Maasai Women's Training Center

Education for the Maasai women and children of Kajiado County, Kenya

STEM Education Inc., a 501c-3 Non-Profit, works directly with Kenyan nationals to implement tangible change for the Maasai.

Beautiful and Eager to Learn

Maasai, the correct spelling of the name of this noble tribe, means: People speaking Maa. Masai, an incorrect spelling created by British settlers, has remained in current use. The Maasai have always been special. Their bright red robes set them apart visually.

Our Focus: Kajiado County and Surrounding Community

DESCRIPTION An education project in this area will empower hundreds of rural women and even more preschool aged children in Maasai land. Location of Beneficiaries: Kajiado County, Kenya

This project will be used as a pilot program to establish self-sustaining training centers and preschools throughout Kenya

BACKGROUND/SITUATION ANALYSIS

The Maasai tribe are pastoralists. Due to population growth and fast urban development, grazing lands have become scarce. This is blatantly obvious to tourists who observe Maasai cattle searching for fodder by the streets of major cities. Change of lifestyle has become inevitable. They must be introduced to other means of generating income. There is a great need to educate women and younger girls in particular. Once these women are taught how to run businesses, they will be assisted to start small businesses that will help support their families and pay school fees for their children.

Many of Maasai women and children live under great poverty, surviving on less than $2 per day.

Cooking takes place outside over open fires.

Inside small “houses” of mud and sticks, are the kitchens and the houses for the older boys. In all tribes of Kenyan culture, when sons reach a certain age, they are not allowed to live in the main house. It is changing in educated groups. Below, inside the kitchen, goat is boned and our lunch is being prepared.

Our team had to hike in for our meeting…roads will not support cars, just some types of 4-wheel vehicles. A community meeting on Saturday, June 24, 2017, took us into the heart of Maasai land. Held at a “Boma,” the word for a family compound, our Kenyan associate, Lucy Mwangi , said it was “one of the better ones.” It belonged to a prominent member of the community, Wilson Likama, and his wife, Florence.

This is the lifestyle within this region. No water is readily available at bomas. All water must be caught from rain or carried in from long distances.

Severe droughts are yearly, which cripple efforts to get water and make any kind of food production possible in this region.

Life for a Maasai woman is extremely difficult. With a husband who must travel by foot, often up to 100 miles, to water the herds of goat or other livestock, the women must provide food, water, money for school aged children and care for all living in the boma. In Kenya, school is said to be free but a mandatory “building fee” and required uniforms can range in the hundreds of dollars for 1 child. Many cannot afford to send their children to school. Most Maasai girls are married at young ages, frequently to older men. With their tradition of Female Circumcision and lack of hygiene it is imperative to reach out to this community.

Below are educational and population statistics for the Maasai in this region:

Most boys drop out of school before they are 12 years old to help the family. And if the girls are unable to go to school (because of cost) they can be easy pray for older men who see them at home. When some one asks for your daughters hand in marriage it is taboo to turn them down, especially if they are wealthy.

Please join us in reaching these amazing people. You can be the team behind the team by donating financially or come join us for a one to two week outreach working directly with this project. We will travel with teams two times in 2022. June and October.

For more information contact kathy@stemeducationinc.org