A leader’s perspective
As the founder and leader of Maasai Girls Rescue Center, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for our sponsors, donors, volunteers, Tanzanian staff, and the girls. Despite unanticipated challenges and disappointments, the girls are thriving, government officials are partnering with us, and community leaders are taking notice. Our progress is amazing.
In the next few pages of this year’s annual report, you will read about some of our accomplishments and achievements of 2022. You will also have a chance to learn more about several of our girls, their individual journeys, and their hopes for the future.
When I established MGRC in 2000, I had a vision…
I knew what I wanted to achieve, but I had NO idea how get there. Now, with the help of many generous souls and countless hours of work, the vision of a full functioning and self-supporting organization is taking shape.
However, we have a long way to go, and our biggest challenge is still ahead of us: ensuring the future of MGRC by making the ecoLodge a reality.
There is no denying that the investment needed for this final phase of MGRC is substantial. But the result will be a sustainable future for MGRC. Once complete and operating, the Ecolodge will
- produce revenue to cover the operational costs for MGRC
- provide westerners with an unparalleled eco tourist experience
- ensure career opportunities in all aspects of hospitality for the girls and locals in the community.
Thank you again for generosity and heartfelt support.
We continue to rely on you for your financial support and to help us spread the word so others will join the effort. The lives of the girls depend upon it.
Rick Morro, Founder
Maasai Girls Rescue Center
Who We Are
Our Mission: Rescue and transform the lives of at-risk Maasai girls by providing food and clothing, shelter, medical attention, counseling, education and training in a loving, familial, and safe environment. We purposely and intentionally prepare the girls for a future of financial independence and self-sufficiency.
Our Vision: Change the mindset of how Maasai girls are valued and thus break the cycle of poverty and oppression in the Maasai Community by raising strong, financially independent and self-reliant women. MGRC women will possess the acumen, education, management skills, vocational training and life skills needed to be successful business owners, educators, professionals, community leaders and good parents. Our success utilizes a unique entrepreneurial model.
Accomplishments in 2022
- Took in nine new residents; five permanent, four temporary.
- Saved the life of a newborn baby.
- Built the ecoVillage security wall, gate, and guard house.
- Completed the multi-purpose four building complex.
- inished the majority of construction on three of the girls’ houses, and secured financing for a fourth.
- Received a donation and started drilling a bore hole to provide clean water.
- ecoFarm produced 100% of the vegetables and protein for the girls and staff – at a lower cost and better quality than what we can purchase.
- Kept operating expenses below the set budget for 2022.
- Added 10 new staff members, for a total of 20.
- Created a sponsor portal on the website to foster relationships between the girls and their sponsors, while protecting the girls’ privacy.
- Honored our promise that 100% of donations go toward the direct care of our girls or construction projects.
Year in Review
In 2022 the ecoVillage went from a dream to becoming a reality.
We built a security wall around the property and the necessary infrastructure for electric, water and sewer. We completed the multi-purpose complex which include the kitchen, dining hall, preschool, Career Center and administrative offices. Three of the girls’ houses were built and funding was secured for another house.
The ecoFarm produced all the protein and vegetable needs for the girls and staff of over 80 people! The ecoFarm provides a learning platform for teaching the girls critical life skills related to agriculture, farming and animal husbandry. We drilled a borehole for a water well to provide clean water for the ecoVillage.
There are more exciting things to come…
In 2023, we will be building the fourth girls’ house, a playground and recreation field so the girls have a safe space to run and play, and the ecoLodge which will ensure a sustainable future. We will continue to develop our Career Center where some of the girls have already started learning skills such as sewing, hairstyling, computer literacy, milk pasteurization for making butter, ice cream, and yogurt.
Status of Adoptees
MGRC adopts the girls residing at the center. In 2022, we received nine children from Social Welfare. Four of the children were abandoned siblings who were temporarily housed until a permanent home was found. The other five girls came to us from a variety of challenging circumstances, having never attended school and speaking only Maa (tribal language). Upon arrival to MGRC, the girls receive a medical assessment including any immediate medical care. The girls are enrolled in primary school or in our nursery school. During their first few months, past experiences of poverty and abuse begin to heal as they thrive in a loving family environment at MGRC.
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
There are currently 62 permanent residents at MGRC.
All of the girls who arrive at MGRC have experienced extreme poverty and malnutrition. Many of them have escaped severe abuse, forced child-marriage, and female genital mutilation.
Overcoming the langauge barrier. The official languages of Tanzania are Swahili and English. Many of the girls who arrive at MGRC have never attended school and could only speak Maa, their tribal language.
Our girls are enrolled in primary school where they learn Swahili, and at the secondary level the teaching language switches from Swahili to English. The younger girls begin their education journey in our nursery school.
In addition to formal education, the girls are learning life skills, making their beds, doing their laundry, and cooking African and Western foods. They enjoy helping the other girls and around the ecoVillage.
Our goal is to prepare the girls to be self-sufficient. We provide them counseling and guidance for making wise decisions about their futures. In addition, they receive vocational training in the areas of agriculture, hospitality, animal husbandry, hair styling, cooking, sewing, and computer literacy.
Maasai girls come from a culture where there are few opportunities beyond marriage and child bearing – so it’s our mission to open their beautiful minds to all the wonderful possibilities.
Financials
January 2022 – December 2022
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 are Tanzanian expenses used for the direct care of our girls or for building the ecoVillage.
Our expense per girl in 2022 was under our target of $180 per month per girl, and we are forecasting that to remain the same in 2023. This is significant based on inflation with ALL our expenses. Food and animal feed costs have more than doubled in 2022. By producing most of our food on our ecoFarm, we were able to control costs and improve the nutrition of our girls. We have built a business system that provides a direct line-of-sight of our donations to the actual expenses – this is updated daily.
Expenses by Month ($ USD)
Expenses by Expense Category ($ USD)
Income
Annual Donations
Donations by Donation Type
*Capital Project was to pay for land where we will build our ecoVillage
Capital Expenditures
MGRC continues implementing our vision of building a permanent home for the Maasai Girls Rescue Center in Karatu Tanzania. In 2022, we had multiple major Capital projects: $50,000 to build a Security Wall around the ecoVillage, $274,000 for a Multipurpose building Complex, $369,000 to build 3 houses, $36,000 for Phase 1 of our water project, and $38,000 for equipment and furniture.
Contributions ranged from $50 to $100,000 from generous people wanting to make sure our girls have critically needed water and a permanent home. We raised over $730,000 in 2022 to begin and complete most of these projects.
We are very proud of our local management, who are working very hard with local construction companies completing these projects, keeping them under budget and sticking to their schedules. The expenditures below are cumulative through December 2022.
Capital Expenditures by Month ($ USD)
Capital Expenditures by Project ($ USD)
Updates
ecoLodge and ecoTourism
Breaking the bonds of dependency and need for charity among the Maasai girls is at the heart of MGRC. To ensure this becomes a reality, we are launching the ecoLodge and impact vacation experience that will fund all operational expenses of the Center.
We are building and nurturing relationships with travel agencies, safari companies, and Tanzania National Parks.
Tourists will experience first-hand the positive impact MGRC is having on the girls, the community, and the environment:
- High-end lodging villas for western travelers, maintained and managed by MGRC graduates, older MGRC residents, and the local community.
- “Impact eco-vacation” experiences include safaris, ecoFarm tours, trips to the bush, and more.
- Facilitate volunteer experiences at MGRC that in turn, positively impact local communities. The entire enterprise including the ecoFarm, ecoLodge, and the Center will be staffed by dedicated, passionate Tanzanians.
The ecoLodge and related services will generate enough revenue to fully fund expenses of the Center – breaking the bonds of dependency and allowing us to make a greater impact for at-risk Maasai girls.
Thank you
While another year is well underway, we want to take one more opportunity to say thanks for all that you have done for the girls of MGRC in 2022. The challenges of 2022 have made us more grateful than ever for all of the support we receive from donors, sponsors and volunteers. The girls lives are forever changed because of the generosity of so many. Thank you for caring about our girls and supporting our endeavors to make lasting changes in their lives.
2022 was a successful year but our work is only half done. We still have to make the ecoVillage financially independent. Our focus for 2023 and beyond is to finish the projects we started and raise enough capital to build the ecoLodge.
