Content warning: sexual assault mention

Nasinka* wanted desperately to attend school, but she was one of 33 children in her father’s household, and he was not supportive. When she was nine, she ran away to school, but her father wouldn’t buy her a uniform. Her mother bought the uniform, which was the first of many times her mother would advocate for her. While she excelled in school and earned a great score on her national exam, her father ordered her to drop out and arranged for her to be married during a school break.

In a terrifying turn of events, she was kidnapped during her next school break and taken to the house of the man her father wanted her to marry. She was locked in the house for five days, and the man raped and impregnated her.

Her mother called her primary school teachers to ask for help. Nasinka returned home, but her father wouldn’t let her return to school. After the school staff and local government leaders threatened her father with imprisonment, Nasinka was able to return to school, but he continued making plans to marry her off. Nasinka was kidnapped a second time on her way to a pregnancy check-up appointment. Her mother found people to help rescue her that day, but her father was persistent and arranged for her to be taken again later that week.

Luckily, the school’s education coordinator called to check in with her mother and learned about the situation. The education coordinator came to her house with the Eripoto team. Nasinka’s father pressured her to lie, but she told them the truth. Eripoto’s founder, Esuvat, told Nasinka that they wanted to help her. 

Nasinka remembers, “I felt incredible joy, and when they said they were taking me that day, it felt like a dream.”

Nasinka is now 15 years old and lives at Eripoto’s safe house. She is optimistic about her future for the first time in years. She said, “Now that I have arrived here, I feel very different because I have found a safe environment and new hope to achieve my dreams. I’m hoping to give birth safely to an innocent child, feed for six months, and [then] go back to school.” 

Friends like you make happy endings like this possible. Thank you for giving Maasai girls like Nasinka a second chance to follow their dreams. 

Breaking news from Esuvat:

Nasinka recently gave birth to a girl named Neelai*. She had a difficult delivery due to her birth canal being too narrow. That is one reason why childbirth is the number one cause of death for girls ages 15-19. Nasinka and Neelai are currently staying at a center that cares for infants and children born with surgically correctable conditions, as Neelai was born with a cleft lip.

People with disabilities and deformations like this are often shunned in Tanzania. This means Nasinka will need extra support as Neelai receives surgery and heals. Your gifts to LPGM, and prayers for Nasinka and Neelai, will help make this transformation possible!

*Names have been changed to protect Nasinka and Neelai's privacy.

Learn more about Eripoto's work in Tanzania