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Among the Maasai: A Memoir
In 1999, Juliet Cutler leaves the United States to teach at the first school for Maasai girls in East Africa. Captivated by the stories of young Maasai women determined to get an education in the midst of a culture caught between the past and the future, she seeks to empower and support her students as they struggle to define their own fates.
Cutler soon learns that behind their shy smiles and timid facades, her Maasai students are much stronger than they appear. For them, adolescence requires navigating a risky world of forced marriages, rape, and genital cutting, all in the midst of a culture grappling with globalization. In the face of these challenges, these young women believe education offers hope, and so, against all odds, they set off alone―traveling hundreds of miles and even forsaking their families―simply to go to school.
Twenty years of involvement with this school and its students reveal to Cutler the important impacts of education across time, as well as the challenges inherent in tackling issues of human rights and extreme poverty across vastly different cultures. Working alongside local educators, Cutler emerges transformed by the community she finds in Tanzania and by witnessing the life-changing impact of education on her students.
Proceeds from the sale of this book support education for at-risk Maasai girls.
Cutler soon learns that behind their shy smiles and timid facades, her Maasai students are much stronger than they appear. For them, adolescence requires navigating a risky world of forced marriages, rape, and genital cutting, all in the midst of a culture grappling with globalization. In the face of these challenges, these young women believe education offers hope, and so, against all odds, they set off alone―traveling hundreds of miles and even forsaking their families―simply to go to school.
Twenty years of involvement with this school and its students reveal to Cutler the important impacts of education across time, as well as the challenges inherent in tackling issues of human rights and extreme poverty across vastly different cultures. Working alongside local educators, Cutler emerges transformed by the community she finds in Tanzania and by witnessing the life-changing impact of education on her students.
Proceeds from the sale of this book support education for at-risk Maasai girls.
312 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2019
52 people are currently reading
1397 people want to read
About the author
Juliet Cutler
3 books25 followersJuliet Cutler is a writer and exhibit designer for museums, parks, and cultural centers around the world. In 1999 and 2000, Juliet lived in Tanzania, where she taught English at the first school for Maasai girls in East Africa. She recounts her experiences during those years in her award-winning first book, "Among the Maasai." Twenty-five years later, she illustrates the positive impacts of education on Maasai women in her second book, "Lessons in Hope." Juliet regularly returns to Tanzania to support causes that uplift Maasai women and girls. She currently lives with her husband, Mark, near Atlanta.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
July 7, 2022
Among the Maasai deeply affected me. It gives a heartfelt account of Juliet Cutler’s journey in Tanzania and reflects the stark realities faced by girls from the majority of Maasai society. The author's experience as a volunteer teacher in a Maasai school was a fascinating, frustrating, and heart-wrenching look into life among Maasai.
As I read, I felt as though I were there with Juliet, experiencing extreme poverty, confronting drought, rats, and snakes, and learning how to bathe in a bucket. I must confess to having shed some tears as I read - particularly the part about female genital mutilation.
My take from Among the Masaai: No matter who you are or where you live, you have the power to make a difference.
As I read, I felt as though I were there with Juliet, experiencing extreme poverty, confronting drought, rats, and snakes, and learning how to bathe in a bucket. I must confess to having shed some tears as I read - particularly the part about female genital mutilation.
My take from Among the Masaai: No matter who you are or where you live, you have the power to make a difference.
June 20, 2019
Juliet Cutler's debut is a careful and probing retrospective of the author's own experiences as a young teacher of Maasai women. Interwoven with the stories of her students, Cutler is careful to de-center her perspective, giving the reader an honest inventory of a young woman faced head-on with misconceptions that accompany western white privilege. While "Among the Maasai is indeed inspirational, Cutler avoids the "white savior" narrative and unflinchingly examines the obstacles -- political, social, economic, and emotional -- that contribute to the ongoing education gap. This is a must read for those interested in education, international policy, global aid, missionary work, and those devoted to uplifting women around the world.
April 7, 2019
REVIEW FOR READERS' FAVORITE
Among the Masai by Juliet Cutler is a memoir recounting the two years the author spent living and teaching in Tanzania at the end of the 1990’s. Arriving with preconceived ideas and expectations, nothing was as she had imagined. She describes her feelings of being ‘on show’ her white skin making her very conspicuous, the shock at the levels of poverty, the comparison with the society in which she had grown up. While there were mental challenges to adjust to there were also the practical problems too – shortage of water, no internet, lack of familiar foods and necessities, the dangers of the local wildlife. Traveling with her fiancé, Juliet was seconded to the first Secondary School for Girls catering to the Masai, a partly nomadic tribe spread across Kenya and Tanzania and viewed by other tribes in those countries as primitive. It had taken months of negotiations to set up and run a school.
