What We Do - Maasai Girls Rescue Center
Our Mission & Vision
Our Mission is to adopt young and at-risk Maasai girls, educate them, and teach them life sustaining skills for the betterment of their village .
Our work offers Maasai girls and the Maasai village a path to break a debilitating cycle of child-mortality, extreme poverty, FGM, and abuses of child-marriage. Your support creates opportunity for us to provide a safe and nurturing environment for these girls to receive education, medical care, and the life skills that radically alter the course of their lives and the future culture of their tribe.
Our vision is to provide:
(1) a safe haven for girls who are being forced into early marriage or are running away from forced FGM;
(2) to teach Maasai girls to dream about their future and develop a vision that includes a productive and full life
(3) mentoring in assertiveness, life skills, and study habits;
(4) family counselling to get parents on board with their girls’ education;
(5) a study hall that includes tutoring and study resources;
(6) after school classes for girls who are behind in their education, due to the lack of schooling prior to being rescued;
(7) business and technical training so girls can become self-sustaining, even if they don’t excel in academics.
(8) the girls stay at MGRC until they achieve these goals.
Tour the Center
Hover or tap on an image to learn more.
Main building on the 20 acre compound
The main building on our compound houses the girls dorm, kitchen and class room for tutoring the girls after school
School supplies
Each girl is given all the supplies and extra tutoring necessary for their schooling
Girls supplies
Each girl is given at least 5 complete outfits a storage trunk, and personal hi-gene supplies when they arrive.
Dairy Cow Project
We are raising dairy cows to provide much needed milk to our girls. We have 3 female adults and 3 of their off spring. We supply enough milk for all the girls. We sell the excess and raise a little money to offset the cost of feeding the cows
Vegetable garden
We began a vegetable garden this year for a source of fresh vegetables to reduce costs, and to teach the girls the basics of farming.
Teaching more than academics
Teaching the girls to sew skills with donated machines from AZ sewing club
Maasai Bead Project
A grandmother comes to MGRC every week to show the girls how to make bead jewelry. This bead jewelry is an important part of Maasai culture.
Birthday Celebrations at MGRC
We get birth certificates for all and then have a birthday celebration each month that the girls birthdays fall on. The girls have their special day to look forward to.
Girls Practicing their singing and dancing
Maasai love to sing and dance. Our matrons teach the girls both traditional Maasai songs and church songs. They love to practice both.
MGRC class room
MGRC has tutors who work with the girls every day after school. They help with their homework and tutor the girls as needed. Our girls are doing excellent in school, especially since most have never attended school.
The Girls Singing
The girls sang for my granddaughter who came for a month to visit me. We are hope more volunteers visit to experience and to better understand to the extreme poverty the girls come from.
Not all work at MGRC
Our girls get plenty of time for fun. My granddaughter told me many of the games they play are the same as in the States. We also have running contests and girls cheer for each other.
Rescue Process
Girls seeking refuge come to us from great distances. We have been a part of the community since 2013. The locals know us and know our center as a safe place that offers an alternative choice to oppressive cultural norms.
Prioritizing girls is one of the most difficult parts of the rescue process, since the need far exceeds our available resources. Through close connections with the community, we are able to determine the most critical cases where the girls’ health, safety, or well being is threatened. After making this determination, we are able to offer these girls a permanent spot in the center.
The full cost to sponsor a girl is $130 USD per month. Due to the urgency of many situations, we often provide safe shelter to these girls before we have a sponsor lined up for them. We make due in whatever way we can until we find sponsors, so that we can make a long term commitment to their safety.
The girls receive a medical checkup when they arrive at the center, and we continue to provide full medical care throughout their stay. All girls living at the center are given food, shelter, a safe place to live, and must attend school.