Today, there are 6 Tasaru Girls in post-secondary education programs in Kenya

Today, four years after starting this effort with little more than the best wishes of many friends and family along with financial support from a handful of philanthropic & trusting women from my local community in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, there are now 7 young women from Tasaru who have completed or are pursuing college and university programs in Kenya with the assistance of our program. 3 others have found assistance through personal networks they established thru this project. In addition, over 20 girls from Tasaru have received other types of assistance including computer training, transportation and living assistance, medical assistance, and start-up money for small businesses from this project.

Young women confront unique and significant challenges when they leave Tasaru after high school. Most dream of going to college so that they can gain marketable job skills & training and succeed in achieving economic independence. This economic independence is one of the most significant factors in battling the economic forces in the Maasai community in Kenya that perpetuate female genital mutilation and child marriage. I am very very proud of the girls from Tasaru in college and university as they struggle with the bureaucratic hurdles of the education system in Kenya, lifestyle changes of living in large cities rather than their familiar rural home areas, and perhaps the continued resistance & resentment of their fathers. With the recent death of Kenya's Wangari Maathai, I am reminded of her motto, "Do the best that you can." That is exactly what these girls are doing!

Janet Semerian Pere - completed Kericho Teachers College in 2010, is teaching under government contract in Nkoilale Primary School in her home area near Maasai Mara, and continuing her education for a Diploma in Early Childhood Development at Limuru Teachers College during holidays.
Purity Rinka - completed Dicece PreSchool Teachers Training School in 2011, is teaching in a preschool in her home area, and continuing her education for a Diploma in Early Childhood Development at Limuru Teachers College during holidays.
Susan Karbolo - completed her Accounts Certificate Training at Kenya Polytechnic College and is now moving into the CPA program at Vision Technical School in Nairobi.
Carolyne Lato Gilisho - starting her second year at University of Nairobi in the B.Sc. Biology degree program.
Florence Taki - has just enrolled at Asumbi Teachers College.
Nailois Kamwaro - has just enrolled in the Information Technology program at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology/Nakuru CBD Campus.
Mary LeMakije - completed Mosoriot Teachers College in 2010 and is now teaching in a primary school in Kajiado.

To learn more about this project and to invest in a girl from the Tasaru Girls Rescue Centre in Narok, Kenya in her quest for post-secondary education, job training & an economic livelihood please contact me at mewalker99@yahoo.com.

On behalf of these girls, Asanteni Sana!

Why Educating Girls Matters!

BECAUSE...
An educated girl, with an income, in a developing country reinvests 90% of her earnings in her family; a boy... 35%.

In developing countries, an extra year of primary school will boost a girl's income 10%; an extra year of secondary... 25%.

An educated girl will marry later and have fewer children. Her country's HIV/Aids rate will decline, malnutrition will decline, her country's economy will improve.

In spite of the importance of educating girls around the world, 99.4% of international aid money is NOT directed to girls.

In fact, for every aid dollar spent, only 2 cents goes toward helping girls.

BUT if you INVEST IN A GIRL, SHE WILL DO THE REST.

Pregnancy is the leading cause of death world-wide for girls age 15-19.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?...

Contact me to invest in a girl from the Tasaru Girls Rescue Centre in Narok, Kenya in her quest for post-secondary education and job training & an economic livelihood. mewalker99@yahoo.com.

And please, keep reading...

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/FORCED MARRIAGE and THE MAASAI:

The United Nations estimates that 90% of Maasai girls in Kenya are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced childhood marriage. Among the Maasais, FGM is the complete removal of the clitoris and labia under unsterile conditions with a razor blade, no anesthesia, no protection from infections (tetanus, HIV/AIDs), and high risk of immediate death due to blood loss and shock. If a Maasai girl survives the initial cut, ...

Girls that have undergone female genital mutilation are prone to chronic urinary tract infections throughout their lifetime often leading to kidney failure.

Because of scarring and keloids, childbirth can be life threatening to a woman that has undergone female genital mutilation.

The marriageable age for Maasai girls has fallen to 8 to 9 years old because of the economic challenges facing her family.

A Maasai girl, "circumcised" as a young girl, and then rescued by The Tasaru Girls Rescue Centre is one of 140,000,000 (yes, 140 million!) girls/women living around the world who have been subjected to FGM.

