The position of Maasai Girls
When thinking of Kenya, every tourist immediately thinks of the Maasai, one of the many tribes in Kenya. Their beautiful colourful clothes, proud appearance and special culture have made them the calling card of Kenya. The (lesser known) side of the Maasai culture is the very poor position of young girls and women. Circumcision and arranged marriage at a very young age are still common, as well as polygamy.
Fortunately, more and more parents in traditional communities no longer want to let this happen to their daughters. And they realise that it is good for their daughters to go to school and develop themselves so that they will have a chance of getting a job and an income.
Unfortunately, there is often insufficient income to pay school fees as most parents live off the profits from a small herd of goats and cows.
By funding school fees, StandUp4Talent aims to give Maasai girls more chances for a better life, economic independence and a better position in society.
Read more about the position of Maasai Girls and why we also sponsor Maasai Boys.
Purity (1993) managed to escape from an arranged marriage after primary school and was able to go to secondary school thanks to help of her teachers. She completed secondary school with very good results and managed to get a teachers’ training afterwards. Continuing her studies at university was her big dream. Purity wanted to start teaching other Maasai Girls to help them realise their dreams.
With the support of StandUp4Talent, Purity was able to start at Kenyatta University Nairobi, Bachelor of Education, Early Childhood Studies in September 2016. Unfortunately, her studies were regularly interrupted, for different reasons like teachers’ strikes and the lockdowns due to the corona pandemic.
Purity completed her studies in 2022 and now works as a teacher in the local primary school.
She also dedicates herself with a lot of energy to the development of her community, together with Faith, one of our other students. Thanks to the collaboration between these two amazing students, their individual development has extended to their entire communities. We are very proud of them!
Faith (1997) is an enthusiastic and open- hearted Maasai Girl who managed to touch everyone’s heart with her dream during her participation in the MasterPeaceWalk 2018 at the campfire: My dream is to become the voice of the Maasai girls and my society, to fight for their rights to education, educating them the importance of education, fight against female genital mutilation, fight teenage pregnancy among the young maasai girls, fight against child marriages and making this young girls realize their dreams.
With the help of our sponsors, she was able to start her studies in Communication and Public Relations at St. Pauls University Kenya in January 2019. While studying, her academic results, her personal development, her ambitions and her entrepreneurial drive evolved and improved at a high pace. Faith completed her Bachelor in Communications with excellent grades and received her degree during a beautiful Graduation Ceremony on 14 November!
During her studies, Faith was already committed to all kinds of projects for her community. Together with Purity, one of our other students, a wide range of projects were set up to help their communities move forward in their development. This has brought so much energy and inspiration to their fellow villagers that everyone is now participating in new plans and a better future.
Click here for more information about Faith and the projects she is involved in.
Sylvia Soila (1999) is an intelligent student with a lot of perseverance. In spring 2024, her friend Teckler, one of our graduate students, asked us to support Sylvia.
Sylvia didn’t have an easy childhood. After her mother died and her father left the family, she was looked after by an aunt.
Despite recurring problems with financing school fees, she managed, with the help of friends, to complete high school and a study Certificate in Health Records and Information Technology at Mount Kenya University.
She achieved very good marks and was eager to take the next step to Diploma level in this field of study. Unfortunately, this was financially not possible for Sylvia.
In April 2024, we started sponsoring this motivated student. She is very happy that she can now concentrate on her studies without any worries.
Grace (2007) has been sponsored since 2019 by one of the participants of the MaasaiWalk 2019 (organised by the Entrepreneurship Academy). She completed primary school (Ilbissil Boarding Primary School) and started at Olooseos Girls Secondary School in January 2024 (at the age of 15!).
The school career of many children in Kenya is regularly interrupted because parents do not have enough money to pay school fees. As a result of this, and due to the corona-lockdowns, many children enter secondary school at a rather late age.
Grace is motivated to work hard. During our visited in 2023 she told us that her favourite subject is science, especially human body. Her dream is to become a nurse, preferably in a major hospital in Nairobi.
Teckler (1999) found shelter at a rescue centre in Kajiado for 2 years after she ran away from home to avoid forced marriage. Thanks to the care and guidance provided by the rescue centre, she was able to complete her primary school.
In February 2016, she was able to start at MITABONI ABC GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL thanks to our sponsorship, and in December 2019, she passed her final high school exams with good grades.
