The men are warriors, hunters, protectors and herders. The day to day work is left to the women. They are responsible for building their homes, gathering firewood and food, and carrying water, etc, and have traditionally been valued for their reproductive capacity are frequently married at a young age.

The girls role was minimal freedom, strict married life and domestic drudgery. They have had only the remotest chance to better themselves.

Enter a Prime Minister, a Lutheran Bishop, a Lutheran Missionary and Mama Ruthie a Maasai wife, mother, grand mother and outspoken advocate of educating girls,

Heeding a Tanzanian proverb:

If you educate a boy,
you educate an individual;
If you educate a girl,
you educate an entire family.

The men had been meeting with the elders of the Maasai for years, trying to convince them that their daughters needed to be educated – to save the Maasai Tribe! It was a proven fact that children of educated mothers fare better, the infant mortality rate goes down, the family and the village all benefit ... from the mother's education! The men were not making great progress.

Enter Mama Ruthie. As a woman, she was not allowed to stand and speak before the elders. But that didn't stop her! On her knees she approached the group, and adamantly, with many gestures, told how desperately the Maasai needed education for their daughters!

The end result... the dream of education for the Maasai girls was a reality!