AGNESS

Agness comes from the Emusoi Center for Pastoralist Girls in the small town of Kibo outside of Arusha. She started school in early January 2008 at Usa River Academy as a repeat Form One student. The Emusoi Center is designed to help Masai girls escape forced marriages and circumcision, two traditions of the Masai people that are still practiced today. Most of these girls come straight from their Primary School graduation with no knowledge of English, the language in which all Secondary School subjects are taught. After testing at Usa River Academy, the teachers decided another year of Form One would benefit Agness greatly.

When she gets out of school, Agness wants to be a teacher to help all the kids she knows back in her village. Her favorite subject is history and sees it as a way for her to help her family and neighbors better understand the world around them. Agness is a bit shy and had trouble adjusting to the new school during the first week. When TFFT visited her during week two she was happy as a clam with plenty of friends and high praises from her teachers.

A small village situated atop a hill about an hour and a half away from their new school by foot, Nkoaranga is a tough place to live without transport. Just to reach the bottom of the hill takes an hour if you walk. That will not be an issue for Daniel and his sister, as they will board at Fikiria Kwanza, but it could help to explain how he developed his passion for cars.

While his sister wants to stay in school forever by becoming a teacher one day, Daniel takes after his father, who has spent many hours in the village working on cars in front of him. Daniel absolutely adores his father, who stayed with his children even while his wife took off when times were tough. When asked to tell more about himself, Daniel went with a single sentence: “I love my dad.” To learn more about how you can effect positive change, please visit our TAKE ACTION page!

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