Annual Letter from Founder Rick Morro
Our girls’ well-being is the best measurement of strides made by Maasai Girls Rescue Center over the course of a year. At the end of 2020, we were bursting at the seams of our facility in Longido, caring for 58 girls. A severe storm had wiped out the toilets and plumbing, so there were no bathrooms or warm water, just outhouses. Power outages were intermittent. The land did not support our sustainable food projects. Security was lax. The landlord wasn’t helpful.
It was time to go!
By the end of 2021, the transformation in the girls’ lives was almost unbelievable. They live now in a rented hotel near Karatu, with warm showers, a kitchen and comfortable beds. Their daily diet includes milk, protein, vegetables and fruit, all sourced from our own land and livestock less than a mile away. The girls walk to local schools and get tutoring. Our new community has embraced us. We had our first annual Community Thanks celebration in December.
As amazing as this all is, we’re only a quarter of the way to achieving our dream: creating an ecoVillage to nurture and develop the girls to become independent women and to make the ecoVillage both self-sustaining and integral to the local economy.
Getting there will take a substantial financial infusion. We are seeking support from individuals, foundations and other entities that share our values.
The need is pressing. In a year our lease on the temporary hotel is up. The girls will need shelter in five small houses we plan to build on the permanent 15-acre site. Also planned for 2022 is building a kitchen and dining hall and a vocational center to teach the girls skills to earn a living.
We are grateful to our donors, staff, volunteers and community members for the support that’s gotten us this far. In this report you’ll read about contributions and achievements.
But we are not even close to done.
Please continue to spread the word about MGRC so more people will join the effort.
The lives of the girls depend upon it.
Rick Morro, Founder
Maasai Girls Rescue Center
Who We Are
Our Mission: Transforming the lives of the most vulnerable Maasai girls in Tanzania.
Our Vision: Breaking the cycle of poverty and oppression by providing disadvantaged Maasai girls with a pathway to self-sufficiency and sustainability for themselves and the community.
Our Sustainability Goals:
- Teach the girls ways to become self-sufficient in their personal and work lives.
- Educate and counsel the girls.
- EcoFarm: produce nourishing food using methods that protect and regenerate the land.
- Develop an ecoLodge for tourists to generate revenue to support our mission.
- Exchange skills, resources and economic opportunities with the local community.
- Elevate the community’s prosperity through “impact tourism.”
Year in Review
In 2021, we received 4 girls from Social Welfare. These girls came to us from a variety of challenging backgrounds, never attending school and only speaking Maa. Our first task was to teach them Swahili, so they could enroll in primary school.
At the Center, we currently have 57 rescued girls, 16 Tanzanian employees, plus the founder (volunteer) caring for the girls in Tanzania, along with 6 full time volunteers in the USA.
Status of Adoptees
MGRC adopts the girls residing at the center.
Background of the Girls
Age & Number of Girls
Health Concerns on Arrival
* Eczema, parasites.
** Trachoma /leads to blindness, childhood tuberculosis, fluorosis (bent legs), club feet, severe vision problems.
The Girls
Great progress often requires great change. And 2021 was proof of that for the girls at MGRC. They moved to a new location, enrolled in new schools and welcomed new friends. They learned to plant and harvest crops and how to care for new animals, such as rabbits. They tried new foods like eggs, chicken, pork and fresh vegetables. And they met new people: locals who reached out to help MGRC, sponsors who participated in Zoom calls and volunteers who visited from abroad.
We saw girls make great strides towards better health. For example, Sinyati came to us with legs severely bent from skeletal fluorosis. The doctors said she would need surgery, but she was so malnourished they were unable to operate. Thanks to good nutrition and care, Sinyati has gained weight and her legs are beginning to straighten on their own. The doctors are hopeful she won’t need surgery after all.
Other girls worked hard to progress in school, like Momoi. She came to us at 14 years old, having never been to school and already promised in marriage. In her 3 years at MGRC she has advanced to Standard 7. She is doing exceptionally well at English, and is able to help with translation. At our community event in December, Momoi translated her friends’ testimonies from Maa to Swahili in front of over 200 people.
