Defying the fate of many girls her age, a 14-year-old Maasai girl dreams of a better future with support from MAF and Help for the Maasai.
At 14 years old, Elinami Thomas is one of the few girls in her remote Tanzania village who isn’t a wife or a mother.
Instead, she’s a student at Naserian English Medium Primary School in Malambo, run by Help for the Maasai and supported by Mission Aviation Fellowship flights
“Many girls of my age are married and some of them have children too,” she said.
Child marriage is a common occurrence for the Maasai in remote Tanzania. It greatly increases the risk of violence, abuse, ill health, and early death for young girls.
“Maasai girls are married to an old man and sold for cattle exchange. They have no choice. So, they become his property and can’t make any decision for themselves,” Elinami added.
Many girls of my age are married and some of them have children too.
In a community where girls as young as 11 are married off in exchange for cattle, Elinami sees school not just as a privilege—but as her lifeline.
“I’m grateful that I can go to school. School can save me and give me a better life.
“I love school because we can get treatment when we are sick and get food to eat. Going to school saves me also from being forced to marry before I am ready.”
Her mother, Paulina Thomas, never had the chance to go to school herself.
“When I was growing up, my parents didn’t take me to school,” Paulina said. “The education that they gave me was to send me to the husband, and I started nurturing children at that age. It was very difficult.
“Life is very hard for the Maasai girls because they are not taken to school but only forced to marry a man of family choice.”
Paulina is determined that her daughter’s story will be different.
“I wish and I pray that Elinami will get a good education and become successful in her life,” she said. “I don’t want Elinami to come back and live the life that I am living because it is really difficult.”
MAF pilot Becki Dillingham shared MAF’s commitment and determination to support education for the Maasai.
“Every flight is not just a flight. Each time we take off and land, we are serving the remote communities in Tanzania,” Becki said.
“We know that education in Tanzania for the Maasai children is really important. It gives children a hope away from child marriages and gives young girls a better future.”
For Aron Archad, who works as the boys’ patron at Naserian School, education is about much more than academics.
“For Maasai children who can't go to school, the reality for them is that their life will look like grazing cattle and early marriage. School is more than just a learning. It is their safety, health and their future,” he said.
Education in Tanzania for the Maasai children is really important.
Aron credited MAF’s work in supporting them.
“Being so isolated we rely on MAF to fly the supplies we need. If MAF was not able to come, it would mean a lack of good education and a lack of good health because we can’t get doctors and medicine in time.”
When the students go home at the end of the semester, many deteriorate rapidly in health due to homes not having the supplies, food, and clean water that the schools have.
“For most of the children, school is the only place where they can access medical care and are fed well,” added Aron. “When the children come back after the school break, many of them come back very ill and malnourished.”
For Elinami, school is protection. It’s the reason she can dream of a life she wants, and not one that’s forced on her.
“School is more than just learning, it’s my future.”