAMATARE circle is expanding. Both give us hope.

All donations that come in reliably via standing order are indispensable for our work and give us the security of knowing that one third of the monthly fixed costs (salaries, food, school supplies, energy, etc.) of the ERAMATARE SCHOOL are currently covered. In view of the growing number of students (currently 150), we would be particularly delighted if you would take on a “sponsorship” (€45/month/child) and/or recruit someone else to do so!

Thank you for your generosity and trust.!

We will reward your donation with joy and meaning!

Volunteers

What would we be without volunteers! We would like to thank everyone who has already contributed their knowledge and skills! And we invite you to make an active contribution! Get in touch if you are interested!

In 2025, we would like to thank

• all the engineers involved in IOG Engineers Without Borders, Tyrol Regional Group, who made our dream of a water pipe to the school come true!

• Matthias Mitterer, Anna Lena Dorn, and Harald Tafatsch for planning the administration building, which is currently under construction

• Iris Niedertscheider, Leni Draxl, and Nina Zlotek for supporting the teachers at ERAMATARE SCHOOL

• Robert Kuster, who, as a tax advisor, applies annually to the tax office for tax relief for ERAMATARE

• the auditors Martina Gapp and Anita Ischia

Tax deduction

Our association has been eligible for donations since 2024. This means that donations to ERAMATARE are tax deductible if the name (as listed in the register of residents) and date of birth are specified when making the transfer.

Donation account: ERAMATARE, IBAN: AT85 2050 3033 0276 7037

Tax advisor, Robert Kuster, volunteers his time to submit the annual application for tax-deductible status to the tax office on our behalf. Thank you!

Outlook

Once the administration building currently under construction is completed, our elementary school will still be missing a classroom and a boarding school building, in addition to a thousand other small things. Many children have a very long journey to school, up to 12 kilometers in one direction, so the construction of a boarding school has long been a wish. Many parents and children also dream of a secondary school... For further goals, see the very beginning ;-)

Ultimately, it's all a question of money..

We remain hopeful!

• Both the Gymnasium Sillgasse Innsbruck and the BG BRG Gmunden are once again holding a charity run in aid of ERAMATARE this school year. In the run-up to the event, I will be talking about our project and the privilege of free education at both schools.

  
  

• On April 15, 2026, I am invited to Innsbruck to give a lecture entitled “Wundervoll getan” (Wonderfully Done) by Wundervoll Coworking GmbH....

  
  

• ... there are still places available! ;-) I am excited to hearing of you!

May the circle of supporters of ERAMATARE continue to grow!

ERAMATARE comes from Maa, the language of the Maasai people, and means "We take responsibility!"

Thank you very much for your trust and generosity!

Sigrid & Kaira

DONATION ACCOUNT: ERAMATARE

IBAN: AT85 2050 3033 0276 7037

BIC: SPIHAT22