Our girls also spent time focusing on their talents and learning vocational skills that will sustain them in the future. Sayuni discovered that she has a passion and talent for sewing. Three years ago, when she arrived at MGRC, she was 10 years old and had never been to school. She is now in Standard 5. Her grades in school are average, but her sewing skills are far above. She wants to become a seamstress. In 2022, we will be offering more formal vocational training that will help Sayuni achieve that dream.
Financials
January 2021 – December 2021
Expenses
Because the Founder, President, Board of Directors, Angel Donors, and Fundraising team members are all unpaid volunteers, our charity management expenses are zero. All expenses below are Tanzanian expenses used for the direct care of the girls.
The cost per girl in 2021 was under our target of $180 per month per girl, and we are forecasting that to remain the same in 2022. We have built a business system that provides a direct line of sight of our donations to the actual expenses – this is updated daily. Click here to view these dashboards.
Expenses by Month ($ USD)
Expenses by Expense Category (%)
Income
Annual Donations
Donations by Donation Type
*Capital Project was to pay for land where we will build our ecoVillage
Capital Expenditures
MGRC began implementing our vision of building a permanent home for the Maasai Girls Rescue Center in Karatu Tanzania. We purchased 15 acres overlooking Rift Valley.
In 2021, we had two major Capital programs: $117,000 to purchase 15 acres, and $100,000 to build an ecoFarm to produce most of our food. Funding for this was generously donated by three board members.
The ecoFarm program began in March 2021, and was nearly completed by the end of the year. The ecoFarm now produces all of the milk, eggs, meat, and vegetables required to feed our girls and staff on a daily basis. In addition, the ecoFarm use of modern agriculture practices helps increase agricultural efficiency, reducing the loss of natural resources.
We created a business system to measure all of the expenses, capital expenditures, and production of the farm on a daily basis.
Capital Expenditures by Month ($ USD)
Capital Expenditures by Project ($ USD)
Updates
The Move
Our dream to build an ecoVillage for Maasai Girls Rescue Center got a jump start in January 2021, when increasingly challenging conditions at our Longido facility propelled our move to Karatu. More than 50 girls, 14 adults, 6 cows, 70 mattresses and 30 bunkbeds travelled rutted roads and steep mountain passes to temporary quarters less than a mile away from our permanent 15-acre site.
The ecoFarm
After settling into a rented hotel and getting the girls enrolled in local schools, through the generosity of a donor, we were able to begin building the ecoFarm on the permanent site. Where there was once grassland there is now a barn for livestock, fields with vegetables and fruit trees, a hydroponic fodder system for the animals, a water tower, a boiler for pasteurizing milk and a biogas system for fuel. The girls’ basic needs for food and shelter have been met, thanks to donor contributions.
The People
Our people sustained us. Elisante Loi Laizere and his family made the move with us to Karatu, where he serves as on-site manager for local staff. Elisante brought his cultural knowledge, an ability to navigate complex government systems and the skill of building relationships. His background in the hotel industry – managing finances, people and facilities – is invaluable.
The Community
The community rallied around MGRC. About 200 people attended our first annual Community Thanks celebration in December at the ecoVillage. About 70 attendees were extended family members of the girls, grateful and happy to see the children growing up in stable, nurturing surroundings.
Thank you
2021 was a year full of change, growth, joy, challenges, and positive impacts. We’re well on our way to implementing our vision on developing our girls and creating a sustainable future. We have purchased our own land to build a sustainable ecoVillage. It will enable us to increase the number of girls to 120, and expand our sustainability projects to cover our operating costs.
Each day, I realize how blessed we are to have such caring and dedicated staff, our many selfless volunteers, and a support network of generous donors.
What brings us all together is our shared love for our creative, intelligent, fun-loving courageous, and wonderful girls.
As we reflect on 2021, we look forward to 2022 and improving the lives of the girls and members of our new community in the Karatu District.
