giving the girls a voice
Welcome to our platform, where we celebrate the voices of girls and young women as they share their inspiring educational journeys. In their personal stories, we witness not only their growing confidence but also the expansion of their horizons and the blossoming of their aspirations. We are thrilled to bring you these narratives, showcasing the transformative power of education as told by those who experience it first-hand. Join us in honouring their and dreams!
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Testimonials 2026
Please look through these captivating accounts of a year in each each girls` personal journey with education.
Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
In August this year, I will complete my two-year Tour and Travel Consultancy course. I`m now in my final theory semester and in May I will go to my practical part of it for four months. I really look forward to it. In this year September, I will start the second level of my course which will take one year.
I am now fully recovered after my long illness in May and June 2025. Ezekiel had a very good talk with me and my mother, and he talked about the importance to focus more on my education and my future life. He talked about about how important it is to concentrate in learning because it is the only way to liberate my own self and be independent. Also that a good education offers opportunities in life that will help improve lives. The discussion took about one and a half hours, and I felt to touched because it was a very sincere discussion. I learned a lot from the talk, and I wish I knew all these from the beginning. But life is a journey and we keep learning every day. As a girl from a poor family, I feel I should work hard so that I can help my mother and sibling in the future.
I would like to thank you very much for your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Abigael Moipeen.
​
*****
Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
I hope you are doing well. And my family are also fine.
This year I did not start well because of the lectures strike in all public universities in Kenya. I went to school as usual and we started our classes as usual. After three weeks the lecturers started to strike. I think they have payments that has not been done by the government.
The negotiations between the lecturers and government started. Every week I thought they will agree but the strike dragged on for weeks and weeks. I was at school hoping they will resolve the issue. The university administration told us to stay around, because the strike might end at any time. We waited and they resolved it after about fifty days.
We started our studies immediately and closed for two weeks. The lessons that we missed during the strike we recovered them during the holidays, so I was studying online at home. I am now back in school. The exams for the last semester 2025 were pushed to January 2026 because we did not have enough time. So I have already done the exams and started the first semester of 2026.
I hope the government will keep its promises with the lecturers so that they do not strike again.
Yours,
Nelly Nabulu.
​
*****
Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
Today I am going back to school after a short Christmas holiday. The lecturers striked and when they came back, we studied for only one month. Studies for last semester were extended to this month (January 2026).
In February, I will start my final semester and complete in June 2026, hence my studies are extended for two months. In two weeks I will be able to find out from the school if there are any extra charges, because of the extension of the semester. I will inform Ezekiel immediately I get the information from school. I really look forward to completing my studies and officially graduate.
In this last semester, I am required to have a laptop because my units will be done online and my phone will not be able to handle it. The school already informed me to bring a laptop when I go back this last semester because without it, I will not be able to study. This is my last requirement in my studies so I do hope you will provide it for me so I can catch up with the rest of the units when I start my final semester in February.
Thank you very much for your continued support because this will open up my ways of life and brighten my future.
Yours,
Susan Terta.
​
*****
Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
I look back on my four years of secondary education, and I count myself very lucky to complete.
I remember that the day schools opened after holidays and I started packing my bag in the evening. In the morning my mother told me that I will not be able to go to school because they did not have the money to pay the school fees. I was very disappointed and this affected me very much. I stayed indoors thinking about my future. My parents struggled to get money for my school fees, but they were not successful.
The first and second week passed and there was no sign of me going to school. In the third week I knew it was no longer possible to go back to school, so I just gave up.
In the evening, my father came and told me that he talked to somebody who agreed to support my education. I could not believe my ears. The following day Ezekiel came to our home and discussed the situation I was in, and I really wanted to continue my education. Ezekiel told me that he will organise so that I go to school. After a few days, all my school fees was paid, and I was able to go back to school. My dreams came back and I was able to go back to school. Thank you very much for your kind support.
I am now at university, and I live alone and take care of myself. My house is about two kilometres to school, so I walk to school every day. The most important thing I now need is a laptop because my parents cannot afford it. Every day students is required to have a laptop at university.
I met many friends at school and they are good people. During weekends, we go out together and often visit other friends. I hope you will be able to help other girls when I complete my studies.
