Here in Maasai, people depend on livestock such as goats, cows, sheep and donkeys. This is their favorite work. When a baby is born, the first thing it learns is to simply graze cattle. Many Maasai do not know that children should go to school! I was lucky, because in my family, I was the only girl who went to school. My father had five wives and my mother was his first wife. She gave birth to nine children. I was not even seven years old when my father approved that I can go to school.
I finished eighth grade in 1995 and wanted to continue my education. But my father decided for me to get married. He called a friend and said: “if you have a boy who is ready to marry, then I have a wife for him.” In our tribe you cannot disobey what your father says and in 1996, at the age of 14, I married Morris Ntikoysa. He was not a pastor at the time but was a born-again Christian. I gave birth to our first son named Francis, after one year into the marriage. Then a girl Esther, a boy Boniface, a girl Sylvia and the last girl Everin. In 2004, my husband was ordained for a pastoral ministry. We had a very difficult life, barely enough food to survive, but God helped us in everything. Thanks to your support, all my children are doing well at school. One boy is even a scout commander. Girls are studying very well.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for opening a new school in our tribe, where I can teach children the alphabet and their native language!
Ministry in Kenya – Mercy Ntikoysa