Like many young people traveling overseas to third world countries to work among the disadvantaged, Juliet’s wish was to help educate and uplift the lives of the young girls she was employed to teach English. Fresh out of college, with little experience she had no idea what to expect. This book is beautifully written and should be on the prescribed reading list for all schools to create understand of a culture that is so often misunderstood. I could relate to her experiences, applaud her soul searching and her questioning of whether foreign aid is a blessing or a curse. She understands the fine balance between imposing a different culture and gently easing young people into the modern world. Encountering practices such as FGM, child marriage and girls sold for a few cows were a culture shock and in Among the Masai, the author Juliet Cutler shares her sorrow and triumph with the young girls she grew to love. As she says, you will always have Africa inside you. A wonderful book, it made me laugh and cry as I feverishly turned the pages. A book written with love which showed such empathy, I loved it. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
Among the Masai by Juliet Cutler is a memoir recounting the two years the author spent living and teaching in Tanzania at the end of the 1990’s. Arriving with preconceived ideas and expectations, nothing was as she had imagined. She describes her feelings of being ‘on show’ her white skin making her very conspicuous, the shock at the levels of poverty, the comparison with the society in which she had grown up. While there were mental challenges to adjust to there were also the practical problems too – shortage of water, no internet, lack of familiar foods and necessities, the dangers of the local wildlife. Traveling with her fiancé, Juliet was seconded to the first Secondary School for Girls catering to the Masai, a partly nomadic tribe spread across Kenya and Tanzania and viewed by other tribes in those countries as primitive. It had taken months of negotiations to set up and run a school.
Like many young people traveling overseas to third world countries to work among the disadvantaged, Juliet’s wish was to help educate and uplift the lives of the young girls she was employed to teach English. Fresh out of college, with little experience she had no idea what to expect. This book is beautifully written and should be on the prescribed reading list for all schools to create understand of a culture that is so often misunderstood. I could relate to her experiences, applaud her soul searching and her questioning of whether foreign aid is a blessing or a curse. She understands the fine balance between imposing a different culture and gently easing young people into the modern world. Encountering practices such as FGM, child marriage and girls sold for a few cows were a culture shock and in Among the Masai, the author Juliet Cutler shares her sorrow and triumph with the young girls she grew to love. As she says, you will always have Africa inside you. A wonderful book, it made me laugh and cry as I feverishly turned the pages. A book written with love which showed such empathy, I loved it. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
November 3, 2019
A memoir about teaching and living in rural Tanzania for two years. Caring and confused, Juliet faces a very different world than that of her Montana youth. While her students change, not surprisingly, it is mostly about how she evolves.
June 28, 2019
Juliet Cutler’s new memoir about her time spent teaching at the first school for Maasai girls in East Africa is deeply moving and intellectually honest. Reading about her experiences wrestling with the profoundly complex social and cultural challenges encountered by those attempting to serve some of the developing world’s most disadvantaged populations is nothing short of inspiring, even as she acknowledges the challenges and struggles inherent in the work. Confronting the gender-based violence embedded in traditional Maasai culture (including genital cutting and forced marriage) is more challenging and delicate than one would imagine, and Cutler expertly shines light on the complicated social and political complexities while at the same time sharing a compelling personal narrative. I felt privileged just to get to read about the ways her students were impacted by access to education and reminded of how those who serve are often themselves transformed in ways they could never have imagined.
September 20, 2019
*I received a free copy of this book from Book Sparks & She Writes Press in exchange for an honest review. *
I could not recommend this book more. It is inspiring, educational and absolutely critical. Every woman should read this book.
When Juliet Cutler is only twenty five years old, she and her then boyfriend Mark left the United States to begin a two year teaching position in East Africa. What the pair quickly learned however was that a two year contract would turn in to a lifetime dedication.
Juliet arrives at the Maasai Secondary School for the Girls in Tanzania eager to meet her new students and to teach them to read, write and speak in English. What she doesn’t realize is the profound lessons her students in turn will teach her, about life, culture, and the dangers of being a woman in Maasai Land.
In a time where ‘white saviours’ on mission trips to impoverished countries are common – people searching to “make a difference” by imposing Westernized cultures or beliefs without stopping to contemplate the effects on the local community, Juliet’s journey is a stark contrast. She is simultaneously empathetic while recognizing her own ignorance as to what “making a difference” really means.
Many Maasai traditions would be terrifying to suggest in Western culture in todays world. Rituals such as female circumcision, forced marriages and mandatory expulsion from school for women who become pregnant, regardless of the circumstances.
