Between a rebel, social mission and tourist product : Umoja - the women-only village (Kenya)

Traditional African pastoral tribes face the challenge of new phenomena of social character. In this article, the authors discuss the case of Umoja – the ‘only women’s village’ in Samburu County (Kenya) and the life situation of its residents (women, children). Informal interviews and in situ observations conducted in October 2021 as well as the relevant publications, were the main sources of information on the functioning of this women-only settlement. The socio-cultural phenomenon of Umoja combines two dilemmas: the first concerns the life of Umoja residents, the need to provide them with living conditions and personal development (education, health), and the second reveals the participation of the village’s activities in the idea of women’s emancipation and empowerment through the development of contacts of Umoja women with the ‘outside world’. Although transformation of Umoja daily life into a tourist product (commodification) provides its residents with the means of income, the Umoja women’s resistance act to the status of women in the Samburu community aims at a change in values in this traditional tribal culture