3. INTRODUCTION
It is a privilege to be part of a generation that reaps the
benefits of centauries of work and struggle around gender and
racial equality.
I feel that this stage we have arrived at might be the farthest
we have reached as a civilization in terms of social equality.
The maasai society is patriarchal and polygamous.
4. CONT~
From birth , a maasai girl child is treated as a
second-class citizen and the cultural norms deny her
opportunities to make her own choices.
Women are not able to own property and are
commonly confined to the domestic sphere.
5.
6. CONT~
Maasai girls are taught that circumcision is a rite of passage into womanhood
that accompanies puberty and an immediate precursor to marriage.
Once circumcised , girls are ridiculed by their peers if they continue their
education , since school is for children.
Further escalating the pressure of early marriage is the reality that in the maasai
culture women are traditional valued on the bases of how many children they can
produce for their husbands, not their education or economic success.
8. A daughters marriage increases the wealth of masaai`s
girl family through combined cattle and cash dowries and
father is relieved of the economic burden of
supporting her.
This only worsens the economic structure of the maa
community
9. Maasai women are not given the right to choose their husbands
and are often married by the age of twelve or thirteen.
When it comes to the girl who craves to being in class and acquire
an education for herself she forced to engage in transactional sex with
older men and even teachers in order to pay for her fees and cover the
cost of supplies thus exposing herself to higher risk of STD and
HIV/AIDS infection.
10. CONT~
Help me help a maasai girl put a smile on her face …….
•Just smile
