Sponsored Students

Catherine Katese

Catherine is one of six children living with an unemployed single mother. Her father passed away when she was young, leaving behind two wives and thirteen children. Catherine’s sisters and brothers all went to school as long as possible, but poverty impeded their ability to even afford food, let alone pay their school fees. Despite her passion for learning, Catherine would not have been able to continue her education. However, with a scholarship from MGEF, she is now continuing her studies at Baraka Oontoyie Secondary School.

Faith Pereruan

Felister Naisoi

Felister belongs to a family of 11 children. Her father is the only financial support for the family and struggles to pay for even the most basic necessities. To add further financial strain to the family, Felister’s father is chronically ill and must dedicate a portion of his income to medical expenses. Though Felister is determined to continue her education, Felister’s family’s extreme poverty has frequently left her unable to pay for school fees. Felister is seeking your support to attend secondary school and continue her studies.

Jane Naisianoi

Jane is a fourteen your old girl who comes from a family of eleven children. Her father is unemployed, and her mother makes a meager living washing clothes. Both of Jane’s parents have tried to educate their children and have sent them all to school when they were able, or in conjunction with help from well wishers. Jane received very high marks in primary school, but her parents are unable to pay her school fees for secondary school. Determined to continue her studies, Jane contacted one of MGEF’s alumna, who immediately took her to the MGEF Kajiado office to fill out an application. MGEF quickly accepted Jane into the scholarship program, and she started secondary school in January 2018.

Joy Naserem

Joy's father is a minister in a sparsely populated area. His family is completely dependent on parishoners who can barely support their own families' needs. An MGEF scholarship has guaranteed Joy the opportunity to lift herself and her family out of poverty through education.

Linet Piraon

Linet and her four siblings lost their father in 2005 and have since relied completely on their single, unemployed mother. The family’s sole source of income comes from selling livestock, a trade affected by long droughts and dry seasons. Faced with financial instability, Linet sought support from MGEF in early 2016 in order to attend secondary school.

Lornah Pilale

Lornah is one of 15 children born to one of her father's three wives. Her mother is uneducated. Lornah's father does not believe in educating girls and married off his eldest daughter at age 16. The family is extremely poor, and the prospect of a dowry of cows, goats, and cash in such a family places Lornah at high risk of an early marriage. Lornah is able to go to school and avoid the fate of her elder sister with a scholarship from MGEF.

Mercy Mbaika

Mercy is an exceptional student. Earning 378 marks out of 500 when she sat for the KCPE exam in 2015, Mercy hoped to advance to secondary school. However, both of her parents are unemployed and could not afford to support her education. In 2016, MGEF accepted Mercy as a scholarship recipient. Determined to succeed in school, Mercy dreams of becoming a doctor.

Mercy Tomonik

Mercy belongs to a family of eleven children. Her parents are illiterate and unemployed, having sold all of their cattle to pay for family necessities. Mercy's two older sisters never enrolled in school and were both married off, at 12 and 15 years old. All of Mercy's older brothers have their own families, leaving Mercy and her younger brother to live alone with their elderly parents and a sister. The children rely entirely on money generated from their mother's traditional Maasai "shukas" to eat and live. Awarded an MGEF scholarship in 2013, Mercy is now able to continue her education.

Sarah Letetia

Sarah belongs to a big family; her father married three wives and has 21 children in total. Though Sarah’s mother supports the education of her daughters, Sarah’s father does not support their education. Due to this disagreement, he sent away Sarah’s mother and siblings. All of them went to stay with their uncle. In the spring of 2016, Sarah’s uncle expressed his support for her to undergo FGM. Sarah’s mother and elder sister helped Sarah escape and find refuge at the AIC Rescue Centre, where she continues to stay today. Currently in Grade 8, Sarah is now working hard in school to realize her dream of being educated.

Seleyian Parkuyiare

Seleyian is a fourteen year old girl whose brother contacted MGEF in the spring of 2017. Her brother was desperate to keep his little sister in school. He had been supporting her education but had lost his job and was no longer able to send her to school. He was afraid his sister would be married off. In his search for help, he found us on Facebook and messaged us. He was told to contact the MGEF Kajiado office, which he immediately did. He came in and filled out the application and continued to be in contact for the results. Seleyian is a very bright girl and does very well in school. Her brother’s persistence impressed us all, as did Seleyian, when he brought her to the 2017 Mentoring workshop that was held at the beginning of December. We are happy to welcome Seleyian into the MGEF Scholarship Program and are also very pleased to have her brother as an advocate for girl’s education in the Maasai community. She began grade 7 in January 2018.

Vivian Lenkoilelio

Vivian is a 14 year old girl who comes from polygamy family with nine children. Vivian's parents are not employed and cannot read or write. They rely on a few goats and sheep to survive. The local chief found Vivian herding the goats and asked her why she was not in school. He spoke with her parents and found out she did very well in primary school, but that they could not afford to send her to secondary school. Vivian is a very smart girl and the chief felt she should be in school. The chief brought her to a board member, who brought her into the office to fill out an application. Vivian was accepted into MGEF's Scholarship Program January 2019. She now goes to school without fear of being sent home due to lack of school fees.

Vivian Nampaso

Vivian is a 20 year old young woman, who has fought her whole life to get an education. Despite being a very good student who was accepted to an excellent secondary school, Vivian has been home all year because she does not have money to pay her school fees. Her mother was married off against her will and had six children; her father abandoned the family and is now deceased. Vivian’s mother does laundry to provide for her children, but still Vivian and her siblings often go days without eating. Through the years Vivian has managed to get through Form 2 (10th grade) with the help of well wishers. Often she would miss a term or a year of school because she could not find any financial support. This is why, at the age of 20, she is in Form 3 (11th grade). Vivian does very well in all her school subjects, and we are excited to support her on her journey to reach her dreams. Now that she does not have to worry about her school fees, there is nothing holding her back and she is very happy to finally be able to fully concentrate on her studies.

Zainab Sempeyo

Zainab’s father suffers from an illness that prevents him from working and forces the family to dedicate a large portion of their income to his medical expenses. Her father’s illness has a profound psychological effect on her mother, who also does not work. Before receiving her MGEF scholarship, Zainab was dependent on the charity of others for school fees through grade four. By grade five, Zainab had no means to continue her education and was on the verge of dropping out of school when MGEF began sponsoring her in 2011. Zainab did well through primary and secondary school. In the autumn of 2019, she was accepted to AMREF International University to study nursing.