​​Please do look through these captivating personal accounts of a year in each of their educational journeys:

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"Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,

My father gave me some good news three days ago that I got some sponsorship for my education. I could not believe him but deep inside me, I knew he is serious. I know he has been struggling to pay my school fees and I do not attend school regularly because of lack of school fees. I was very angry at him when he could not pay my school fees in the first term of my secondary education, so I did not start school in my first term. I was sick and depressed but in the second term he was able to pay school fees, so I enrolled for the first time. I have been in school on and off, but it is many days that I stay at home. I have never given up even where I am at home I read my books a lot. I live a quiet life because all other children are at school, and I do not want people to see that I am at home while all other children are at school.

My name is Lydia Moshipoe, and I am 15 years old. I am in form 3 now and my school is over 300 kilometres away from my home. Today Ezekiel visited our home to bring the good news. I am burning and I feel like exploding. I am trembling as I write this letter to you. I do not know what to say but I would like to thank you very much for your support. I am so delighted that I will not sleep again not knowing if I will go to school or not. Yes, on Monday! I will go back to school. I will start packing my things now ready for Monday. I have told Ezekiel thank you one hundred times and I think he could see the happiness inside me.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Lydia Moshipoe.”

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“Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,

Another opportunity to say thank you for your support. I have completed my first and second years at university learning the theories of teaching and I enjoyed it all along.

In my third and fourth year I am practicing how to teach in high school. I went into a classroom to practice teaching and familiarise myself with the learners, and the students thought I was young to be a teacher. I could see and hear them talking in low voices about me. I really admitted being a teacher, but I did not know how it will feel to be a teacher. After two weeks of internship in one of the high schools students started to appreciate me and enjoyed my lessons in physics and mathematics. This made me so proud and energetic in my work as a teacher, and it was dawning on me that I am slowly becoming a teacher that I so much wanted to be since I was a young girl.

My parents, siblings and neighbours now call me a teacher before I graduate, and I am proud of it. I am looking forward to completing my studies and come back home to help other students with my knowledge.

Yours loving, Susan Terta.”

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“Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,

Two weeks ago I was talking to my mother and younger sister about the importance of education. My mother has never gone to school and my sister is in grade six, my father died when my mother was still in her teens and she gave her story on how she struggled to keep us in school and provide for our needs. She told me how she moved me from one school to the other, so she enrols me in one school to the other because she could not pay the school fees, So she enrols me in a school and agrees with the teachers when she will pay the school fees. When payment time is due, she requests for an extension and when the teacher becomes hard on her, she transfers me to another school. I attended five different primary schools and sometimes I go back to the one I started in and I didn’t know it was because of school fees. I also enjoyed going to new schools and making new friends. After this story my sister realises that she has been changing schools also. I look at my mother and incessantly she goes through for us to get education. Then my mother says to me things are now better for you because you have sponsorship to take it seriously and work hard so that you do not find yourself and your future family in this situation.

In a few weeks I will join Maasai Technical Training Institute to study tourism and travel management starting at certificate level for two years. Later, I hope to further my studies to Diploma and Degree Level in the same field. I am so grateful to you for your continued support since my secondary school and now to college and I hope you will be there to continue supporting me to the end,

Yours sincerely,

Abigail”

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“Dear Joseph Thomson Maasai Trust,

I am so happy to have completed my secondary school education with your support. I worked hard and I am happy that I passed my exams, and I am now going to join university. Ezekiel has already made all the necessary arrangements and payments, and I am starting on Monday next week. I enjoyed my education journey through primary and secondary school, and I look forward to continuing with the journey at university. My journey is full of hope, and I believe it will help shape my future for the better.

I still remember the walk we did with Irene and Ally in March and cannot forget the experience. We walked and camped in the bush. I was so tired at the end of the first day. I stayed with Abigael in the same tent so we talked and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. I tell my friends in the village about the experience, and they all admire it.

I will study Bachelor of Accounting degree in my university and I hope this will open gates to me to work in the banking sector in the future. For me, education is empowerment, liberation and freedom, and I thank you very much for supporting me.

Nelly Nabulu.”