With the Maasai
(That's a weaver bird nest hanging off the acacia tree.)
Then we traveled to the Imbirikani Girls' School where we spoke and spent the night (they constructed our beds and turned on water as we arrived!). It's a high school for Maasai girls, most of whom already have husbands and children. But it gives them a chance to get an education, which will improve the economics of the entire family.
The students provided an amazing assembly full of dancing and poetry to welcome us. They spoke openly about how they are saying "no" to female genital mutilation and seeking a better future for themselves.
What the school doesn't need is Westerners telling them how to run their programs and providing oversight. They have good administration, teachers, and solidly committed students.
What they do need: publicity so they can attract more students, a library, woman-led teams to come teach business and theological seminars (in Kenya, Bible literacy is part of the government education system), and publicity to help them raise funds (it's running at a $100,000/year deficit; having more students will help this).
This is where Sheila (right, below) begged me for a sponsor. She is the oldest of four kids, and the school secretary told me she's a star student. But her siblings need an education, so unless she finds someone to cover her tuition, she will have to drop out next year so her single-mom parent can afford the tuition for the least educated of her children. Sheila longs to one day be a surgeon.