Three million girls around the world are at risk of female genital mutilation EVERY YEAR.

PLEASE SHARE THESE STATISTICS WITH A FRIEND, A FAMILY MEMBER, AND A CO-WORKER... I dare you!

Some Thoughts about the Last Year

As many of you know, I have been home in Colorado only 2 months of the last 12. My commitment to girls from Tasaru, when they complete high school and must face the difficult transition of leaving Tasaru's care to reconcile with their families, is very strong. I've learned alot over the last three years and many of my responsibilities now come much easier. But with each girl, there are undoubtedly different challenges and hurdles. Whether it is assisting her to apply for her national I.D. (a must for applying for a job, opening a bank account, applying to college, or getting a birth certificate) or wading through the many hurdles and steps of applying for & enrolling in a post-secondary program, I know that I am gaining expertise and a certain comfort level with the way things work in Kenya. And having this expertise will help me help each subsequent girl from Tasaru more efficiently.

A perfect example of this is having just completed the long and stressful process of enrolling the first girl from Tasaru to qualify for public university in the Biology Department of the University of Nairobi. In Kenya, the 7 government-funded, public universities provide the better education and have the higher standards for admission than the hundreds of private institutions. While several girls have qualified for certificate level programs in teachers' colleges and private colleges, she is the first to qualify for a four-year degree program at public university. Since the day in early March when we received her high school exam results indicating that she qualified to apply for admission until Monday, October 18 when she was finally sitting in her first class as a full-time "fresher" student, we have been tirelessly navigating the hurdles, inefficiencies, roadblocks, and bureaucracy that is the university education system of Kenya.

Having gone through the process now for the first time, I can easily say that the next girl from Tasaru that qualifies for public university will benefit from her experience! Even now, as several girls from Tasaru begin the three-week exam period that concludes their high school education, I am hopeful that one of them will qualify to study Engineering at University of Nairobi.

First Two Girls from Tasaru to Receive GRR funding are Now Employed as Primary School Teachers

Janet Pere and Mary Makije, who were the first girls from Tasaru to receive funding from GLOBAL RELIEF RESOURCES to attend Teachers College in Kenya, are now working as primary school teachers in their home areas.

They both completed college in late July and by early September both of them had jobs! The demand for teachers in Kenya is very high but there were still many challenges to actually finding placement in a school. Now that they are both employed, we will be able to see the benefits of rescued Maasai girls working rather than being married off as children.

The First Two Girls from Tasaru to Receive GLOBAL RELIEF RESOURCES Funding to Graduate from Teachers College in Kenya This Week

On Friday, July 30, Mary Makije and Janet Pere will complete their two years of study at Mosoriot Teachers College and Kericho Teachers College. As certificate holders in primary education, they now qualify for government employment in public primary schools in Kenya.

This is a remarkable achievement! Mary and Janet are the first two girls from Tasaru to complete a post secondary program with the financial support of GLOBAL RELIEF RESOURCES.

Congratulations to Mary & Janet!

AND THANK YOU to Snowmass Chapel in Snowmass, Colorado, Women of Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, New York and Suzanne Munn of Steamboat Springs, Colorado for their sponsorship donations to GLOBAL RELIEF RESOURCES that made it possible for these two young women from Tasaru to have economic livelihoods. Employed as teachers in Kenya, these two remarkable young women will be role models for other Maasai girls at risk of FGM and forced childhood marriage. And they will help bring about an end to the economic need for these practices.

For information about sponsoring a rescued girl to pursue a post secondary education and job training after she completes high school and leaves Tasaru:

Email me at mewalker99@yahoo.com

Saturday June 5
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO

Open House Luncheon
Kenyan Buffet
Music
Informational Program
Maasai Craft Market

All proceeds will assist a girl from Tasaru Girls Rescue Centre in Kenya to
attend college or start a small business.

For information: gardenluncheon@gmail.com

Secondary School Final Exams Results Due Out Soon!

I am in Kenya right now awaiting the national release of the KCSE exams for three of the girls from the rescue centre. Results on these exams is the sole criteria used in the application process for all post-secondary programs here. The girls' performance, thus, is very much in my thoughts these days as we wait.
I look forward to updating things on the website, and for now simply ask for everyone who has shown so much interest and support for the girls at Tasaru to keep them in your thoughts and best wishes. Thanks, Mary