And yet Juliet approaches these traditions with cautious respect and with the intent to learn, she says;
“I’d decided that instead of espousing my own opinions, I would work to give my students the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to decide for themselves how they and their culture should or should not change.”
Among the Maasai – Juliet Cutler (p. 112)
Through working alongside local teachers and community members, Juliet gains an understanding of the culture, and acknowledges that just because it is different, does not make it wrong. All the while, she instills courage in her young female students to challenge the rituals and traditions that they deem outdated, and encourages them to create a community that they would proudly raise their own daughters in.
At the end of her two year teaching position, Juliet leaves Tanzania completely changed and eternally grateful for the time she spent – but the journey does not end there. Years later, after reconnecting with former students and making several return trips to Tanzania, she wrote this book.
It was not until she interviewed a number of her former English students for the book that Juliet realized some of the horrific challenges that they each had to face, all while still showing up to school, determined to learn.
Nearly twenty years after her first trip to East Africa, this book was published. The most spectacular thing about that? All proceeds from the sale of Among the Maasai support education and safety for Maasai girls.
It is difficult to capture the wonder that is this memoir. I was truly moved by the honesty, the bravery, and the courage of both Juliet and her students.
Juliet’s powerful storytelling skills left me in tears, otherwise feverishly underlining paragraph after paragraph. I could not recommend this book more. It is inspiring, educational and absolutely critical. Every woman should read this book.
I could not recommend this book more. It is inspiring, educational and absolutely critical. Every woman should read this book.
When Juliet Cutler is only twenty five years old, she and her then boyfriend Mark left the United States to begin a two year teaching position in East Africa. What the pair quickly learned however was that a two year contract would turn in to a lifetime dedication.
Juliet arrives at the Maasai Secondary School for the Girls in Tanzania eager to meet her new students and to teach them to read, write and speak in English. What she doesn’t realize is the profound lessons her students in turn will teach her, about life, culture, and the dangers of being a woman in Maasai Land.
In a time where ‘white saviours’ on mission trips to impoverished countries are common – people searching to “make a difference” by imposing Westernized cultures or beliefs without stopping to contemplate the effects on the local community, Juliet’s journey is a stark contrast. She is simultaneously empathetic while recognizing her own ignorance as to what “making a difference” really means.
Many Maasai traditions would be terrifying to suggest in Western culture in todays world. Rituals such as female circumcision, forced marriages and mandatory expulsion from school for women who become pregnant, regardless of the circumstances.
And yet Juliet approaches these traditions with cautious respect and with the intent to learn, she says;
“I’d decided that instead of espousing my own opinions, I would work to give my students the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to decide for themselves how they and their culture should or should not change.”
Among the Maasai – Juliet Cutler (p. 112)
Through working alongside local teachers and community members, Juliet gains an understanding of the culture, and acknowledges that just because it is different, does not make it wrong. All the while, she instills courage in her young female students to challenge the rituals and traditions that they deem outdated, and encourages them to create a community that they would proudly raise their own daughters in.
At the end of her two year teaching position, Juliet leaves Tanzania completely changed and eternally grateful for the time she spent – but the journey does not end there. Years later, after reconnecting with former students and making several return trips to Tanzania, she wrote this book.
It was not until she interviewed a number of her former English students for the book that Juliet realized some of the horrific challenges that they each had to face, all while still showing up to school, determined to learn.
Nearly twenty years after her first trip to East Africa, this book was published. The most spectacular thing about that? All proceeds from the sale of Among the Maasai support education and safety for Maasai girls.
It is difficult to capture the wonder that is this memoir. I was truly moved by the honesty, the bravery, and the courage of both Juliet and her students.
Juliet’s powerful storytelling skills left me in tears, otherwise feverishly underlining paragraph after paragraph. I could not recommend this book more. It is inspiring, educational and absolutely critical. Every woman should read this book.
September 12, 2020
Superb. The memoir of a 26 year old American woman that taught in a Maasai girls school in Tanzania for 2 years. For more information and pictures of her time in Tanzania, call up www.julietcutler.com
January 21, 2022
Lots of good questions and honest description of the benefits and challenges/issues of educating Maasai girls, and what it looks like for a comparatively wealthy American to move to East Africa to ~save the world~. I liked how much it elaborated on the complexity and potential drawbacks of intervening in another culture, even when the intentions are good.
July 13, 2020
Amazing and relational to me having recently traveled to Kenya and Tanzania. Offered insight further into the life of a missionary couple as day to day life unfolded.
Tremendous!
Tremendous!
