Support Naisujaki’s Education

***UPDATE (June 2023):

Nai's principal has allowed an extension through June to give us more time to achieve the full school year tuition cost. As always, I greatly, greatly appreciate your support, kindness, and generosity. I am so grateful to you all for the difference you are making. With $1200 left to go, I feel optimistic and hopeful that the goal can be reached. Please continue to share this around to help us reach our goal! ❤️

***UPDATE (25/11/2022): 

(TL;DR goal met for semester 1 tuition deadline on 25/11/2022!! Fundraiser goal has been adjusted to $5200 for the April deadline of full school year tuition cost.)

As of the tuition deadline on Friday, we not only reached, but SURPASSED our goal to fund Nai’s first semester of the final year of her nursing program at Machame Institute in Tanzania.

I am keeping this fundraiser open to allow any who are still inclined to contribute to the cost of Nai’s final semester at Machame. This is thankfully not due until April, so the urgency is less of a factor than before, however, I would like to encourage anyone who are passionate to continue to share this fundraiser with anyone they think may be inclined to support Nai. My hope is that by casting a net far and wide, small acts of generosity from people who care, coming from different circles and walks of life, will allow us to complete the final effort of funding the remainder of Nai’s last year at Machame Institute.

When I initiated this fundraiser with late notice and extreme urgency at the beginning of the week, I had no idea how we were going to be able to make this happen. I would like to thank and acknowledge everyone who supported this and contributed to the feat of funding this semester. Thank you for making a difference in Nai’s life and future. 

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Original message:

Hello everyone, 

I started this GoFundMe in an effort to help a friend, Naisujaki, afford the final year of her nursing program at Macahme Health in Tanzania.

Nai is a young Maasai woman from a small village in the Kilimanjaro region. For those who don’t know, the Maasai are one of the predominant indigenous groups of Tanzania and Kenya. Educational pathways are not common for Maasai children, and are even less so for Maasai women.

After the tragic deaths of both their parents, Nai’s sister, Esther, took on full responsibility of her. Esther (a dear friend of mine) succeeded in stopping an arranged marriage for Nai that their uncle had accepted. She was just 14 at the time, and would be married in exchange for cattle (highly valued by the Maasai). With the help of a local pastor, Esther prevented the marriage and instead sought sponsorship from an NGO for Nai to go back to school.

After completing secondary school, Nai qualified for the Machame Health nursing program, but the NGO was no longer able to help her as they had too many younger children in need for primary and secondary school. Desperate to find the funds for nursing school so that Nai could continue education and afford more options for her future, Esther reached out to me for help as I had just done another fundraiser (COVID relief) for a mutual Maasai friend. I wasn’t sure that I would be of much help, but passed on Esther and Nai’s information to a friend of mine, Konrad Lyle.

Konrad was inspired by Nai’s story and determination and generously decided to sponsor her for her first year of school, and then again for her second year. She is now starting her final year of school, and desperately needs the funds for her first semester (each $2,600).

Nai hopes to complete a Doctorate researching the challenges facing young women in Maasai village life, and eventually aims to write a book about her life to illustrate these challenges firsthand, and demonstrate where a young Maasai girl can go from humble beginnings. She is a role model to young Maasai women.

Please donate if you are able, and share with anyone who may be able to help.

 Kind regards,

Jess