Shy at first, the children living in the villages around the site of the Maasai Women Secondary School have become great friends of the ROTH volunteers. Nowadays, you can hear children yelling the names of many of our volunteers as they pass by the site, waving a greeting to the volunteers hard at work. 

Our volunteers have been paint-splattered for almost a week straight now; with so much work to be done, we’ve all been pulling long days at the site in order to complete phase I of the Maasai Women Secondary School on time.

The Maasai Women Secondary School’s first phase of construction is almost over. We’re working hard in these last two weeks to make sure that the classrooms and dormitory will be ready for our girls in the next school year.

Lembris Raphael Shambaru is one of the most experienced people on the site of the Maasai Women Secondary School; along with his partner Ombeni Jublate, he is in charge of all the labourers. On the site, he’s known as the fundi, which means manager or overseer.

With only three weeks to go, it’s all hands on deck at the Maasai Women Secondary School site. This week, we welcomed six new volunteers, all hailing from Ireland, almost doubling our number at the ROTH volunteer house. Luckily there was plenty to be done at the School! As volunteers Christophe and Ariane marked all the imperfections and dented places in the newly plastered wall, their parents Gilles and Sophie, along with the rest of the gang, continued last week’s work of brushing all the window frames and security grills. Once finished, they then went over each window again with sand-paper, then primed the metal with anti-rust protective coat. Though tedious work, the windows are now ready for their paint and made to last.

Tumaini Paulo Laizer is a twelve year old Maasai girl; her story, though typical for many of the girls MWEDO works with, is unforgettable. A runaway bride, Tumaini could have been married with a baby by now; last year, after her father’s death, her mother arranged her marriage to a man in the village, accepting the dowry he offered.