Maasai Children's Initiative

Father send me to school so I can be a doctor
and heal you when you’re sick
--excerpt from a Maasai poem

Maasai Children’s Initiative (MCI) came into existence through an unlikely connection: a Seattle attorney on holiday in Kenya and his guide, a young Maasai woman. The tour explored parts of Maasailand, including a visit to a school where Maasai students sang a song for the visitors with lyrics saying, “Maasai girls don’t need to marry at such a young age, they can learn and stay in school.” The words brought tears to the guide’s eyes and the attorney questioned why.

Sekeyian Yiaile, a reserved woman, poured out her story to a man who wouldn’t remain a stranger for long, Matthew Bergman. Ms. Yiaile confided that she was Maasai and that education has historically not been a priority for her people; over ninety percent of children do not complete primary school. Girls fair even worse; most have no schooling at all. Only 5% of women in the Maasai Tribe can read.

Sekeyian’s own mother had chosen a different path for her, allowing her to attend a Catholic school run by missionaries near their village. Sekeyian met women doctors and nurses at the clinic near her school, which allowed her to imagine a different life for herself.

When Sekeyian was in fifth grade her father died. Her uncle selected a husband for Sekeyian, a fifty-year-old man with two wives. Sekeyian knew that marriage meant the end of her education, and the rest of her life she would be a wife and mother only.

She found the courage to refuse, something unheard of in this patriarchal society. Her uncle and male family members responded to her “ungratefulness” with repeated beatings, so Sekeyian ran away and found help with the missionaries who enrolled her in a distant boarding school.

Today, Sekeyian Yiaile is the executive director of Maasai Children’s Initiative. Matthew Bergman serves as chair of the MCI board. Together they have raised funds and opened two schools for girls, with 300 students enrolled.

The Maasai are one of East Africa’s poorest tribes. Educating children has been called a “game changer.” Learning to read means they have the ability to connect to the world through the Internet. The MCI schools have solar powered computers. Cell phones allow them to all have information at their finger-tips, and unlike North Korea or China, African countries have yet to attempt to censor or deny access to the world-wide web.

Sekeyian Yiaile

MCI’s mission is to empower girls through education, which includes the ability to read and write in the national languages, Swahili and English, as well as their own language Maa. Part of the vision of MCI includes promoting computer literacy and providing skills to compete for jobs.

Sekeyian’s family is now proud of her and happy she didn’t marry as a young girl. They appreciate her desire to empower the girls of her tribe which in turn will empower all. This poem, Father Send Me To School, is recited regularly by the students and explains why education is so important:

        Father send me to school so I can be a doctor
        and heal you when you’re sick
        Father send me to school so I can be a lawyer
        and defend you when you are in danger
        Father send me to school so I can be a teacher
        and read to you when you are in doubt
        Father send me to school so I can be an accountant
        and help you when you are in financial distress

KABF Director Katy Jo Steward learned of Matthew Bergman and his work through a mutual friend and was invited to a luncheon where she met Ms. Yiaile. Katy Jo was so impressed with the work of MCI that she came away with a desire for KABF to help in anyway they could. In Katy Jo’s words:
“Africa is critical to our world.  I see educating girls as the way to promote positive change. Maasai girls and boys are circumcised when they are 12 or 13 years old, a painful tradition, that for the girls often means troubling health issues for life. Education allows girls to question past rituals. Meeting Sekeyian Yiaile and hearing her story was further evidence that one educated woman can better the planet. MCI honors women and children and through them our gift honors our beloved Kelly.”

Click here to learn more about MCI.

Maasai students

A gift of jump ropes brings joy!

Girls displaying the traditional beadwork of the Maasai