By Anne Atwell | Development Director
MCI’s Mara Hill’s Academy rang in the new year with the completion of Mandela Hall, a new dining facility that serves the school’s 150 students. Named in honor of former South Africa President, Nelson Mandela, the facility includes a kitchen and dining hall, as well as a stage for student productions. The dining hall has capacity for more students as the school grows.The next building project, slated for completion this spring, is a new classroom block for students entering 6th grade.
Mandela Hall and the new classroom block are the most recent in a series of construction projects at the academy, including a new dormitory and a 200-foot, solar-powered well , both of which were finished last fall. The well provides clean drinking water to academy students and the people who live in surrounding villages.
MCI's greatest need is tuition support. Most of the girls at Mara Hills Academy and Fred Baron day school need financial aid to attend school. Please consider starting the year with a recurring gift. For $50 a month, you could pay for one girl’s annual tuition at Mara Hill’s Academy, and for $17 a month, you could send a girl to the Fred Baron school for one year.
Sipasha Moriaso, is one of many girls at Mara Hills Academy who faces having to leave school unless she receives financial support. Sipasha is 13 years old and in grade 4. The first born of five, she is the only child in her family attending school. Boarding school is the only option since her family lives too far for her to walk to day school.
Naini Sitany is 13 years old and in grade 2. The fourth born of 10 children, she was preparing to be married in September 2011 when MCI rescued her and enrolled her at Mara Hills Academy. This is the first time she has ever attended school. Her father does not believe in female education. Like many Maasai men, he believes that at puberty a girl’s life should be inextricably linked to her home and her husband.
Can you help Sipasha, Naini and girls like them complete school? Your support will begin a circle of giving that will allow these girls to gain control over their own lives and ultimately help their communities.
Finally, please visit our website to read the articles that resulted from MCI Executive Director’s Sekeyian Yiaile’s visit to Seattle last November. There’s an excellent blog account from the Puget Sound Business Journal about Sekeyian’s own experience as a 13-year-old girl who refused to marry a much-older man and how it served as the catalyst to her founding MCI.
Again, thank you for your support. With your help, the girls at MCI’s schools can look forward to a brighter future.
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