MEET the MAASAI
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In the 19th and 20th century, Maasailand, the homeland of the Maasai people, became the modern countries, Kenya and Tanzania.
About 1.2 million Maasai people continue to live in their traditional homeland.
Maasai men once faced down lions, now they protect them. But they still herd cows, as is their tradition. The women still adorn themselves with unique beadwork.
Our sponsored students come from 2 traditional 'villages, located in a salt pan at the foot of Mt.Kilimanjaro, near Amboseli National Park.
Maasai women build their circular homes from ashes, dung, sticks and mud. When the material hardens it's like fiberglass to the touch., and comfortably cool inside.
The village is surrounded by a circular 6' wide thorn fence. A second, inner fence surrounds the corral, where the livestock spend the night.
In traditional Maasai culture, livestock are wealth, and sustenance. Cows are only eaten at during dire or celebratory times.
We took this picture on our first visit. Little girls worked gathering wood for fires. ghly patriarchal. Until our initiative, girls from the villages were not sent to school after age 8.
Until 2016 when our fund was formed, young girls had their exterior genitalia removed in preparation for forced polygamous marriage to older men.
FGM is illegal now, but still occurs, especially in rural places where cutting is done without pain mitigation using unsterilized implements. Infections are common .
Child brides become women with little personal freedom. Their traditional role is to bear as many children as possible. Most are left with serious physical and/or emotional problems.
Those who marry as children remain illiterate and unable to speak the languages of Kenya (English and Swahili.)
They become young widows with no means of support except the kindness of others. Maasai women do not inherit.
In 2016,with our encouragement Chief Angirri Kelembu declared his intention to end FGM in his village.
Our fund sponsored a community-wide celebration marking the END of the hideous practice - and the BEGINNING of education for village girls.
Ending child marriage is harder however. Maasai fathers told us the only way they can pay for their sons' education is by trading their daughters for cows in polygamous marriage.
This 9-year-old was scheduled for cutting and marriage in 2015.But our donors changed her fate!
She's in high school now. That's her in the blue shirt, after she became a student.
In 2026 we have 57 girls enrolled in a boarding school selected by their mothers.
They eat three meals a day at school, even in times when their parents cannot provide regular sustenance.