THE PLIGHT OF MAASAI EDUCATION
The ethnic group of the Maasai has been indifferent towards education and today they consequently belong to one of the most backward and economically most underprivileged sections of the Tanzanian population. The existing cultural conventions among Maasai women and the conviction that culture and traditions tend to derogate through education are the main reasons for the Maasai to refuse education. And even if they wanted it – most o the Maasai cannot afford to send their children to a secondary school after they have finished primary school. In the Simanjiro-District only every fourth person is able to read and write. The school drop-out rate is high particularly among girls.
Pregnancy, early marriage and the positive discrimination of boys are the main reasons for this.
An investigation carried some years ago shows that Morans, young Maasai warriors, are stimulated by the elders of the community to make pregnant young girls so that these are forced to break off school. Families still bribe teachers to have the girls fail the exams and consequently they are taken out of school.
THE BEGINNING OF THE SECONDARY SCHOOL IN EMBOREET
Over the last years many Maasai however have realized the necessity of education for their children and they began to relate education with freedom and to search to improve their situation. It is also education which opened their eyes to the massive suppression of the Maasai women
Philomena and Toima benefitted from education rather accidentally. They are the only members of their family who attended school and thanks to his education Toima achieved to reach a highly remunerated position in Tanzania. They have both realized the relevance of education; they have not forgotten about their tribe and they began to establish a secondary school in their home village in the Simanjiro District. Their financial means are limited so that after 5 years there are only a few classrooms and two small dormitories for the girls. Nevertheless 133 students, girls and boys, are actually receiving instruction. There are already the first
O-level graduates. The main aim of the school is to ensure that Maasai children who are good students but live in poor families shall receive a high quality education.
raditional cooking is energy- and time-consuming.
ESTABLISHING THE SECONDARY SCHOOL
We want to support Philomena und Toima Kiroya to continue their initiative and to establish a recognized secondary school. Not only classrooms and rooms with special equipment for natural sciences are needed but also houses for the teachers to live in, dormitories for the boarding school students who need to be provided for, a nursery, a refectory with central kitchen, a school hall, office buildings with teacher`s rooms, a library and computer center, washing facilities and toilets, sanitation, water and electricity supply. All of this is meant to be established within the next 6 years.
Upendo has promised to provide them with the necessary financial means.
Thanks to the commitment of the Welfare and Education Foundation ((www.fuersorgeundbildungsstiftung.de))
to provide upendo with financial support for the construction of the secondary school there is a realistic chance to establish and complete the school within the next years. However we must not nor do we want to relieve the Tanzanian State and local government of their responsibilities. Already in October last year the local authority began to send lorries with sand and stones to Emboreet and started to construct a dormitory for the boys thus indicating that they are serious about their commitment.
Thanks to the donations of the friends of upendo and the contributions of the Welfare and Education Foundation it was possible already at the beginning of this year to get started with the construction of the central refectory and kitchen. The pupils still have to eat their meals outside but at the end of February the refectory is meant to be already inaugurated. It will then also serve as a multipurpose hall for the different meetings and events over the next years. Thanks to the water project which was already finished in 2014 there is enough water, not only clean water for the students and employees but also water which is needed for the construction of houses.
There is a lot space on the compound –
but construction already started.
OUTLOOK
The construction of two more classrooms, two dormitories with wash houses and toilets, two dwelling houses for teachers and a scientific laboratory.
We have set ourselves ambitious goals and we will see to what extent the plans are feasible. The construction works are a clear sign that the situation is slowly changing and that the Maasai`s children get a chance to gain access to a better school education, the way out of poverty and backwardness. We can help them with the construction of the secondary school but it is their decision to send their children to school. In this respect Philomena and Toima are a good example. Thanks to their education they have achieved something, they actually brought home European friends who want to help with the construction of a secondary school in their home village Emboreet.
Photos: Ruediger Fessel, October 2014
