In Honor of Two Major Anniversaries
In 2025, Operation Bootstrap Africa (OBA)—a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization that
partners with Africans to strengthen their futures through education, healthcare, agriculture, and
other long-term development projects—marks its sixtieth anniversary. Also in 2025, the Maasai
Girls Secondary School in northern Tanzania—one of OBA’s flagship projects—celebrates thirty
years of educating and empowering girls. Coinciding with these milestones, author Juliet Cutler
releases Lessons in Hope: A New Era for Maasai Women in Tanzania, a moving new book that tells
the stories of Maasai women whose lives have been transformed by education.
Told through the perspectives of the women themselves—graduates of the Maasai Girls
Secondary School—Lessons in Hope is a powerful testament to what happens when girls are
given the opportunity to learn. Their journeys span fields as diverse as healthcare, government,
education, business, and nonprofit leadership, and together they reveal a collective impact that is
reshaping communities across northern Tanzania.
“Imagine a girl from this remote village going to school,” says Neema Melami
Laitayock, a 2004 graduate. “The Maasai Girls Secondary School changed
my life, and my family’s life too. That school is giving girls an opportunity to
understand themselves, to gain confidence, and to have careers.”
Lessons in Hope shines a light on the resilience of young women facing systemic barriers like early,
forced marriages, gender-based violence, and poverty—and on their determination to lead, give
back, and uplift others. It’s both a celebration and a call to action.
A Legacy of Empowerment
Founded in 1965, OBA has championed education across East Africa for six decades. Its
partnership with the Maasai Girls Secondary School has helped thousands of Maasai girlsOPERATION BOOTSTRAP AFRICA
612-871-4980 | www.bootstrapafrica.org


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