I hope you are looking forward to a happy holiday season, despite the obvious challenges and struggles we are all facing together right now. Christmas, after all, reminds us that God never abandons us in our time of need. Our thoughts turn to what we can do to help the world heal, and to help make God’s love visible to people in the world who are enduring hard times.
If you are looking for a way to make an impactful gift this Christmas season, please consider helping the young women in Tanzania at the Emusoi Center school. Maasai women have the highest rates of child marriage, female genital mutilation, illiteracy and poverty of all women in the country. Without Emusoi, these girls would be forced into arranged marriages at the age of 13-14 to men 4-5 times their age, and often as the third or fourth wife!
Sister Mary Vertucci, MM, has been working among the Maasai people for almost 50 years! She founded the Emusoi Center school in 1999 to provide education for young women, to enable them to take control of their own lives and live up to their potential as individuals.
Few go on to higher education, and only one in ten receives a high school education. This year, out of 343 students at Emusoi, 84 are orphans and vulnerable children. When students join Emusoi some suffer from illnesses such as malaria, typhoid, pneumonia and chest infections. At Emusoi most girls stay during their schooling and do not return home. They are scared they will not come back, since they are often in danger of being married off or impregnated due to peer pressure.
YOUR GIFT will help these children have the opportunities they deserve.
Sister Mary says the pandemic has hit Emusoi Center very hard…The center was closed for months, food prices sky rocketed, funding groups have been unable to offer scholarships and families have lost their income source, unable to afford the bus fares to send students back to school! This is forcing the school to reduce its intake of students for 2021.
343 students at Emusoi Center are depending on YOUR HELP to keep their safe haven afloat! Even a small donation can save a life, and your generosity can literally work miracles—please give what you can!
May God bless you for your caring, your prayers and your support, and may He grant you a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!