Over 60% of Maasai girls suffer genital mutilation in Tanzania. The Maasai Rescue Ministry, founded and led by an evangelical pastor, shelters, cares for and educates them.
Maasai girls at the Rescue Centre. / [link]Alianza Solidaria[/link]
It is estimated that 230 million women worldwide today have undergone some form of genital mutilation. The vast majority of them (144 million) live in Africa, followed by Asia (80 million) and the Middle East (6 million).
These figures come from UNICEF, which also warns that 4.5 million girls are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) every year.
FGM, also known as 'ablation', is the intentional partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
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In Tanzania, FGM is tolerated as a cultural practice, even though it is a criminal offence since 1998, and 35% of cases of mutilation are carried out before the age of one.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the rate of FGM in ethnic communities is between 40% and 60%, but rises far above 60% among Maasai women and girls. In this culture, it is considered essential for a girl to become “marriageable”.
In the midst of this reality, pastor Mark Murenja founded the Esipata Eselenkei ministry 15 years ago, which means 'The Rights of a Girl' in Maasai.
At first, girls were rescued from the Arusha region of Tanzania, an area of extreme poverty where FGM rates reach 90%.
Today, they support around 300 girls each year at the Rescue Centre, where they work to prevent the violation of their most fundamental rights.
[photo_footer] The Rescue Centre where girls are welcomed and receive education. / AS [/photo_footer]
Outside of Tanzania, the ministry is known as Maasai Rescue Ministries. It is represented internationally by Brenda Anderson, an American missionary with over 40 years of service with the organisation European Christian Mission International in Spain.
Anderson learned about the ministry during a Lausanne Movement trip to Tanzania with her husband, Ron Anderson.
There, she had the opportunity to speak with pastor Mark and “felt that the Lord was placing a burden on me to help him, and we have been collaborating for seven years”, she recently recalled in a podcast by the ministry Terminando con la Trata (Ending Trafficking).
In Spain, the project is supported by Alianza Solidaria, the social branch of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE).
“We learned about Maasai Rescue Ministries through Brenda when they were preparing to return to the United States. She had been promoting the project among her friends and acquaintances for years, and was looking for a place to base the project to ensure the continuity of support from Spain”, explains Francisca Capa, president of Alianza Solidaria.
“When she presented it to us, we were immediately captivated. We appreciated, among other things, how its vision coincided with that of our organisation, and we decided to take it on as another Alianza Solidaria project to support”, she adds.
The project seeks to “transform communities through the gospel, love and education, showing men, mothers, grandmothers and leaders that there is a better way in Christ”, Anderson explained in an article at the Spanish news website Protestante Digital.
In order to achieve this, “the biggest challenge is working in very dangerous conditions. The Maasai believe that a woman cannot become pregnant unless she is mutilated, and those who oppose mutilation face hostility from pagan leaders. They are even threatened with death, and some have been attacked”, she said in the podcast.
Despite this, “the church is growing in the areas where the Maasai Rescue Project works. There are currently five churches, each with around 150 members”, she added.
[photo_footer] Pastor Mark Murenja has been fighting against FGM for 15 years. / AS [/photo_footer]
Girls at risk of FGM or forced marriage can go to the Rescue Centre, where they are welcomed and taught about FGM and its consequences. This enables them to respectfully discuss their decision to refuse this practice with their parents.
Mutilation usually takes place during the so-called 'black months', which coincide with the June–July and December–January school holidays, when groups of up to 100 girls are gathered together and mutilated by an older woman from the tribe who is known as the 'cutter'.
Thanks to the Rescue Centre, many girls now know that they can go to the police, a church or their schoolteacher for help. This enables the project team to identify potential victims.
Once rescued, the police must certify that, from that moment on, the girls are in care of their own free will.
In cases where it is impossible for the girls to return to their families, they remain under the organisation's permanent care, which covers boarding school education during the school year.
Furthermore, “we have to work with the whole family to make them aware of the dangers of mutilation because all the mothers and grandmothers have been mutilated and, as many fathers have more than one wife, they do not care much about what happens to the girls”, said Anderson.
[photo_footer] Girls in the Rescue Centre. / AS [/photo_footer]
Anderson called on all Christians to pray “for the ministry; for the girls and women, and for the tribal leaders, because we need the 10 highest-ranking tribal leaders to understand that FGM is not necessary and then to teach this to those under their authority”.
Moreover, “everything is very costly: rescuing the girls, giving them an education, educating the community in which they live. They need everything because they live in extreme poverty”, she pointed out.
“By choosing to support one of these girls, you are helping to break cycles of violence and poverty, and building a bridge toward a brighter future, not just for her, but for her children and generations to come”, underline the Maasai Rescue Ministries staff.
Do you want to help make a difference? Make your donation here (in Spanish) or here (in English).
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