Why help?

FUTURE LEADERS

Poverty. AIDS. Lack of clean water. Illiteracy.
We’re familiar with the challenges East Africa faces.

Rich culture. Strong community. Intelligence. Talent. Humor. Resiliency. Faith. Vision.
All these we have seen among the Maasai.

We believe that the answers to Maasailand’s challenges lie with the Maasai themselves. Education of mind and heart will open the way for young Maasai men and women to become leaders of skill and integrity. We will strongly encourage these young leaders to return and serve their communities as sensitive and dedicated agents of positive change.

FROM NEGLECT TO RESPECT

VOICE AND CHOICE FOR GIRLS

Life for a Maasai girl has a simple rhythm: milk the cows, care for the children, pound the maize. As passersby, what we don’t see are the miles she walks everyday to haul water and the extreme form of female circumcision she will undergo.  The beautiful rhythm of her days does not reveal that at age 12 to 15 she will marry the man of her father’s choice, that she has no hope of learning to read and write, and that she will struggle all her days with poverty, disease, and the social realities of being regarded as the family’s labor force.

Simple.

Education = a door to respect, to hope, to change

A FUTURE AND A HOPE FOR BOYS

Within traditional Maasai culture boys are highly valued. They care for the cattle. They are honored as warriors and are the protectors of village and cattle. They participate in ancient ceremonies that bring them honor and respect. They bring wives into their families as workers and bearers of children. They later serve as honored elders, the decision makers of the community.

Yet, the world is closing in around Maasai boys. They have little respect or purpose within the modern culture of Tanzania and can only watch as their traditional grazing lands are taken away. Cattle are dying and their families struggle with poverty and disease. Many young men take jobs in town as watchmen where AIDS is rampant. When they return to their communities, they bring AIDS with them.

The Maasai elders of Losimingori have asked us to equip their youth to face the challenges of these times. Will you join us?