Maasai and the Western Education

Until recently, many Maasai parents detested western education and viewed the education system with suspicion. The perception that western education erodes the Maasai culture is still held by many parents today. These parents were mostly concerned that once their children receive education, they would forget their Maasai community and seek to live in the urban areas. The Maasai parents were also concerned that some of the graduates have little to give back to the community once they finish with school. As a result of this perceived notion of western education, many Maasai parents were reluctant to send their children to school fearing that the children would detached from the Maasai culture and community. However, this trend is now changing and Maasai parents are now slowly embracing the western education and its importance in modern society.

The importance of western education can be seen in how the Maasai have been treated since British Imperialism and also how education will hopefully launch the Maasai into the future.

Initially, the two most important segments of the Maasai community, the elders and the warriors, had divergent perception embracing the education system. The elders saw education as a step toward understanding the British foreigners who they had accused of encroaching their territorial lands by following the Anglo-Maasai treaty of 1904 and 1911. The warriors, on the other hand, saw education as a threat to the Maasai cultural practices. They refused to allow their children to go to school before the children could learn all there is to learn about the Maasai culture. Maasai elders, eager to understand the Ilashumpa, informed the colonial government of the warriors' decision, and the government responded by killing many warriors and forcing others to attend their schools. The warriors who survived had their hair shaved against their will, were forced to wear khaki shorts and shirts, and were sent to boarding school.

The British colonial government began building schools across the Maasai land and forcing the Maasai community to abandon their culture and adopt the English culture and religion. Because British culture was so foreign, most Maasai warriors ran away from the schools and went back to what they were used to -- Maasai traditional cultural practices. British soldiers went after the Maasai, but it is believed that this time the Maasai God, Engai, saved his people from the wrath of English colonial masters. As the British soldiers pursued Maasai warriors, a deadly disease attacked them, killing many, British soldiers including their commander.

As a result of the struggle between the Maasai and the British, very few Maasai felt the need to pursue British education. They chose instead to stick with their traditional system of education and to practice their own cultural ceremonies. Their peaceful life lasted a few years only: Kenya was soon embroiled in a struggle for independence. Many Maasai warriors, remembering the killing of other warriors by the British, aided the Mau Mau movement in fighting for independence. After Kenya attained her independence, the government began advocating the need to educate all Kenyans irrespective of ethnic background. In spite of this new government's efforts to encourage education, very few Maasai went to school.

Previously In 1918, Sir Charles Eliot, former Governor of Kenya, had advocated the end of African traditional cultures, making the famous quote that:

"There can be no doubt that the Maasai and other tribes must go under. It is a prospect that I view with equanimity and clear conscience . . . I wish to protect individual Maasai . . . but I have no desire to protect Maasaidom. It is a beastly, bloody system, founded on raiding and immorality, disastrous both to the Maasai and their neighbors. The sooner it disappears and is unknown, except in books of anthropology, the better."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Maasai suffered greatly under the British colonial and post-colonial systems. Of approximately 500,000 Maasai, fewer than 5000 have had formal education, an abysmal average of 5 people per year since the beginning of colonial rule. In the last two decades, the lack of education in the Maasai land has brought the Maasai untold suffering. Kenya has changed quickly, and other ethnic groups in Kenya seemingly have developed at a faster pace than the Maasai.

Today, the Maasai community realizes that education is the key to understanding and finding a place in an increasingly modern world. Education, however, has become so expensive that few Maasai students are able to attain a higher level of education.

It is for this reason that MED was established to make education more accessible and affordable to the Maasai community. Since inception, MED has taken a lead in sponsoring Maasai girls to obtain education. Over the last 6 years, MED has been partnering with primary and high schools to provide education opportunity to the Maasai girls. Today, over 1000 girls have benefited from the MED's education initiative.

In 2006 MED is partnering with the following primary and high schools in Narok and Kajiado districts to sponsor 800 Maasai girls through the MED Girls Scholarship Program: