CONTINUING SUCCESS

Much is said about empowering girls in severely impoverished populations around the world. Most people agree that economic independence will lead to sustainable and measurable empowerment for Maasai young women. But their economic independence can only be achieved if they have job skills that prepare them for long term employment. While there is a heavy bias on the rewards of a high school education, this alone does not provide the skills needed for real and lasting empowerment.

In July 2013, Florence Taki completed her training at Asumbi Teachers Training College. She is now teaching at Nkoilale Primary School, just outside Maasai Mara, and incidentally where both she and Janet Pere attended school as young girls. This brings to 5 the number of Maasai girls that this effort has been able to assist thru college who are now working and meeting their own economic needs. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this type of assistance is successful in confronting the economic factors that continue to persist within Maasai families and communities and that perpetuate practices such as FGM and child marriage. To everyone who has been a part of this effort, thank you for continuing to recognize the importance of post-secondary education in the lives of rescued Maasai girls.


Girls from Tasaru in 2008.
Florence is in the yellow blouse.

HOW THE GIRLS ARE DOING in COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY in KENYA

Today, as a result of the financial assistance that they have received from this post secondary education project, 3 Maasai young women are currently employed as primary school teachers in their home areas in Kenya.

Janet Pere - completed her certificate at Kericho Teachers College and diploma at Limuru Teachers College (taken as continuing education courses during school holidays over the last two years) and teaches at Nkoilale Primary School. She now assists with the care and education expenses of one of her younger female siblings.

Mary Makije - completed certificate at Mosoriot Teachers College and teaches primary school in Maasailand.

Purity Rinka - completed Early Childhood Development certificate at Dicece & diploma at Limuru Teachers College and now teaches in Maasailand.

5 Maasai young women are currently enrolled in college and university programs throughout Kenya and are studying Accounting, Education, IT, Biology, and Business Management.

 With your support, these young women are finding a pathway to the formal labor force and sustainable employment in their countries.  This is the empowerment that so many girls empowerment programs promise but do not fulfill.

Luncheon to provide funds for 7 girls in college and university in Kenya

Please join us!

Luncheon at Trillium House, Botanic Park in Steamboat Springs, CO
Thursday, September 13, 11:30-1:30 Rain or Shine
$20 suggested non tax deductible donation

All contributions go directly to the college and university expenses of 7 girls in college and university in Kenya. 
For more information: mewalker99@yahoo.com

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 for her post-secondary education & 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!

Sunday, April 1st at Library Hall, Steamboat Springs, Colorado 4pm.
FREE!

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  - 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  - 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  - completed her Accounts Certificate Training at Kenya Polytechnic College and is now moving into the CPA program.
Carolyne  - starting her second year  in  B.Sc. Biology degree program.
Florence  - has just enrolled at Asumbi Teachers College.
Nailois  - has just enrolled in the Information Technology program at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology/Nakuru CBD Campus.
Mary  - 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!

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.