JANUARY 2022: 2021 IN REVIEW, LOOKING AHEAD TO 2022
"Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” -Hal Borland
In the continued struggle of life at the margin, there was much to be grateful for last year in the Loita Hills. For the communities, schools and markets reopened. For our organization, we were able to pick up our pre-COVID programming to enroll children into school and open secondary schools, with new and valuable insights gained during COVID. We feel enormous gratitude for many moments of beauty, joy, and hope as well as our struggles, for they have made us stronger.
It's difficult to condense those moments down to a highlight reel, but we'd like to share just a few below. None of these things would have happened without the support of our incredible community, including the many of you who joined us for the first time this past year. To all of you, our deepest gratitude for making the below a reality:
The opening of two new day secondary schools in the villages of Morijo and Olmesutie and three more in development in the villages of Mausa, Olorte and Entasakera. These schools will ultimately create new opportunities for countless Maasai children to gain a high school education.
A new grant program that supports these schools during their vulnerable first year by funding classroom resources and incentivizing the hiring of female teachers. These teachers offer invaluable role models to Maasai girls, showing them different possibilities for their futures.
The chance to return to Kenya for the 1st time in two years and work with the incredible National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale to powerfully share stories of our work.
The opportunity to watch with pride as promising students like Najma and Nashipae overcame barriers created by COVID, family deaths and pregnancy last year to pass their high school entrance exams with high marks anyways and transfer into quality high schools.
Looking ahead in 2022, our goal is to continue our work opening new schools, enrolling more children into primary school, and creating programs that improve the quality of learning they'll receive once they're in the classroom. Our wish for the girls and families we work with, our staff, and all of you, is that we all may find much peace and joy in this new year. And that all of us may journey into it with the wisdom gained from our experiences - both painful and joyful - in 2021. Photos of Nashipae, below, and Irene, top, by Ami Vitale.
