About Kila Nafasi

Kila Nafasi is a branch of the EFF that provides scholarships to Maasai girls who excel academically but cannot continue their education without financial assistance.

Our Mission

To provide Maasai girls with an alternative to an early marriage and to create skilled workers who can return to and improve their rural communities.

Our History

In June 2006, Kila Nafasi was founded by Katy Califf, Audrey DeRose-Wilson and John Keshe. Audrey and Katy met in Kenya, where Katy was researching hyenas for her PhD, and Audrey was working as a research assistant on the hyena project. At the time, John Keshe worked as a chef at the hyena research camp, while organizing a support group and network of shelters for Maasai girls who fled their homes and families to avoid being forced into marriage at a young age.  Audrey and Katy were inspired by the courage and dedication to independence these young women showed, and began paying tuition for some of them to attend secondary school, and convincing friends and family members to sponsor others. They realized that by creating a formal organization, they could raise funds to sponsor more girls, and therefore founded Kila Nafasi, which means “Every Opportunity” in Swahili, the official language of Kenya. Audrey and Katy became the co-directors of Kila Nafasi, while John provided support in Kenya, coordinating with students, families and school officials.

Kila Nafasi’s original goal was to provide the girls, being sheltered by the community, with a way to support themselves, and to promote reconciliation with their families by demonstrating that independence through education is a valid alternative to early marriage.

When Katy and Audrey returned to their home institution of Michigan State University, Audrey discovered the EFF. At the time, Kila Nafasi was embarking on the lengthy process of obtaining 501(c) 3 nonprofit status, but after meeting with Courtney and discussing the goals of both projects, Audrey and Katy decided to join forces with the EFF and Kila Nafasi became an affiliate of the EFF.

Since 2006, Kila Nafasi has expanded its objective and now offers sponsorships to Maasai girls based on academic excellence and need. We focus our efforts on girls for several reasons. First, families who can afford tuition are more likely to send sons to secondary school than daughters. Secondly, women are more likely than men to bring skills back to their communities and assist the next generation in attaining an education. Besides facilitating the education of as many individual girls as possible, our goal is to demonstrate that education is an option for women too. Many of our students are the first girls in their community to attend secondary school and our hope is that their success will motivate younger girls to stay in school and excel academically.

Leslie Curren, another hyena researcher, joined the Kila Nafasi team in 2007.

Kila Nafasi has sponsored 25 students. Our first student graduated in 2008 and five more students will be graduating December of 2009. For more information on our students, visit the Kila Nafasi Students page.