When a Maasai little girl is born, she is promised to a husband, whom she will be given to anywhere from 10-13 years old.  She is allowed to be a little girl for only a short time in her life. From the time she is able, usually around 5 years old, she is sent out to herd goats.  She may be one of the fortunate girls who is allowed to go to preschool for part of the day. 

      At about 5 years old, a Maasai little girl is sent out to herd the goats. If she is fortunate, her parents may allow her to go to school.  If not, she will continue herding the goats, and her childhood ends when she is about 8 years old.  One day, she has an unexpected visit from an elder from her village who is sent to try to have sex with her.  This process is continued each year until one is successful, as the Maasai feel it is only through this process that a woman will begin menstruation.  It is also felt that this needs to be done to prepare her for marriage. Her future husband, the one chosen at birth by her father, is then contacted, and he comes to try her out.   If she is acceptable, he returns home to his village. A ceremony will then be planned, which at that time, she will then have a female circumcision performed on her.  This is tradition in the Maasai culture, and has been done as far as back as they know.  From that point on, she will never know sexual pleasure, only sexual pain, in her lifetime. It is felt that this guarantees that she will never desire another man. 

     Even though female circumcision is outlawed throughout Africa, it is widely practiced within the Maasai culture.  After this is done, sometime before puberty, she is considered to be ready for marriage.  Her future mother in law will come and take her to a village unknown to her to live out the rest of her life. She is anywhere from 11 to 14 years old when she leaves her family, and her husband will be anywhere from 30 to 80 years old and may have many wives and children.

      These women live out their lives working for their husbands and families. While a Maasai wife, she spends her time cooking and having babies and caring for the babies.  She builds all the homes, and she hunts for the food.  She is to gather the firewood, and walk hours to get water for her husband and children.  She is also required to have sex with any other Maasai man who is in her same age bracket.  A Maasai woman is not allowed to eat the beef their husbands eat, and can be beaten if they even glance at a man while he is eating. Wife beatings are a common practice among the Maasai. Women are expected to keep silent in their villages. They are not taken to receive medical help. They are treated less than cattle for the rest of their entire lives. Little value is put on any woman’s life in the bush of Africa.

If a Maasai girl is allowed to go to school and can continue in school, she is taught to think bigger than how she was raised to think.  Education broadens her ability to have a future.  She is able to think beyond being a child bride.  She may inform her teacher that she thinks a circumcision ceremony is being planned for her, and help is given.  She may be brought in by a teacher, or sent off to boarding school, in order to get further education.  With this education, she can bring herself out of this lifestyle, and have a future that is her choice.  Her only means for survival is no longer becoming a child bride.  Education unlocks the door to an entire future for her and prevents her from having female circumcision performed on her....  Education gives her a future.....  A future with Hope.