A DAY TRIP TO EWUASO NAJILE GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL

Esther, MWEEP's Moi University graduate, is teaching at this school, hired by the board until she receives her diploma in Feb 2011. Then she can be a government hire. We headed north in the Rift Valley. Once we got to a spot along a large escarpment, we stopped for a "picnic"--chapati, peanut butter, liquid yogurt, bananas and sodas. This was an unusual experience for our Maasai friends.

Esther was pointing toward Ewuaso and Mt. Susua. We still had to drive down the rest of the escarpment and then along the valley to Ewuaso and further to the school. Esther is in her classroom, schedule for a day, and Esther Sein one of our scool fee recipients.

Esther was a Form 4 student so she has now completed secondary school. She will receive her marks in Feb. She wants to go to university to be a nurse. She was proud to share with us that she was the head of her dorm. This school has 4 dorms with 50 girls in each dorm. This is a fairly new school. Esther is the younger sister of Grace, the first girl Jon & I helped with school fees in 2004.

It was an amazing day for all of us. Even our driver told me later that it was one of the better driving days for him.

A VISIT TO HANNAH'S BOMA

While we were staying at Josephine's place in Ilngarooj, we took a day to visit at Hannah's home. It was about a 30 minute walk through the bush toward the Ngong Hills.

(Ngong Hills in background)

Hannah had prepared a meal for us in her hut. She was proud to show us the home she was building that was nearly complete.

walking back to Josephine's home with their Lululemon bags

Arriving at Josephine K. home in Ilngarooj was thrilling. Some of the MWEEP sponsored girls and mothers were there to greet us as well as others from the community. This is the home of Esther our MWEEP student who finised university.

We spent several days here getting to know this family (josephine has a large shamba --garden and she is in charge of the bore hole pump. If you bring diesel she will send water to your home. if you can't afford the diesel she'll let you come to get water from her tank.

Food was delicious, my favorite sakuma wiki (sauted kale), Jon's favorite chapati (like a large tortilla), beans, rice, etc,

MWEEP Maasai Girls Workshop in Kenya

The Maasai girls who are receiving school fee help from MWEEP, attend secondary school in three terms.

January, February, March - a break the month of April, May, June, July - a second break in August, September, October, November - the year ends and the month of December is a break prior to the next year.

MWEEP is working to meet with the girls who are available during their breaks. This began in December 2007 when Jon and Loanna Day made a visit.

It continueD December 2008. During the 2009 school year some of the MWEEP women met with the girls during their April and August break.

December 2009 the meetings were enhanced by the participation of Dr. Koi Tirima. At that time she was at the Methodist University in Kenya. I met her when she was Professor of English at Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington. Once Koi and her family moved back to Kenya, she was committed to helping with girls' education in Kenya. Loanna Day was there to meet with the girls and Koi came and brought her mother Dr. Helen Muchira. The MWEEP Kenya women, Lucy Pulei and Josephine Kistompol also spoke with the girls. Koi and Helen made a big impact on the girls and the women.

Koi was asked and volunteered to return in April 2010 with a 2 day workshop that was held in the Oloshoibor community at their conference site SeuSeu. She again brought along her mother and a friend. MWEEP USA and Kenya facilitated this meeting. It was called a Career Retreat where she gave the girls information about their strenghts and avenues for Career Planning as it pertained to their education.
One of the highlights was to give each girl a book of her own. Four of the girls had never owned their own book. At Koi's recommendation "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho was given to each girl withthe idea that in August they would have a "book group" discussion. A few extras were left in the MWEEP Kenya office to start a library.

The girls had an opportunity to share their hopes and dreams, learn more about themselves and be inspired to do well at school.

MWEEP USA continues to raise funds to support the school fees for girls, to bring them the workshops during their school breaks and purchase books for their personal use and the library. If you are interested in supporting this work, you can click on the Donate Now button on our website www.maasaiwomen.org or mail funds to: PO Box 1958, Silverdale, WA 98383

A Tribute to Denny(SIMBA) and Jeanne Grindall

Denny and Jeanne Grindall introduced people in Seattle and Kitsap County to the Maasai people in the Greater Oloshoibor area, Kenya. They spent 14 years of their lives living with the Maasai for about 6 months a year. They brought these people education, water and the word of God.

If it were not for Denny and Jenne, MWEEP would not exist. Due to the love shared between the Grindalls and the Maasai, we were able to visit and begin our own relationship which became Maasai Women's Education and Empowerment Program (MWEEP), both in Kenya and the USA.

We feel privieged to continue the education work, especially for the girls and woman, that Denny and Jeanne began.

Jeanne passed away August 19, 2008 Denny passed away August 6. 2009