Thousands of tourists each year visit the Serengeti in Tanzania and Kenya, the vast grassland that contains one of the richest variety of animals on Earth.
A popular stop on many safaris is a traditional Maasai village, complete with the tall tribal members dressed in red robes and colorful beaded jewelry.
Tourists typically get out of their air conditioned Land Rovers, tour the village, snap pictures of “the natives,” buy trinkets to take home, then get back in their vehicles and proceed to their five-star lodges.
But for Rhonda Curry, 46, of Port Angeles, a safari trip in March 2009 signaled a new direction in her life, due largely to one little girl.
Curry, her husband, Tom, and a group of 22 people went on the trip organized by Bruce Skinner, director of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation who has been to Africa several times.
They visited the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and the small village of Oldubai Boma.
“It was spectacular from a visual perspective,” Curry said.
“The Maasai are very striking people. You knew you were somewhere very different and very special.”
Meeting Moipoi
Curry recounts there was one little girl named Moipoi, perhaps 3 years old, who was particularly curious about the group of visitors.
With camera clicking, Curry recorded the girl’s interaction with her husband. Moipoi touched the blond hair on his arms, staring at his blue eyes and making faces.
“She was just a little goofball — and so cute!” Curry said.
Moipoi seemed to be a child of the village, watched over by whatever female was in her vicinity, as is common in Maasai culture.
“I wish every little girl had that many women doting over them,” Curry, a mother of three, said.
“I was dying to pick her up. I asked the teacher for permission, and when I picked her up there was literally a connection.”
The little girl was covered in the fine dust that is a part of life in an African village and in need of a bath, but that didn’t deter Curry.
“These people probably have no idea of the impact she had on this strange American woman from far away,” she said.
The group went on to their luxury lodgings in a setting straight out of “The Lion King,” but Curry and her husband couldn’t stop thinking about Moipoi and the village.
They had also befriended the English teacher of the village, a young man named Metwiy Sabor, who told them many villagers died from malaria.
They learned that the disease could be prevented by having insecticide-treated nets and anti-malarial medication. The village had neither.
That situation was unacceptable to the Currys, both of whom work in the health care industry.
Tom Curry is a regional director of operations for Extendicare, a long-term care company based in Seattle which includes Crestwood Convalescent Center in Port Angeles and Sequim Health and Rehabilitation.
Rhonda is assistant administrator for strategic planning and marketing at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.
She has a bachelor’s degree in health care administration from St. Joseph’s College of Maine in Standish, Maine, and a master’s degree in leadership and communication from Gonzaga University in Spokane.
She has worked in health care for 15 years and at OMC for the past eight.
She has lived in Port Angeles since 1979 and graduated from Port Angeles High School in 1980.
The couple live in Port Angeles, in a house beneath the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, with views over the town and harbor.
They married in 2005, after having known each other for years, she said.
They have six children between them, ages 19 to 27.
They have traveled extensively in Europe, but this was their first trip to Africa.
“These sorts of visits don’t have the same impact on everyone. But for us, we couldn’t stop thinking about it. We took it home with us,” Curry said.
They set about immediately establishing an organization that would funnel funds to a nonprofit organization in Tanzania that could help them provide needed mosquito nets, medicine and medical training to the village.
They dubbed it simply, “Maasailand Health Project.”
Featured prominently on the home page, www.mlhp.org, is a photo of little Moipoi.
Undertaking such a project while in Africa is difficult; doing it long distance is almost impossible.
“The roadblocks would have stopped the average person,” Curry conceded. “The obstacles were enormous.”
Still, they weren’t talking about taking on all the woes of the continent. The five Maasai villages in the area they visited have a combined population of 411 people; Oldubai Boma has fewer than 100 residents.
“This was so doable,” Curry said.
Nets and supplies
Their goal was to buy the nets and supplies needed to get started, as well as train Sabor to be the village’s on-site health care worker, then continue the program.
They contributed the first $2,000 to get the program started and found a reputable nonprofit organization in nearby Arusha that could arrange to buy the nets and supplies and have them delivered.
Curry credits her husband with managing the logistics of the program and outlining a four-year plan, with $10,000 the first year and $2,500 to $3,000 each year to extend and run the program in all five villages.
“If people have been to Africa, or have a heart for Africa, we would love to have them be part of the project,” Curry said.
They have raised $6,500 so far, with donations from North Olympic Peninsula residents ranging from $10 from a nursing assistant to several $500 donations from physicians.
“We have had incredibly sweet and generous local support,” she said.
Now a nonprofit
They incorporated as a nonprofit in Washington state in November 2009 and have already paid to have Sabor trained.
The first batch of 100 treated nets, 50 blood test kits and medication was delivered to the village in early February.
Curry stressed 100 percent of donations go directly to the project. They are not taking out any administrative costs.
She credits a group of women on the Peninsula who made in kind donations to help the project become a reality: Nancy O’Gorman of O’Gorman Web Design for designing the Web site, Jenn Putnam of Jennergy Inc. for creating the logo and Denise Brennan, owner of Princess Valiant Coffee for creating a special blend of Tanzanian coffee, with all proceeds going to the Maasai-land Health Project.
Curry said her husband will return to Tanzania to see the results of the project, and she hopes to return as well.
“I would love to hold that little girl in my arms again,” she said.
