Canossian Sisters Empower Maasai Girls to Overcome Tradition and Poverty

In Tanzania’s Arusha region, home to the Maasai and Meru communities, the Canossian Daughters of Charity are on a mission to protect young girls from harmful cultural practices and provide them with education, dignity, and the freedom to shape their own futures.

In Maasai society, traditional norms often rob girls of their childhood. Many girls between the ages of 11 and 13 undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) and are forced into early marriages, often with much older men, in exchange for cattle or money. Once married, these girls lose access to education, independence, and the right to divorce. They become the property of their husbands’ families, take on demanding household responsibilities, and bear multiple children, often without consent or consideration for their health. Poverty