Teckler was highly motivated to continue her studies and with our help, she was able to start her studies in Bachelor of Commerce at the Jomo Kenya University of Agriculture and Technology {JKUAT} in Nairobi in January 2020. She worked very hard and in December 2023 she completed her studies.
Teckler is now looking for a job or scholarship for a master’s degree abroad
We visited Teckler regularly, both at her high school (2017 and 2018), and at her home and university (2023).
Jecinta (2002) was admitted in 2018 to Moi Girls High School, a school known as one of the best in Kenya, thanks to her high final primary school scores. At the request of the village elders of her manyata (village), StandUp4Talent sponsored her education. In 2022, she completed her final exams with excellent results and then started her Bachelor’s studies at the Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi.
It was Jecinta’s dream to become a doctor. But in Kenya, students are assigned a study/university based on their profile and graduation results from high school. It is not easy to choose an alternative study, and the costs of changing studies are probably high. Jecinta has accepted that she is not going to become a doctor. She is also very much interested in Law and she expects to be able to contribute a lot to her community with the knowledge after graduation.
On our visits to Jecinta in 2018 and 2023, we were impressed by her talents and ambitions.
Esther Naini (1995) managed to escape from female genital mutilation and forced marriage in exchange for a few cows, thanks to the help of Hellen Nkuraiya, an extraordinary Maasai woman who has been working for Maasai girls for years.
With our support, Esther Naini was able to start her Bachelor of Arts in Community Development studies at Daystar University in 2018. After her studies, she wants to work to improve the position of Maasai girls, just like Hellen.
When she graduated in 2022, it became national news! The Kenyan public television broadcasted a report of the wonderful party her community organised for her.
They are super proud of her and so are we!
In 2023, she was selected for a scholarship for a Masters in International Development at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Only 1 week after arrival in Jerusalem, the war in Gaza began. By now, life on campus has more or less returned to normal. We hope she will be able to complete her Masters undisturbed.
More about Esther Naini: click here
Mary (2007) was admitted to Kimana Girl’s High School in January 2023.
On our visit to her village Namelok in August 2023, she and her parents submitted a request for sponsorship to us. A few weeks later, before we made a final decision about their request, a cry for help reached us from her community.
Her parents did manage to pay school fees for the first 2 trimesters, but there was no money for the third trimester, so Mary could no longer attend school. She was very eager to go to school. She even wanted to try to take exams for the last trimester without taking classes for it!
We made sure that this talented ambitious young lady could go back to school immediately. She finished the last trimester with great results.
Mercy (2009) was admitted to Senior chief Koinange Girls High School, located in a suburb of Nairobi, in January 2023.
Her father managed to pay school fees for the first year.
She achieved high grades in her first year, but continuing her studies was a financial challenge for the family. On request of the community, we are sponsoring the education of this talented Maasai girl.
Agnes (1994) is a young ambitious woman who in 2014, 2015 and 2017 participated in the MasterPeaceWalk in Maasailand, a joint walk by Maasai warriors, Maasai women and participants from the Western world in the Kajiado region. During these walks, Agnes developed a desire not to be married off, to choose her own partner in life, to develop, to study, and to be able to build an independent life.
Thanks to support from StandUp4Talent, Agnes was able to start her Bachelor of Commerce studies at the University of Nairobi in 2019. Unfortunately, Agnes had to interrupt her studies regularly, partly due to corona lockdowns, the birth of her second child and organisational problems at the university. She hopes to resume her studies (online) in 2025 and finally graduate.
Thanks to her studies, she does have a job with the County of Kajiado now.
Thanks to a donation from the staff of a Dutch company in 2023, we were able to support 3 high school students in the Amboseli region, 2 boys and 1 girl, for 1 year.
Jackline (2004) is a lovely, slightly shy girl. She told us she is very happy with our sponsorship.
Jackline has completed class 3 at Namelok Secondary School. We hope she will finish her final year (class 4) with good grades, as this will be the basis for deciding which further education she will be admitted to.
Continuation of her school career, however, will depend on sponsorship, either by individuals or companies willing to support girls like Jackline.
To continue sponsoring the costs of high school or university for these Maasai Girls in the future and to support more girls like them, we are looking for more sponsorship funds. If you would like to donate for this specific group, please mention in your bank transfer: Maasai Girls. Information about donating: Click here
