Tanzanian girls at Maryknoll center tell Bush how education helps

Published: 2008-02-18

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- About 50 traditionally dressed Masai girls at a Maryknoll education center in Arusha, Tanzania, told U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, how education is empowering them and giving them options, said Maryknoll Sister Mary Vertucci. The Emusoi Center offers schooling to girls whose culture has them married at age 14, Sister Mary said, adding that of more than a million Masai in Tanzania only 11 Masai women have a university degree. Sister Mary, who founded the center in 1999, said "emusoi" means discovery and awareness in Maa, the Masai language. The students told the Bushes "how education is enabling them to be leaders in their communities and in the world," Sister Mary told Catholic News Service in a Feb. 18 telephone interview from Arusha, hours after the president's visit. Before reaching the center, the Bushes "walked through bazaars where people were singing and greeting them in Maa," she said.

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