Embedded Files
Partnering with a Maasai community in working together towards educational, economic, and social equality.
Our Tanzania project seeks to provide Maasai youth in the Engaruka area of Tanzania with a quality primary school education at the Engaruka English Medium Primary School (EEMPS). The Maasai ethnic group of northeastern Tanzania is largely illiterate poor community in terms of economic and educational attainment. The Maasai are particularly disadvantaged because they only speak their tribal language of Maa, while the national languages are Swahili and English. Maasai girls are also typically sold into marriage by their fathers at puberty, limiting their individual opportunities.
These girls can be protected by enrollment in school. EEMPS is a boarding school, now open to girls and boys, taught in English to enable students to pass the national secondary school exams, which are administered in English.
Service Without Borders joined the project in 2016 in partnership with the Maasai Education Foundation (MEF) and the Engaruka Community Initiative Organization (ENCO). Continue reading below to learn more about previous trips, MEF, and ENCO.
During the 2024 trip, SWB partnered with Kids Can Write, another VT student organization that helps youth around the world become published authors, to hold workshops with classes 5 through 7 that allowed the kids to write their own stories based on their personal lives, cultural stories, and imaginations. Each traveler spent several days with their groups of ~10 kids helping them craft their stories. Profits from the published book go directly to EEMPS.
2024 Trip
This trip focused on developing the boys dorm and expanding the fruit orchard. We moved stone blocks, laid concrete, created a sewage trench, and dug more holes for the orchard.
2023 Trip
This trip focused on preparing the fruit orchard and vegetable patch through digging holes and installing irrigation; the computer lab was also expanded with the addition of ten laptops.
2022 Trip
This trip focused on establishing a computer lab with the purchase of ten laptops and tutorials in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
2019 Trip
This trip focused on the construction of the playground. We cleared the land for soccer and volleyball and built a swing set, seesaw, and balance beam.
Click here to learn about MEF!
Click here to learn about ENCO!
Click here to learn about Kids Can Write!
Page updated
Report abuse