This marginalized community of some 7,000 people lives on the Athi-Kapiti plains just south of Nairobi National Game Park in Kenya.  Their livelihood is focused on livestock which functions as a "bank account" when money is scarce. Their very existence is threatened by the spreading city, by dire poverty and by the forced sale of their grazing lands in order to survive.    Without grazing land, a Maasai cannot keep cattle and without cattle, he is not a Maasai.  The loss of land leads to loss of identity, culture, tradition and community.

The loss of land also causes havoc to the wildlife population of the Athi-Kapiti plains, which is a dispersal and breeding area for many species of animals that live in the Nairobi National Game Park, and form part of the essential migratory corridor for animals moving to and from the Serengeti in Tanzania and Maasai Mara in Kenya.  The Maasai are a vital element in this equation as they are natural conservationists who do not hunt but live peacefully alongside wildlife and possess irreplaceable knowledge about each species’ habits.