Regina Ngirumwa was born into a Maasai family in the Sakala village in Loliondo, Ngorongoro District, Regina faced numerous challenges from an early age. Despite her family’s financial struggles and cultural norms that favored boys’ education over girls’, Regina harbored a dream of pursuing higher education to uplift her family and community.
In her community, boys were given the opportunity to go to school, while girls were often seen as a source of cattle, exchanged for cows at a very young age. This practice threatened to extinguish Regina’s dreams of education.
After completing her primary education with good grades, the financial constraints of her family posed a significant hurdle to her secondary education. It seemed like her dreams were on the verge of perishing, and the only option left was early marriage.
Regina’s resilience led her to the Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) office in Loliondo. After sharing her situation with the PWC director, she was sponsored by PWC for her secondary education and even up to university, where she pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Education.
Upon graduation, Regina was employed by PWC as a teacher at Emanyata Secondary School, a community school sponsored by PWC. This role provided her with the opportunity to give back to her community.
A few years later, Regina founded a Community-Based Organization (CBO) known as Genesis Community Foundation. Its mission is to empower Maasai women and children through education. With the support of PWC, Regina started Genesis Pre-Primary and Primary School at Soitsambu village. The school provides pre-primary and primary education in English for hundreds of Maasai children aged 4-10 years. It is the first private school in the area offering education in English.
Today, Genesis has enrolled more than 250 students, all from the Maasai community. This endeavor has given Regina another opportunity to contribute to her community.
In Regina’s own words, “It is true that education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. It changed my world, and now I am using it to change the world of every Maasai child at Genesis.”
Regina’s journey is a testament to her indomitable spirit and the transformative power of education. She extends her heartfelt gratitude to PWC for their remarkable support, which has been instrumental in her journey.
Regina’s story is a beacon of hope, illuminating the path for many young girls in her community, proving that with determination and the right support, dreams can indeed become a reality.