Celebrating the Girls and Women of TEMBO

The girls and women I know in Longido and Kimokouwa are some of the strongest and most resilient people I have ever met. This year, on International Women's Day, March 8, I celebrate and give thanks for their lives.

Our lives are worlds apart in many ways. Most Tanzanian women live without the conveniences and blessings I often take for granted: running water, electricity, affordable quality education, good medical care, abundant food, and so much more. It is good that I can leave the comfort of my own life and culture to live in their world when I can. It helps me to put so much in perspective. I always return home feeling so much more grateful for what I have been given simply because I have been born in Canada.

Members of the KWGP group, their husbands, and village leaders.

Since my first visit to Tanzania in July 1998, I have watched little girls grow into beautiful young women and mothers. Some have chosen to remain in their bomas as traditional Maasai; some have had no say in making decisions about their lives; others have had courageous mothers who have pleaded on their behalf that their daughters might go to school; and there is a growing number of girls who have both parents wisely including education opportunities knowing that the world is changing for the Maasai as it is for people everywhere.

And isn't the world in transition? Few on this earth are not caught up in the fast moving current of change knocking at everyone's door. The women I am thinking of today want life for their daughters to be different than it is for them and they are willing to pay a high price to make this happen. They walk miles in search of firewood and water, spend long hours selling foodstuffs under the hot African sun to earn small amounts of money, and have had their lives given value by the number of cattle their husbands have "paid" for them.

Penina with her mother, daughter, and extended family.

I laud all the girls and women in Longido and Kimokouwa who have the audacity to dream for something better then they have today. I honour the women able to make small positive changes in their homes and families as a result of their participation in the micro-business program. And I honour the girls requesting education sponsorship and working hard to daily overcome great obstacles simply to stay in school.

Future generations will reap the rewards of your hopes and dreams, hard work and quiet sacrifices. And leaders will come from among you, even in your lifetime. I know this because I know you. You are a part of a great momentum composed of so many mothers and daughters all over the world. You are not alone. Happy International Women's Day!

Some of the TEMBO sponsored girls at the TEMBO English Camp, 2011.