“If not for you my tomorrow would have been darker,” wrote Santayion when she began her BSc in Animal Health and Production at Pwani University.

Santayion has been supported by the Masai Mara Project since she was in grade seven at Oloolaimutia School. As one of 16 children in a family from a remote village, she stood little chance of completing her education. Thanks to the generosity of some doctors from Nova Scotia, Santayion successfully completed high school and is now in her third year of university. Not only will she bring valuable farming and health knowledge to her village, she will be a wonderful role model for girls, demonstrating how educated women can contribute to the wellbeing of the whole community.

Joyce was doing well in high school until a change in her family situation caused her parents to plan for her to be married off at age 14. Gladys, the Masai Mara Project’s trusted onsite mentor, informed us of Joyce’s situation and of her desire to continue her education. After an absence, Joyce was delighted to get back to school.

Joyce was sent home to her distant village twice because she could not produce a birth certificate necessary to apply to write her grade 12 national exams. (Where does one safely keep a birth certificate in a mud structure?) Here she is after returning on the back of her brother’s motorcycle. Thanks to Lucy, our onsite coordinator, a document was secured and Joyce had a successful final year in high school.

After completing high school, Joyce worked as a nanny in Nairobi while awaiting acceptance to university. Thanks to Joyce’s outstanding work ethic, she is now in her final year of a BSc in Wildlife Management at Chuka University. With her diploma in hand, Joyce will be of much greater value to her family than the cow they would have received as a marriage dowry.