05/31/16 by morpheus | Uncategorized | Comments Off on June is Dining for Women Month!
We are pleased to announce that, for the entire month of June, MGEF is being featured by Dining for Women (DFW). What does this mean exactly?
DFW selects women’s empowerment organizations to sponsor for every month of the year. With over 200 chapters throughout the world, DFW members gather each month to learn about the cause they are supporting – like ours, the Community Education workshops for girls and women. Read more about our new partnership with DFW by clicking here.
Did you know? Mothers are the backbone of the Maasai family. They do everything in their power (ex: selling charcoal, beadwork, etc) to send their daughters to school. Without this encouragement, our students would not be where they are today.
To honor Maasai mothers, and mothers everywhere, we are launching our very first greeting card fundraising campaign! With a donation of $100 or more, you will receive a set of 10 cards & envelopes (which, by the way, serve as great Mother’s Day gifts!).
For a limited time, we are offering these cards at 50% off! Donate just $50 and we’ll send you 10 cards & envelopes. Expiration: October 15th, 2012.
Check out the card design below and donate here: HERE.
We are proud new members of Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of over 100 organizations working to end child marriage all over the world. The coalition upholds a central belief of ours: that girls have the right to an education and a bright future. Early marriage eliminates the chance for girls to raise themselves and their families from poverty, which is why we are committed to sponsoring our students until they have the knowledge and skills to enter the workforce in Kenya. We also offer Community Education workshops for Maasai parents and leaders in order to address the cultural attitudes that perpetuate child marriage and keep girls out of school.
Girls Not Brides is an iniative created by the Elders, a group of global leaders – including Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson – who “work together for peace and human rights.” Please click here to learn more. You can also watch the video below, produced by Girls Not Brides.
05/31/16 by morpheus | Uncategorized | Comments Off on International Museum of Women features MGEF Photos
Two photos by MGEF Founder and President, Barbara Lee Shaw, are on digital display with other beautiful works of art here: http://mama.imow.org/gallery. We are honored to be included!
Our friends at Kabissa.org (a social network nonprofit that empowers and connects grassroots NGOs committed to African civil society) wrote a lovely case study about MGEF, which is featured on their homepage and here: http://www.kabissa.org/maasai-girls-education-fund. We’re thrilled to be partners with Kabissa and truly appreciate their work. Thanks, Kabissa!
05/31/16 by morpheus | Uncategorized | Comments Off on Simantoi and Priscilla’s Graduation
In December 2011, MGEF students Simantoi Kilama and Priscilla Seet graduated from post-secondary institutions with degrees in psychology and teaching, respectively. To share their accomplishments, Simantoi and Priscilla invited the community to a celebratory event, held on December 28th, 2011. MGEF Kajiado staff came to honor Simantoi and Priscilla, capturing many beautiful moments along the way.
To begin, Simantoi greeted guests with an inspiring speech about her journey and the importance of girls’ education (below).
Later, MGEF Kajiado staff members Emily and Lucy visited with Simantoi and Priscilla (shown below, wearing traditional Maasai dress).
Finally, the Maasai women in attendence performed a song and dance to commemorate Simantoi and Priscilla (below).
We are so proud and happy for Simantoi and Priscilla and cannot wait to see what they accomplish next. Currently, Simantoi works as an HIV/AIDS counselor at Nairobi Hospital, and Priscilla has started a career in teaching. Both are making an immediate impact on their community, inspiring younger Maasai girls, and defying the barriers that threatened to keep them from an education. To see what other MGEF alumni are up to, click here!
05/31/16 by morpheus | Uncategorized | Comments Off on MGEF is a Google Grants Award Recipient!
Maasai Girls Education Fund is the recipient of a Google Grants award, as of December 18th, 2011.
The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing Google’s philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.
Designed for registered non-profit organizations, Google Grants is a unique in-kind advertising program that harnesses the power of Google AdWords, Google’s flagship advertising product. Google Grants has awarded free AdWords advertising to thousands of non-profit groups whose missions range from animal welfare to literacy, from supporting homeless children to promoting HIV education.
05/31/16 by morpheus | Uncategorized | Comments Off on What the Nobel Peace Prize Teaches Us About Education
Last week three women, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their tremendous peace building efforts in their respective countries. This announcement came on the heels of several global conferences, including CGI 2011, during which international leaders called for an end to child marriage, FGM, and gender inequality. Prominent figures like Archbishop Desmond Tutu noted girls’ education as crucial to eliminating these evils. A former Nobel Peace Prize laureate himself, Tutu stood by the mantra that I would like to focus on today: “Education is the key to eradicating poverty, reducing disease, improving local economies and facilitating peace.”
As evidenced by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian Leymah Gbowee, Africa benefits greatly from women leading non-violent regimes. Among their countless achievements, both Sirleaf and Gbowee hold advanced degrees. They represent the miniscule percent of educated women in the region, and quintessentially display the need for schooling all girls, everywhere. Imagine if you will a hundred, a thousand, a million smart young women transforming the world for better, just as Sirleaf and Gbowee have done.
Without education, such a profound vision of global peace is impossible. According to Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland in Oslo, “We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women achieve the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.” Maasai Girls Education Fund (MGEF) joins Jagland, Tutu, and many others in advocating for equal access to education. Women within and beyond Africa need this and to be blunt, humanity needs this too.
Congratulations to the Nobel Peace Prize laureates! We look forward to watching your efforts expand and multiply in the coming days, months, and years. You inspire us.
To learn more about Maasai Girls Education Fund (MGEF) please visit our website here.
We are proud new members of Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of over 100 organizations working to end child marriage all over the world. The coalition upholds a central belief of ours: that girls have the right to an education and a bright future. Early marriage eliminates the chance for girls to raise themselves and their families from poverty, which is why we are committed to sponsoring our students until they have the knowledge and skills to enter the workforce in Kenya. We also offer Community Education workshops for Maasai parents and leaders in order to address the cultural attitudes that perpetuate child marriage and keep girls out of school.
