Make a donation to Walkathon 2010 by sponsoring one of our Walkers. Please select one of the icons below in the amount you'd like donate. Please remember to submit your Walkers name when you are prompted during the transaction. Each donor of $15 or more will receive a BEADS Break the Chains of Illiteracy Keychain made by the Maasai Mamas.

You can also make a donation with a check and mail it to:
BEADS for Education
5501 Ventnor Avenue
Ventnor, New Jersey 08406

$20 USD

$50 USD

$100 USD

$200 USD

8th Grade Graduates from Top Ride School - Isinya, Kenya

Left to right: Ann Sunte, Cynthia Seina, Kimanchoi Simel, Martha Mpatita and Stella Nzisa

We are graduating from 8th grade from Top Ride School, in Isinya Kenya. Next January we will join 9th grade. Most of us are the first in our families to finish elementary school. Martha says, "My grandparents are so happy that I will have the chance to go to high school AND then college. Maybe I will be a teacher or doctor or nurse - I don't know what I want to do."

8th Grade Graduates from Top Ride School - Isinya, Kenya

Left to right: Gladys Muthoni, Stephanie Sion, Margaret Maina, Diana Atienu and Naomi Seleitan

We will all miss Top Ride School, our teachers and the wonderful library. In our book clubs, one of our favorite books was Charlottes Web but there are so many books that we all like reading together. We know we will be able to come back to Top Ride and borrow books but there will not be a library like this at our new schools. Thank you BEADS for Education for the wonderful library.

8th Grade Graduates from Top Ride School - Isinya, Kenya

Left to right: Gladys Semei, Ruth Nampatio, Beth Nbama, Sylvia Sian and Esther Njoki

We are so excited to join the WALKATHON - to meet our sponsors, travel with our parents, teachers, Maasai warriors AND to see our first game park with elephants and lions! We never thought that we would have the opportunity to visit Amboseli National Park. We will learn so much about traditional Maasai life, HIV/AIDS, journaling, career counseling and life! Thank you for supporting us in this amazing trip.

8th Grade Graduates from Top Ride School - Isinya, Kenya

Left to right: Jackline Tipira, Magdaline Samanta, Naisesoi Toret, Lilian Waeni and Margaret Wambui

We have been looking forward to joining the WALKATHON for years. We train with our teachers Timothy and Lawrence and when we "walk" everyone always asks what we are doing. It is a good time to talk with the community about the importance of girls education and girls rights. We are so excited to go to our classmate's Coming of Age Ceremony to be traditionally celebrated but WITHOUT the cut. It is a beautiful ceremony and many families and girls learn about the alternative rite of passage through BEADS for Education. This is good.

8th Grade Graduates from Top Ride School - Isinya, Kenya

Left to right: Christine Tumelei, Salome Njeri, Maureen Wanjiru, Lucy Njoki and Mary Saigilu

As we get ready to leave Top Ride School and go to high school we talk about our future. We all want to go to high school and college and thank our sponsors for this unusual opportunity. Traditionally, Maasai girls marry shortly after puberty and begin a family. But we will have the opportunity to finish school, select our own husband and have a career. We all hope to be helpful and successful members of our communities.

Make a donation to the Walkathon by sponsoring one of our Walkers. Please select one of the icons below in the amount you'd like donate. Please remember to submit your Walkers name when you are prompted during the transaction.


