Amazing Scholarship Program
In Kenya, Elementary School is mandatory and free for all children. Beyond this, school fees are required - yet are prohibitively expensive to most families in rural Maasai families. If a family can afford to send a child(ren) they traditionally choose to educate their son(s).
The Amazing Maasai Girls Project provides scholarships to bright young girls from families that would otherwise not be able to afford the fees.
Without the generous support of individuals, families, and friends of the AMGP, these girls would not have had the opportunity to attend secondary school. They would instead have most likely married young, often as a second or third wife, and started bearing children while still in their teens.
How the Scholarship Program works
Recruitment & Selection Process
Our Kenya Team and Community Senior Elders for a panel to meet with prospective students & their parents in each community.
The girls take a small written aptitude test, followed by an interview with the student and her parents,
Typically there are upwards of 30 families from each of three communities who are looking for tuition support thru the Amazing Maasai Girls Project.
We typically accept 14-17 new students per school year into Form 1.
High School Experience
To date, 142 girls have received four-year scholarships to one of three secondary schools surrounding the Maasai town of Kimanjo in Laikipia, Kenya.
The school year runs in terms. Term 1 is from January - March; Term 2 is from April- August; Term 3 is from September- December.
The Amazing Maasai Girls Project commits to sponsoring each girl for all four years of secondary school, full-board, which is approximately US$500 a year. Many similar organizations commit on only an annual basis.. We monitor students’ progress through our local Kenya team, and through ongoing relationships with each school.
We committee to support every Amazing Girl through their high school graduation. Any girl who has to leave school for family or personal reasons is welcome to return when her circumstances have changed.
Amazing Girls Running Club
The running club is made possible through our partnership with Spark Change Running Programme, PUMA and Women Win. All costs associated with the running club are sponsored through this grant.
The Amazing Girls Running Club is open to any girl in the three schools in which we operate, regardless If she is an Amazing Girl scholarship recipient. It is a voluntary after-school program and is designed to encourage girls' sense of self-efficacy and confidence in all aspects of their lives through running.
There are currently over 125 girls in the Club.
Graduation & Beyond
Since we started the Project about a decade, we have watched 77 Amazing Girls have graduated high school. Some students take longer than four years, and that’s ok by us. We are committed to helping them get to graduation day, regardless of what happens in their lives. For many, graduating high school would have been an unimaginable achievement just a few years before. They return to their communities equipped to be outstanding women, parents, daughters and wives.
For those young women who wish to continue their studies, The Amazing Maasai Girls Project offers up to $500 per year for continuing education.
We are proud that 5 of our students have graduated college and are working in careers in nursing, teaching, animal wildlife research. What’s more, there are 5 former Amazing Girls who are currently in college and we look forward to what they do next!
To learn more about their journeys, see Amazing Graduates.