Yours sincerely,
Lydia Mashipae.
tESTIMONIALS 2025
"Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
I am almost completing my first year at university. It is a totally different life compared to high school. I live in my one room house. I cook for myself and clean the house for myself. I make decisions for myself away from my parents. This is preparing me for future life after university. So I am in two schools at the same time, my academic studies and my social and life skills studies. I am enjoying all of them. I am now independent & responsible, and curious to continue learning. My course is accounting, and it involves a lot of calculations. I learn about balancing sheets, profit and loss accounts and income statements. I already feel like an auditor and feel proud. I cannot wait to audit big accounts in the future.
Every time I look at my lecturer and imagine that he/she also passed through what I am going through, it gives me energy in my studies.
I thank you very much for your support and I will work hard to achieve my dreams.
Yours, Nelly N."
​
******
"Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
It is less than a year for me to complete my university education. I will complete in April 2026. Time has moved so fast, and I am happy that it is almost over. Your continued support made all these possible. Thank you very much.
In my village our neighbours did not believe that I will complete university because my parents are very poor. We hear a lot of gossip in the village, some villagers say I am the luckiest person in the village. Others say it is through God`s grace, while others still cannot believe that I will complete my studies until I graduate. Sometimes I tell my friends jokingly that when I complete my studies, I will ask my parents to slaughter a cow and organise a big celebration and thanksgiving. My parents do not have cows, but I hope they will seek support from their relatives and friends.
All villagers to come together to celebrate my education. Village girls and boys will be inspired and encouraged that anything is possible provided one works hard. God will keep us to see this day.
I am going through my studies without thinking where to get the next meal or without worrying that the landlord will close my house because of not paying rent. I went through challenges in my first two years of my studies, and it really affected my concentration in class. I was sad most of the time and I was hungry and frustrated and some of my friends could notice although I tried very hard much to hide my situation. Not anymore, no more sadness, no more hungers, no more frustration. I am now happy, energetic and I go out with friends.
Thank you very much Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust.
Yours, Susan T".
​
******
"Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
I want to inform you that I am doing well. My studies are also going very well, and I am working hard. I learn mathematics, English, Kiswahili, and computer studies. I am very happy that I will complete my secondary education soon and then start university. This is my dream for a long time, and I am so happy and grateful that your support will make my dream come true. I thank you for your kind support.
In our school, we wake up at 4.00 a.m. and have a shower and then we go to class for our morning studies. At 6.00 a.m. we go for breakfast then start cleaning the school compound. At 8.00 a.m. we go for our morning assembly then start our normal classes for the day until 4.00 p.m.
In our school we have different games like football, netball, hockey, badminton and table tennis. Many girls participate in different games, and I am so happy to watch them play. My body is small and not very strong, so I just cheer the other girls as they play. I shout very loudly when cheering especially my favourite game, badminton. When the game is over, I am also tired because of my cheering and shouting.
I am not shy in public and talk and laugh with my friends. I share a lot of stories in our free time, and I miss my friends when I go home for holidays.
Yours, Lydia.
​
******
"Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
I have been in hospital for sometimes now I have asthma and was also pregnant. I had a lot of complications in my last month of pregnancy, and I was in and out of hospital in May and June. I was first admitted in May then later went back to hospital several times for some tests and medication. The doctors advised me to stop school in my last month of pregnancy. On 16/6/25 I was very sick, and my mother rushed me to hospital at night. When we arrived, I was admitted and immediately taken to theatre for an operation. The operations was successful but unfortunately the child had already died in my stomach. This was my darkest and painful time in my life. I expected to deliver my baby well and hold it and see it grow but that was not the case. I am so sad. I developed high blood pressure, and I will have to live with this new condition and take the medication for the rest of my life. However, I am happy that I am out of hospital, and I am well, I will stay at home for a few weeks to regain my strength and then go back to school.
When I was in hospital Ezekiel conveyed your concerns for my quick recovery. I am so grateful to all of you. Ezekiel is very supportive and was with me every time I was in hospital, and I thank him so much. The money you sent me for my upkeep saved my life because we used some of it to pay the hospital bills. My mother would not get that money and maybe I would have died at home for not getting the kind of medical attention I received in hospital.