Mary D. Richard I am so thrilled to be fulfilling my dream of meeting my sponsored girl, Margaret AND Africa in 2010! I t is a privilege to be a guest in Margaret�s community. The BEADS program is empowering these young women and I am proud to be a small part of their lives. The Walkathon is a great way to get the word out and raise additional funds! My hope is with new and continued support our program will keep growing and keep providing the beautiful women of Kenya the skills they need to meet the challenges ahead.	Debby Rooney (second from left), BEADS co-founder receiving presents from sponsored girls' parents in Namelok, Kenya.
Left to right: Silantoi Lenku, Sein Koipaton, Siyapei Sankale, Agnes Nkaisi, Jane Tumbeine, Pennia Sein AND Rukia the BEADS Program Manager in the lead. We are the 8th grade graduates from Rombo girls school in Loitokitok, Kenya. We are so excited to meet all the other 8th grade girls from the Isinya Region. There are 42 tribes in Kenya and we believe at least 12 will be represented on the 2010 WALKATHON. We look forward to learning more about the many tribes.	Florence Nasoore was saved from a forced marriage in 1998 with her BEADS sponsorship. Florence is a BEADS intern and has qualified for the University of Nairobi, an accomplishment unheard of in her community. Florence walked in 2006 and 2007 and now helps BEADS with younger girls. A GREAT role model!
Left to right Seleiyan Sunde, Mlandina Memusi, and Salome Amashon	Left to right: Rachael Mosoik, Grace Nduta, Alice Sein, Elizabethe Muchiri, Queen Kisoso (in rear) and Gladys Kirnaka
We are the third class of BEADS for Education girls to graduate from St Clare's High School in the Amboseli National Park Region. We look forward to the WALATHON and our volunteer year as volunteer teachers in the public schools. This a a rare opportunity for us to learn AND to help our communities with our education.	As we prepare to grauated from Moi girls High School we are looking forward to the WALKATHON and meeting many of our beloved American sponsors. We wish everyone would come and join us and visit our homes, families, schools and communities.

In the Amboseli National Park Region, the AIDS training meetings begin with a question: "How many people here have been trained by BEADS as a Trainer of AIDS Trainers?" Many of these trainers will WALK.	Diana Awuor � I walked in 2009 and will join the Walk in 2010 as the Librarian and Journaling Program Coordinator� Moi Girls High School graduate.

Karat, Rukia and James (left to right) Karat is also a dedicated HIV/AIDS trainer. Rukia Kadidi completed college through her BEADS sponsorship and now works as our Kenya Program Manager, James Leposo is a BEADS HIV/AIDS trainer. He is highly respected in the community and was selected as one of the leaders of the 8000 WARRIORS � a position he will hold for life.	Patrick Papatiti (on right) is revered in the community as leader of the warriors. This is a position he will hold for life. Papatiti is a Trainer of AIDS Trainers and a staunch supporter of women's rights. At 25 he returned to 9th grade through a BEADS sponsorship. This year, he will graduate from high school and begin volunteering for BEADS in Amboseli National Park for one year before college.
Lisa (l) and Joy in Joy's classroom in Kajiado Kenya.
Lisa Stevens, BEADS Co-founder, Assistant Curator of Mammals at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and Joy's sponsor (see right). Joy was in 4th grade when she started her sponsorship with Lisa.	Lisa with Tai Shan the panda cub born at the Smithsonian�s National Zoo July 9, 2005. "I am really looking forward to visiting my sponsored girl and my second Beads Walkathon."

Mercy Noonkiletti, sponsored since 1998, is now in her third year of nursing school (Nakuru Institute � Kenya). Mercy is an outstanding HIV/AIDS trainer and will work as our assistant nurse on the WALKATHON.	Philip (left) and David are both BEADS Trainers of AIDS Trainers. Photo was taken in April 2005 at Olgulilui Camp while they were working on their teaching presentations.

James, Karat, Joseph, William and Peter (left to right) These are some of the 8000 Maasai warriors in the district. They are all BEADS Trainers of AIDS Trainers displaying their handouts from the Kenyan AIDS clinic	Mama Esther is the one of the midwives/circumcisers in our Amboseli National Park Sponsorship Region. She delivered this baby girl (named Debby Rooney) as we discussed her daughter's coming of age ceremony. Her family ceremony WAS THE FIRST for BEADS sponsored girls WITHOUT the traditional circumcision! We have now hosted 7 ceremonies without the cutting. Please see Esther's story on the website. Mama Esther teaches the girls and warriors about the dangers of the traditional ceremony.