The New Beginning

The girls have just finished with a month-long school break. Each girl got a chance to visit with their families during the break. There was a few tears when some of the younger ones returned after being with their families. The girls all have adjusted to being back at MGRC for the start of school today. They are eager to get back to school, at least that is what they tell me. It is a joy to see them happy to be in school. They have their challenges but have been working hard to adjust to a new life style. I sit many nights trying to put myself in their place and feel what must be going on in their minds. They are in a dorm away from their parents, friends and family. They are seeing things that they never encountered before, a town with over 2000 people, electricity, running water, healthy food very day, a clean bed with mattress, sheets, pillow and blanket. Then we send them to school, another new experience. It is amazing to see how well the girls adjust and take to their new environment.

The Maasai Girls Rescue Center has been learning how best to help the poor Maasai girls of Tanzania meet their full potential. It is a process as taking a child from living in a mud hut with no running water or electricity, with some never being over five miles from where they were born has its challenges. Most of the girls had never had the opportunity to attend school, so this is a new experience for them. In starting MGRC we thought that we could integrate the girls into the government school and use tutors in the evenings to help them adjust and catch up to the other children their age. This was not working to our satisfaction. We decided to enrol the youngest girls in Meloc. Meloc is a private Christian, English medium school that is located next to the MGRC facilities. There are many advantages in placing the girls at Meloc. The most obvious, the class sizes. They average 30 students per class verses over 100 in government school. We will have direct feedback on each girls performance and our Matrons will be able to assist with school homework. We will be able to give the girls better support as they learn.

It has been an exciting few months here at MGRC

We have completed the first phase of the dairy cow project. The barn is complete and we have two pregnant cows ready to give us milk as soon as they birth. I am not a rancher but am learning how to take care of the cows. We do have a full-time attendant who cares for the cows and will assure they are taken care of properly. We are expecting the birthing to take place late September of early October this year. The girls are anxiously waiting for the milk to begin. Maasai people’s diet revolves around milk. We have not been able to provide milk at MGRC due to the cost. We do provide healthy balanced meals with foods not usually provided to children in the bomas. The addition of milk to the menu will be an extra special treat for the girls. We have several other projects in the planning stages. Chickens and a hydroponics vegetable garden are being planned. If you read about the Maasai they are said to not eat fish, chicken or eggs. This is true for most but the Maasai who have been educated and have traveled to towns have learned of the benefits of these foods and have incorporated them into their daily lives. Some of our girls will tell you they don’t eat eggs, chicken, fish or even vegetables. When I ask them why they just look at me with a blank stare. I challenge them to try everything. If they don’t want after they try they do not have to take again. They usually eat everything they see me eat.

We took all the girls for a physical last week. All are healthy and growing normally. We had two whose blood levels were still a little low. The girls from the bomas suffer from low blood levels due to their diets. We will have the two checked regularly to make sure they get their levels up to normal. The doctors said that they just need to continue to eat healthy and they should be fine.

We welcome any who would want to visit MGRC and see first hand what we are doing to help the Maasai girls. Tanzania is a beautiful country with great national parks, teaming with African wildlife.