Rescued girls from the MAYOO safehouse show off their school uniforms. In their midst is the safehouse Matron, Beatrice, and the founder of the charity, Jonathan.

In Kenya, Masai girls as young as 13 are sadly still forced to undergo the violent and traumatic act of female circumcision (female genital mutilation or FGM) and are at risk of being sold into early marriages in exchange for money, cows, goats and blankets.

Support girls at risk of forced early marriage and FGM here

Though FGM is now illegal in Kenya, it remains a significant traditional practice, leaving girls still at risk.

The procedure can cause severe bleeding, infection and infertility, and in some cases even death, and has lifelong complications both physically and emotionally.

Once the procedure is performed, families who struggle to support their daughters may turn to selling them into an early marriage. Girls are usually sold to much older men who have the funds to buy a bride. Access to education will stop once the girls are married.

Masai Youth Opportunity Outreach (MAYOO) is a charity based South West of Nairobi in Kenya, founded by the local Masai community to meet the needs of their young people.

They provide a safehouse, which houses over a hundred girls who have been rescued from FGM and early forced marriage. Here, the girls have safe accomodation and food, and are supported to attend the village school. Sponsored girls are even able to continue their education in high school, providing them with a brighter future.

MAYOOS second focus is to bring clean, running water to the local community that is severely affected by ongoing drought. This is achieved by accessing local bore holes via a piping system.

There are many ways to support the work of MAYOO; through sponsoring a girl at the safehouse, through making a one off donation to the water pipe fund or through volunteering.

You can also help us raise awareness of MAYOO by sharing our work on your social media or talking to your local community about what we do.

Discover more about the work of MAYOO here

Read the remarkable story of the founder of MAYOO here

Make a donation to MAYOO here