April 24, 2020
Tears of sadness and joy overflowed my eyes many times as I read Among the Maasai by Juliet Cutler. Her writing is so vivid and absorbing that, as a reader, I related to her every step of the way, as she told the story of her two years as a young teacher in Tanzania at the Maasai Secondary School for Girls. Maasai people are strong and proud, and that comes through as she introduces us to the Maasai students she taught as well as their families and her colleagues.
She starts the book in a compelling way: by juxtaposing her own eagerness and fears of the unknown as she, as a twenty-five-year-old American woman arrived in Tanzania to start her teaching job, with those of a Maasai girl who at fourteen defied her father to leave home for a girls’ boarding school. She traces the emotions of both as they entered an unfamiliar context, stepping outside what is comfortable. “I felt like a scared animal that needed reassurance,” Cutler admits. She takes you to the lush cool greenness of a mountainside, behind the eight-foot-tall thorny hedge that protects the girls’ school, and into a mud-and-dung hut where a mother offers to give away her new baby daughter.
By the end, which reveals a surprise, I felt I knew her and her students personally and had benefited from her insights:
- Education has the power to transform lives and can do much to alleviate poverty, particularly for girls.
- Helping others and empowering others are not always the same thing.
Americans who want to help in Africa should first listen, then empower local people to address the issues they identify – and not become “white people charging to the rescue with their own solution.”
- No matter who you are or where you live, you have the power to make a difference.
Cutler has remained connected to the Maasai people as an advocate and fundraiser for twenty years, and all proceeds from the sale of this will support causes that uplift Maasai women and girls.
She starts the book in a compelling way: by juxtaposing her own eagerness and fears of the unknown as she, as a twenty-five-year-old American woman arrived in Tanzania to start her teaching job, with those of a Maasai girl who at fourteen defied her father to leave home for a girls’ boarding school. She traces the emotions of both as they entered an unfamiliar context, stepping outside what is comfortable. “I felt like a scared animal that needed reassurance,” Cutler admits. She takes you to the lush cool greenness of a mountainside, behind the eight-foot-tall thorny hedge that protects the girls’ school, and into a mud-and-dung hut where a mother offers to give away her new baby daughter.
By the end, which reveals a surprise, I felt I knew her and her students personally and had benefited from her insights:
- Education has the power to transform lives and can do much to alleviate poverty, particularly for girls.
- Helping others and empowering others are not always the same thing.
Americans who want to help in Africa should first listen, then empower local people to address the issues they identify – and not become “white people charging to the rescue with their own solution.”
- No matter who you are or where you live, you have the power to make a difference.
Cutler has remained connected to the Maasai people as an advocate and fundraiser for twenty years, and all proceeds from the sale of this will support causes that uplift Maasai women and girls.
September 15, 2019
Thank you to Juliet Cutler book sparks (Booksharks) and She Writes Press for this copy of Among the Maasai for my honest review during this Booksharks Instagram Pop-up tour.
Among the Maasai is a eye opening memoir about a young woman’s journey to Tanzania during the late 1990’s to teach at the first secondary school for Maasai girls. She has high hopes for bettering the girls lives but she finds herself learning just as much or more than the girls about status,inequality and privilege. A journey to save and better these girls lives becomes a personal growth and soul searching experience.
This book was fantastic. Learning about another culture. Learning acceptance and compassion. There are some huge issues underlined in this book and at times it was a very hard read. But the awareness it gave me was so eye opening. The number one takeaway is how important empowerment through education is.
I thought a lot towards the end of this book about privilege. My 13 year old has days where she is very “meh” about going to school. As was I at her age. I could feel the young women in this books determination and appreciation of their education and it made me feel guilty for how easily we take advantage of education in Western culture. I thought the way Juliet explained her struggles with respecting a culture and trying to make these girls life better was vivid and so well written. The fine line between what we believe is right and what someone wants is so fine and the constant back and forth battle to keep it level is just insane.
This was absolutely a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 read. This book is now available where ever books are sold and all proceeds go to helping Maasai girls. There are a few TW is recommend you check out before you begin, but I implore you to please read this book if you are able to. I spent the last 20 pages covered in Goosebumps and fighting back tears.
Among the Maasai is a eye opening memoir about a young woman’s journey to Tanzania during the late 1990’s to teach at the first secondary school for Maasai girls. She has high hopes for bettering the girls lives but she finds herself learning just as much or more than the girls about status,inequality and privilege. A journey to save and better these girls lives becomes a personal growth and soul searching experience.
