Working Together to Give the Girls a Future

It must have been the way he said it that lit the spark.

When Ezekiel Katato, Maasai Elder from Kajiado in Kenya was visiting Scotland a few years ago, he addressed a packed audience in Thornhill, Dumfriesshire. For me, and many others, he said all the right things; we sat up and took note. “Young people are the future, not me.” Now this resonated with so many of us, and “Our communities must develop, not stand still. Above all, it is my dream, that Maasai girls from the villages around me, should receive an education. Not just for their futures, but also for the prosperity of our communities in years ahead.” He said much more of course, but these short, punchy comments hit home. They called for action.

Almost ten years down the road, and we now have a charity to take that action forward. We have a clear vision for how we must proceed in the next five years, and beyond. We`ve four girls and young women on the programme through our Across Maasai Land Initiative partners. Two of these are now at university, and one at college, all having been supported through secondary school with our funding. Earlier this year, a girl started secondary school and it’s a sobering thought, that she`ll probably be entirely dependent on our support, right through till the year 2032. That is a moral responsibility of the Trust, to ensure the funds are there for the next eight years.

Hold on though. As one who failed, or was failed by, my secondary education way back (take your pick), why am I so passionate about providing an education for girls far away on another continent, especially in my advancing years?

There`s a long back story to all this, of course, and some of it will emerge in other blogs I`m sure. It all starts though with a great grand uncle, who was an esteemed African explorer in his day. As a geologist and botanist, this young man was curious about landscape form and habitats, but he found that engaging with the people there was a wise move too. In that way, Joseph Thomson was able to go peacefully, in relative safety and not get killed in the process. This was especially so, as he and his entourage were exploring through Maasai Land, in what is now Kenya. His curiosity grew as he discovered the real human interest in people, their cultures' way of life, and their relationship to their landscapes.

When he returned home from that exploration, he went on to write a book `Through Maasai Land` which became a best seller of its day. Whatever may have happened to his memory here in the interim, Joseph Thomson is still regarded as a `goodie` by the Maasai people in the rural areas he travelled through. They teach their children about him in school to this day. Quite a legacy.

And so to somewhat more recent events, mainly in Dumfriesshire, where our Joseph Thomson hailed from. I`d somehow got curious about the imminent opening of the very house that Joseph had been born in, as a wee local museum in the village of Penpont. This is near Thornhill, where he`s buried (as are many of my other paternal ancestors too), and commemorated by a fine bronze bust on a plinth.

This is where Ezekiel Katato came on the scene having travelled all the way from his rural Kenya, south of Nairobi. This is where he made that eloquent and yes, inspirational speech especially that bit about young people and the desperate need for educational opportunities for Maasai girls. It seemed to me, and a few others like me, that Ezekiel had the vision to realise that a greater role for educated women in his communities would lead to evolutionary change for the better. It may seem strange to be saying this here in the UK now well into the twenty-first century, but we need the female perspective on things if we are to move forward constructively. In rural Kenya, where girls are largely denied an education on account of cultural tradition, progress in a rapidly changing world, risks being severely hobbled. The inevitable change is multi-faceted, but for me, three of these stand out: economy, technology and climate. Ezekiel was hinting at the need to capitalise on the female perspective and vision of being able to grasp these more fully. And the critical thing about this is that it was he, a Maasai Elder, who was articulating the real need for their girls to take the educational journey. The idea did not come from us in any cosy, well-intentioned, UK enlightenment.

So we took the lead from him and started raising money to enable his social enterprise Across Maasai Land Initiative, to set girls onto the educational road through secondary school and higher education. As things stand, our Maasai Gils Education Project needs more than £8,000 each year to fulfil the commitments that we have made to the current cohort of girls and young women. Yes, just four is but a drop in the ocean when seen against the bigger picture, but we know from what they tell us year after year, as their horizons widen and aspirations grow, that in time each will succeed, make a real impact and carry out their well-expressed desires to become good role models for others to follow. They are telling us, how effective our part in it is.

It has to be said, that in the absence of this educational opportunity, the alternative, if it can be called that, for these girls would almost certainly have been early enforced marriage to a much older man, FGM, and an ensuing life of poverty. I know that in our small way, by working together, we can do something far more constructive.

Raising the eight thousand pounds each year is no easy task, but it’s worth every penny. The other trustees, wonderful supporters and I are determined to do all it will take to see this through to 2032 and beyond. Everyone that we involve in helping us to get there, will hear the stories the girls and young women tell us of their singular motivation and determination, of how they are embracing the education process with a passion. All this, for their futures, and that of their rural communities in an inevitably changing world.

What a joy then, to be working with other like-minded and equally motivated folk as I approach my 79th year, to be making these good things happen.