I am so lucky. I am so happy and grateful to you.
God bless you all.
Yours faithfully,
Abigail
testimonials 2024
​​Please do look through these captivating personal accounts of a year in each of their educational journeys:
​
"Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
My father gave me some good news three days ago that I got some sponsorship for my education. I could not believe him but deep inside me, I knew he is serious. I know he has been struggling to pay my school fees and I do not attend school regularly because of lack of school fees. I was very angry at him when he could not pay my school fees in the first term of my secondary education, so I did not start school in my first term. I was sick and depressed but in the second term he was able to pay school fees, so I enrolled for the first time. I have been in school on and off, but it is many days that I stay at home. I have never given up even where I am at home I read my books a lot. I live a quiet life because all other children are at school, and I do not want people to see that I am at home while all other children are at school.
My name is Lydia Moshipoe, and I am 15 years old. I am in form 3 now and my school is over 300 kilometres away from my home. Today Ezekiel visited our home to bring the good news. I am burning and I feel like exploding. I am trembling as I write this letter to you. I do not know what to say but I would like to thank you very much for your support. I am so delighted that I will not sleep again not knowing if I will go to school or not. Yes, on Monday! I will go back to school. I will start packing my things now ready for Monday. I have told Ezekiel thank you one hundred times and I think he could see the happiness inside me.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Lydia Moshipoe.”
​
****
“Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
Another opportunity to say thank you for your support. I have completed my first and second years at university learning the theories of teaching and I enjoyed it all along.
In my third and fourth year I am practicing how to teach in high school. I went into a classroom to practice teaching and familiarise myself with the learners, and the students thought I was young to be a teacher. I could see and hear them talking in low voices about me. I really admitted being a teacher, but I did not know how it will feel to be a teacher. After two weeks of internship in one of the high schools students started to appreciate me and enjoyed my lessons in physics and mathematics. This made me so proud and energetic in my work as a teacher, and it was dawning on me that I am slowly becoming a teacher that I so much wanted to be since I was a young girl.
My parents, siblings and neighbours now call me a teacher before I graduate, and I am proud of it. I am looking forward to completing my studies and come back home to help other students with my knowledge.
Yours loving, Susan Terta.”
​
*****
“Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
Two weeks ago I was talking to my mother and younger sister about the importance of education. My mother has never gone to school and my sister is in grade six, my father died when my mother was still in her teens and she gave her story on how she struggled to keep us in school and provide for our needs. She told me how she moved me from one school to the other, so she enrols me in one school to the other because she could not pay the school fees, So she enrols me in a school and agrees with the teachers when she will pay the school fees. When payment time is due, she requests for an extension and when the teacher becomes hard on her, she transfers me to another school. I attended five different primary schools and sometimes I go back to the one I started in and I didn’t know it was because of school fees. I also enjoyed going to new schools and making new friends. After this story my sister realises that she has been changing schools also. I look at my mother and incessantly she goes through for us to get education. Then my mother says to me things are now better for you because you have sponsorship to take it seriously and work hard so that you do not find yourself and your future family in this situation.
In a few weeks I will join Maasai Technical Training Institute to study tourism and travel management starting at certificate level for two years. Later, I hope to further my studies to Diploma and Degree Level in the same field. I am so grateful to you for your continued support since my secondary school and now to college and I hope you will be there to continue supporting me to the end,
Yours sincerely,
Abigail”
​
*****
“Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,
I am so happy to have completed my secondary school education with your support. I worked hard and I am happy that I passed my exams, and I am now going to join university. Ezekiel has already made all the necessary arrangements and payments, and I am starting on Monday next week. I enjoyed my education journey through primary and secondary school, and I look forward to continuing with the journey at university. My journey is full of hope, and I believe it will help shape my future for the better.
I still remember the walk we did with Irene and Ally in March and cannot forget the experience. We walked and camped in the bush. I was so tired at the end of the first day. I stayed with Abigael in the same tent so we talked and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. I tell my friends in the village about the experience, and they all admire it.
I will study Bachelor of Accounting degree in my university and I hope this will open gates to me to work in the banking sector in the future. For me, education is empowerment, liberation and freedom, and I thank you very much for supporting me.
Nelly Nabulu.”