Bright English Medium School

The Malezi AIDS Care Awareness Organization (MACAO) is non-profit organization reaching out to neglected communities in the Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, of Northern Tanzania.

MACAO has two main activities—the Bright English Medium School and an AIDS outreach and education program for the pastoral Maasai communities in the region. Bright English Medium School is a primary school for orphans and vulnerable children.

The school is dedicated to the mission God placed on the heart of Mr. Baraka Eliud and Mrs. Julianna Jonathan Eliud. In 2008, they felt God calling them to reach out to neglected communities in Julianna’s hometown. The Swahili word “Malezi” means “upbringing for children, in the sense of education and nurturing.” They founded their organization around this spirit of love and care.

In Tanzania, orphans without an education are usually denied the chance for a successful, independent future. Bright English Medium School has set up a fund specifically for these less fortunate children. This fund provides them with food, clothing, basic accommodation, and a loving home. More importantly, the Bright English School provides for a progressive education with a strong emphasis on English Language instruction—a skill that normally limited to elite private schools. By doing this, they give their students an invaluable tool for future success.

Volunteers and Sponsors are very welcome and we fully embrace the experiences and skills they contribute to our project, especially within the school and orphanage. During their stay volunteers have the opportunity to partake in all areas of village life including visiting Maasai villages and the National Safari Parks.

About – Maasai Girls

As a Maasai girl at the age of just 12 you are at risk of being forced to marry a man of that may be up to 30 years older than you. You must go through the ritual of female circumcision (FGM) – an excruciating procedure, which is likely to lead to a lifetime of pain and medical problems, if you survive the shock and blood loss. You will be one of several wives and can expect to have at least 5 children, whom you will need to clothe, feed and if at all possible send to school, but with little or no education this will be a lifelong struggle and your daughters will go through the same experience as you. Education provides pastoralist girls with an understanding of what other options they have in life and the tools to pursue them.

Macao provides the opportunity for girls who would otherwise have no way of attending school to receive an education through sponsorships. Most of these girls are educated at Bright English Medium School, which as a boarding school provides a safe environment for learning, away from the pressures to marry young and the risk of early pregnancy – which is used by families as a way to force girls to drop out of school. Bright English Medium School also provides a place to stay during school holidays for those at particularly high risk. Macao also provides the opportunity for girls to talk openly about the negative aspects of Maasai culture such as FGM and help the girls to realize that there are other options. There is an urgent need to provide more scholarships to educate girls who so desperately want a different future for themselves but have no other means to access one.

Currently Macao is based in Ngorongoro Arusha Tanzania,in a small village near Loliondo. It meets the diverse needs of orphans and the Maasai’s most vulnerable children. We operate an orphanage for 22 children and a school at which currently 65 children from the surrounding areas attend. Volunteers are very welcome and we fully embrace the experiences and skills they contribute to our project, especially within the school and orphanage. During their stay volunteers have the opportunity to partake in all areas of village life including visiting Maasai villages and the National Safari Parks. Macao asks volunteers to cover the costs of their stay in our Orphanage and School

Macao is a mission which God placed to the heart of Mr and Mrs Baraka Kilinga to reach the Unreached people groups and rejected groups of Orphans and other vulnerable children from the Maasai communities, local villages and other ethnic tribes living in the barren areas of Arusha Tanzania mainland. Our aim is to continue to establish an effective and sustainable sponsorship program so that we are involved in meeting the diverse needs in the villages and surrounding communities. The purpose of our project is bringing relief to the people by fighting against Ignorance, Poverty and Disease - the biggest enemies in Tanzania. Furthermore we provide basic knowledge and understanding to educate those vulnerable children to know their rights - since Maasai children culturally believe they have no right to be educated, right to health or the right to eat. This is due to most Maasai families living from day to day for their survival, providing food when it is available. We are encouraging and educating these local communities to further explore opportunities to develop self-sustaining ways of living. For example we have plans to use land to grow vegetables and crops,garden, orchard, cattle which will serve our orphanage and school. We come forth to eradicate these problems through different levels of education, guidance and counselling to prepare our children as tomorrow youth leaders.