Meet Maasai woman in unwavering fight for education of girls

Her fight for girls’ education, especially among the Maa people, is unwavering.

She has authored several books on education of Maasai girls. A Tale of a Maasai Girl, which was published in 1998, is one of them.

She has also authored a Maasai dictionary and translated it into French. Welcome to Grace Mesopirr’s world. Unknown to many, Ms Mesopirr is the mother of former US ambassador Michael Ranneberger’s wife Ruth Konchella.

Ms Mesopirr has been fighting for the rights of women among the Maasai and Kenyans at large.

“Having worked in the Kenyan embassy in France for more than 25 years puts her in the league of top women diplomats not only in Kenya but across the world,” Mr Ranneberger told the Sunday Nation.

He says he believes that a woman should be given an opportunity to get an education and contribute positively. He says his wife was never subjected to early marriage, female circumcision and above all got an education.

“In that way, my mother-in-law made my wife an example to the girls and to everyone else,” he says.

Ms Mesopirr never tires to spread the message that female circumcision should not be tolerated.

“This retrogressive culture that has dragged our people behind, should be stopped” she says.

Ms Mesopirr narrated her tribulations in life which she says made her a strong defender of women’s rights.

“I was circumcised when I was 12 years old and was immediately married off to Tinini Konchella who was thrice my age. This was in 1960.”

EDUCATION’S END

That marked the end of her education.

“I was in class seven at the time in one of the schools considered prestigious in Narok at the time. While on holiday, I was told I had to be circumcised to enable me to be considered a ‘complete woman’. Little did I know that I was also being set up for marriage,” she narrates.

It happened so fast, she says. “Within no time, I was already a mother,” she adds.

“I was pregnant every year and in a short while I was a mother to four children.”

Ms Mesopirr, now in her late 60s, says being a mother of four while she was barely 17 years old was overwhelming.

“I became sick. My children would cry endlessly as I did not give them the attention they deserved. My husband on the other hand became hostile. He also loved his bottle,” she says.

“He abandoned his responsibilities and left me to fend for the family, alone.”

She says many a times, they begged food from neighbours.

“I borrowed flour to cook porridge for my children; Eunice, Sarah, Michael and Ruth. At times we would go for two days without food.”

Ms Mesopirr says one day, her husband came home and beat her thoroughly.

“He threw a glass at me, aiming at my head. While shielding it with my arm, I sustained a slight injury which has now developed into a scar. This has become a stark reminder of my tribulations.

“Enough is enough,” I told myself. “I could not tolerate it anymore and I fled from our Westlands home in Nairobi.”

UNCLE’S HOME

Ms Mesopirr left her children with their father and moved to her uncle John Njiroine’s home.

There, she enrolled for a secretarial course in a city college and got a certificate that helped her secure a job as an announcer at the then Voice of Kenya, now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Ms Mesoppir did a programme at the Voice of Kenya (VoK's) radio's vernacular service where she told children’s stories in her native Maasai language.

Her estranged husband had then moved the children to their rural home in Trans Mara.

“I had now started being financially stable and I went for my children,” she said.

She later got a job at the Polish embassy as a copy typist and worked for three months.

“I saw an advert in the Daily Nation by Kenatco Taxi Services and I applied,” she says. She was hired as a sales representative for one year. During the holidays she would record her radio programmes at VoK.

Mr Mesopirr gave birth to her fifth born child, William Memusi.

She worked with the Avis Rent a Car company for 18 years, rising from a sales agent to a supervisor. During this period in 1986, she eloped with a French tourist whom she declined to name.

“I had desired to know how to communicate in French and I went to great lengths to fulfill my dreams. I fell in love with a French tourist and he helped me get out of the country,” she revealed.

She enrolled for French classes and got a job at the Kenyan mission in France.