Neema with her mother

My mum loves me so much.  I am sad because she told my uncle what my father had said and until now I can’t go home by myself without my uncle. So I don’t play around with my studies because if I play it means I will return to all these troubles.  I need to study very hard so I can reach my destination.                                                                            

My name is Neema Naini Laizer.  I was born in Loibor Siret Village, part of Maasai Land, in 1987.  My father had four wives and all members loved each other. The character of pastoralists is to move from one area to another and they meet other people and tribes.  Our group decided to settle in one area to cultivate crops for home consumption.  My father did not cultivate so three of his wives left him to find help for their children.  But my mum didn’t leave.

The work in our whole family is done by my mum, alone, including sending the children to school.  My father wanted the children to remain home so that they could look after the cows and goats.  After my brother finished standard 7, my mum wanted him to continue but didn’t have the money or cooperation from her husband.

When I finished primary school my mum told me, “I want to find tuition for you so that you perform well in your national exams”.  She couldn’t find money but she begged the teacher to allow me to study with the other pupils and she would pay her with a cup of milk each day.  My teacher knew that I usually study hard both inside the class and outside the class, so she allowed me to join the class for free.  God’s help is present now and forever.

I studied very hard and at the end I performed well in my exams.  I had hope that I would continue rather than be married.  When my father encouraged me to be married, I refused.  My uncle found the chance for me to go to Emusoi Center after primary school.  My father became angry and complained but my uncle did not listen to him.  My father listened to people who said it is not good to educate a girl.  He called the person who was waiting to marry me to come and take me as his wife.  Before that boy came to my village, my uncle and I traveled secretly to Emusoi Center.

My mum got into a lot of trouble that morning because I was not present and my father told my mum that she was the one who encouraged me to travel with my uncle that night.  My mum was punished severely until she became ill. The boy’s family told my father to pay back the things they had brought to him (bride price).  My father told them to wait until I come home for the holidays then they could come and quickly take me.

UPDATE: Neema finished Form VI in 2010 and began University that year.

See More Pix

Naha with her father and mother

Naha Shuaka was in one of the first groups of students who came to Emusoi in 1999 when the Center opened.  She comes from a village about 90 miles from Arusha town.  She had finished primary school and had been “booked to be married”.  The parish priest, in her village, had preached often about the need for the Maasai Community to educate their girls.  Naha ’s father took these words to heart and decided that she would go to secondary school instead of being married.  Her fiancé was very angry and threatened that his grandfather would put a curse on the family.  Naha ’s father was frightened by this threat and almost gave in but her mother was steadfast.  Naha was only 13 when we came to visit and learned that her father had given a deadline for us to appear or he would marry off Naha .  Fortunately we came just in time and Naha , a short time later moved to Emusoi.  Everything was new to her; electricity, running water, our bunk beds, but she adjusted well.  She brushed up on her Math and English skills at Emusoi and then went on to Secondary school and has done very well.  She is now graduating from Form 6 and is ready for University.  Long ago her ambition was to become a pilot.  Her aims have shifted now as her interest in science has blossomed.  She would like to be a doctor whose specialty is pediatrics. She will take the national exams in February and then will look forward to higher studies.

These girls who pass through the educational system will be models for other Maasai girls.  Even now they bring their sisters, cousins and neighbors to the attention of Emusoi, some “escaping” to come.  Naha helped her cousin, Maria, to leave her village secretly at 5am to come to Emusoi. Maria’s marriage had been arranged as soon as she finished grade 7 of primary school.  She wanted to continue her studies, but her father had other plans for her.

Following Naha ’s directions, Maria walked 2 hours to reach the main road, through the bush.  She boarded a bus and went to Arusha, where she had never been, all with the faith that Naha would meet her.  Naha was at the bus stand and brought her to Emuosi.  Naha risked the wrath of her father and the curses of her relatives.  Naha ’s mother supported both Naha ’s and Maria’s desires to study.  At one time she was sent away from her “boma” (her homestead) as a punishment for giving her daughters these “untraditional ideas”, but she believes it is all worth it for the future of her daughters.

Naha ’s desire to study medicine will be costly but she is determined to be a doctor and help others.

See more pix

More Stories