So, there was a logical reason to opt for marriage than education. At this point, it did not
matter if a mother trusted her daughter or not.
Neema's mother was a single parent. The economic situation was not favourable either, so
Neema was in a quagmire of missing a golden
chance to get an education. “I approached
many people for help day-in-day-out without
success," she recalls. Though the light in her
life seemed to fade, she made a conscious effort to lift her hopes high. Marriage at that age
was never an option.
One day the village counsellor informed
Neema's mother about Emusoi Centre whose
primary role is to help young Maasai women
get an education, preventing early marriages.
Plans were made and she was back to school.
In 2008, she joined Kibosho Girls secondary
school, went on to advanced-level secondary
school and eventually joined the University of
Dar-es-Salaam last year.
Despite her achievements, the community
choose to believe that she prevented pregnancy by using drugs because no girl got to University without getting a baby. "They kept asking me which drugs I use to prevent pregnancy; you cannot change their minds.” Contrary
to that, her mother was affirmative that her
daughter was a hardworking lass and that it
was possible for girls to study and work without getting pregnant as long as they resolved
to do so. And that's all that matters.
Neema is among the only four girls, out of
thousands, from Engaruka who have gone to
university. She credits her success to Emusoi
centre which has been sponsoring her
for seven years now.
She is passionate a