Congratulations, Dr. Lesancha!

When Teriano was growing up, Kenyan history was prominent in her grade school curriculum. But not in the way she wanted.

“There were a lot of men in history,” she laughed, in a recent interview with World Vision Canada. “We didn’t study women. It seemed so strange to me. Because really, in the toughest societies are the strongest women.”

With scant exceptions, women have been overlooked when histories are written. Although men and women have built the world together, it took until the late 19th century for women to embrace the right to publish history books. Even then, the work of women scientists was often accredited to their male counterparts.

That’s part of the reason Canada marks Women’s History Month each October. And why women like Teriano Lesancha are so critical to gender equality.

Unless and until women’s histories are shared, women and girls can’t benefit from the wisdom and achievements of their female forbears.

Writing Maasai women’s history

Teriano Lesancha is adding to the world's understanding of Kenya's history, through the lens of the country’s Maasai women and girls. It’s the groundbreaking stuff of her PhD dissertation, recently completed at the University of Toronto.

“I learned my own history from older women, including my grandmother,” she said. “My dissertation is a study of my roots; of the storytelling practices I grew up with. Our oral culture and history, the ceremonies and stories—the Maasai way of knowing."

To Teriano, learning about her women ancestors was just as powerful as anything her teachers wrote on the chalkboard. Her grandmother stands taller in her mind than many of the men she studied.

Historic in her own right

Teriano is not just writing history, she’s making history herself, obtaining the very first PhD in her region in Kenya. It’s a stunning turn-around, given the plans her father, a village elder, had for her.

“My marriage to the midwife’s son was pre-arranged at birth,” said Teriano. “My father talked about a wedding when I finished Grade 8.”

While her mother supported continuing education, her father was more traditional. “He used to say, ‘school is like a lion, it eats cows,’” said Teriano, explaining how he feared selling cows to cover school fees, supplies and uniform costs.

“My World Vision child sponsor helped me stay in school and finish my secondary studies,” said Teriano. “World Vision contributed a bit less each year, as I moved closer to graduating. My family eventually owned the process, finding ways to pay.”

Teriano finished high school at the top of her class. Her father, once a skeptic, was proud. After she graduated, he sold a cow to help pay her college tuition. In Maasai culture, where cows are the main source of livelihood and financial security, this was a tremendous vote of confidence.

Giving back to her community

After high school, Teriano worked with World Vision Kenya as a community development motivator. But she wouldn’t stay in her country indefinitely—at least, not yet. She travelled to Toronto, Canada to study community development.

“I come from a community where women don’t have a lot of opportunities,” she said of her Maasai village, in a 2014 interview. “Women don’t own property. They don’t make much income even though they’re very hard-working.

“So, everything I learned in university I was thinking, ‘How am I going to use this? How am I going to make a difference? How am I going to think just beyond me?’” After graduation, she returned to her village, founded a cooperative and provided loans to local women to start small businesses.

Clearing a path for women

Teriano returned to Toronto a few years later, to pursue that PhD at the University of Toronto. But her permanent home will be Kenya, where she’s worked as a government advisor on education, bringing in new ideas and approaches.

And she already has a place to stay when she lands. “I built my parents a modern house with lights, electricity and solar power,” she laughs. No more cows will need to be sold. Teriano is self-sufficient, choosing her own path for life and helping other women do the same.

“When you sponsor one child, you never know what impact they can make in the world,” says Dr. Lesancha.