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Emusoi
Center began in 1999, in Arusha Town, Tanzania.
It helps pastoralist girls (mainly Maasai) to
gain access to secondary education. The Center
provides a transitional space for young women coming
from traditional life styles. They are prepared academically, socially and psychologically
to join the multi-cultural/multi-tribal environment of
secondary schools in the area rather than a school for
Maasai only. Emusoi
supports and assists them as they progress through
school. They
experience this moral support especially if they have
passed through the pre-secondary program at Emusoi,
and they also have the experience of dealing with a
mixture of cultural groups in the schools they attend.
This widens their experience and prepares them
for life in a global community of the future.
The
Center also serves as a safe house for girls who run
away from home to avoid forced marriages.
Sometimes girls come by themselves.
Sometimes a relative, village leaders, NGO’s
or church leaders bring the girls.
They often cannot return to their home are for
holidays for fear of forced marriages, so they stay at
Emusoi.
When
the project began the target group was restricted to
Maasai girls, but since 2003, we have agreed to accept
two Barbarig (nomadic pastoralists) per year and we
are educating five girls from the Hunter/Gatherer
Societies of the Ndorobo and Hadzabe.
These girls came from poor families living in
very remote areas.
Without our intervention, these girls would be
married off in arranged marriages soon after finishing
primary school.
Each
year 40-50 young women are provided with
remedial/pre-secondary studies and helped to join
first year high school in government and private
secondary schools.
The 15-20 students finishing high school are
helped to join higher studies or junior college.
The 5-6 students finishing A levels or Junior
College are helped to join University or professional
studies. At
present (2006) the Center has 67 pre-secondary
students and is supporting over 310 other students in
secondary, vocational, post secondary and University
education.
Not
every student will go to University but graduates from
Form IV will have the opportunity to go to Nursery or
Primary School Teacher training or train as nurses.
These are valuable professions and will give
tremendous service to the Maasai Community.
Emusoi supports all these young women
financially by paying school fees, providing school
supplies, textbooks, paying and also providing the
personal needs of the students.
The funds come mainly from private donations.
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