Grassroots Justice Clinic

The Maasai Grassroots Justice Clinic emerged from decades of organizing by Maasai leaders and global allies who recognized the urgent need for legal knowledge at the grassroots level. For years, Maasai communities have faced land dispossession, forced evictions, and the erosion of cultural rights. Leaders like Meitamei Olol Dapash, Co-Director with Mary Poole of the Dopoi Center and the Institute for Maasai Education, Research & Conservation (MERC), have emphasized that the struggle for justice is strengthened through communal legal knowledge. The Justice Clinic provides theoretical and practical instruction in partnership with Prescott College. Participants learn about land rights, human rights law, environmental law, and the protections guaranteed under national and international frameworks. Alongside their study, they engage in hands-on work: preparing legal documents, conducting community education workshops, and documenting essential cases relevant to the community. Guided by Dr. Perry Stern (JD/PhD), participants develop technical skills grounded in the ethics of justice work and legal work that furthers the well-being of the Maasai community. The clinic draws from the lived experiences and generational wisdom of the Maasai community, supporting paralegals in translating legal frameworks into useful tools of the community. As trained paralegals, graduates are vital activists for land theft, exploitation, and human/animal rights violations. They serve as the bridge between the Maasai community and the broader legal system, expanding the depth and potency of justice work in Maasailand.