This book was fantastic. Learning about another culture. Learning acceptance and compassion. There are some huge issues underlined in this book and at times it was a very hard read. But the awareness it gave me was so eye opening. The number one takeaway is how important empowerment through education is.
I thought a lot towards the end of this book about privilege. My 13 year old has days where she is very “meh” about going to school. As was I at her age. I could feel the young women in this books determination and appreciation of their education and it made me feel guilty for how easily we take advantage of education in Western culture. I thought the way Juliet explained her struggles with respecting a culture and trying to make these girls life better was vivid and so well written. The fine line between what we believe is right and what someone wants is so fine and the constant back and forth battle to keep it level is just insane.
This was absolutely a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 read. This book is now available where ever books are sold and all proceeds go to helping Maasai girls. There are a few TW is recommend you check out before you begin, but I implore you to please read this book if you are able to. I spent the last 20 pages covered in Goosebumps and fighting back tears.
June 16, 2025
I loved reading this book so much. For several reasons including it is extremely relevant to my life right now. As I kept reading, it felt like I was meant to read this book because of all of the crazy overlapping commonalities I had with the author (who knows but I’m convincing myself this was written for me.) Obviously I am not teaching in Africa for two years, (just two weeks) but this book addressed so many thoughts I have been wrestling with. Julie wrote this incredibly thoughtfully to show that she did not come to be a “White Savior” and magically solve everything. She notes that this act of giving time was transactional and she received so much from her experience as well. I think that the story of these girls is extremely inspiring and a great reminder of the drastic differences of growing up in a third world country vs. the US. I never had to worry about not getting an education, female circumcision, or being married off the a rando that my brother picked for me. It was interesting to read about how the author walked the line of sharing about these traditions (and their need for progression) while respecting an established tribe of people who have lived years in a certain way.
The last quote in the book really sums up the peace of mind and inspiration that this book gave me.
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it” Talmud
I feel like this is my new life motto??
The last quote in the book really sums up the peace of mind and inspiration that this book gave me.
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it” Talmud
I feel like this is my new life motto??
January 4, 2020
I love books like this one that inform the reader about a country, its people, and the vast cultural differences between it and the United States.
In 1999, a 25 year-old Juliet Cutler along with her boyfriend, Mark, went to Tanzania to teach. She to teach English to young Maasai girls at the Maasai Secondary School for Girls, and he to teach math to Maasai boys. It was a rude awakening for these white, privileged Americans, but one that changed their lives forever. They lived on the school's rustic campus with intermittent electricity and running water and were required to live separately from each other until they were married. Many of Juliet's students faced staggering poverty, forced marriages, genital cutting, and other forms of gender-based violence. But these girls were determined to better their lives through education and their joyful natures and resilience in the face of many difficult obstacles were nothing less than inspirational for these teachers and for the readers of this book.
A great read for the start of 2020 and one that made this American oh so grateful for every opportunity I have been afforded just because I was born here.
In 1999, a 25 year-old Juliet Cutler along with her boyfriend, Mark, went to Tanzania to teach. She to teach English to young Maasai girls at the Maasai Secondary School for Girls, and he to teach math to Maasai boys. It was a rude awakening for these white, privileged Americans, but one that changed their lives forever. They lived on the school's rustic campus with intermittent electricity and running water and were required to live separately from each other until they were married. Many of Juliet's students faced staggering poverty, forced marriages, genital cutting, and other forms of gender-based violence. But these girls were determined to better their lives through education and their joyful natures and resilience in the face of many difficult obstacles were nothing less than inspirational for these teachers and for the readers of this book.
A great read for the start of 2020 and one that made this American oh so grateful for every opportunity I have been afforded just because I was born here.
September 1, 2019
This beautifully-written book is as near perfect as a memoir can be. The author’s depth of feeling for the Maasai people—not just the students but their families and her colleagues—is striking. She shares with the reader her observations and insights about Maasai culture, while at the same time recognizing her own cultural biases. The author’s introspection about her own life of relative privilege will resonate with anyone who is concerned with social justice. This memoir focuses on Cutler’s experiences of 20 years ago, but her memories are so vivid that I had to remind myself with every page that these events had not taken place in the recent past. The “Afterword” answered one of the questions I asked myself throughout the book—that is, “how can I help?” A tip: check Juliet Cutler’s web site to see if the people she writes about actually look as you imagined them while you were reading! (And many more resources.)
September 9, 2019
Juliet's memoir is a compelling narrative of her time in Tanzania and all the people who came into her life from that experience, but it's also so much more. While the memoir takes place about 20 years before this book was published, many of the issues Juliet grapples with in her time there are still concerns for Maasai women to this day.
I highly recommend you read this book, for many reasons. First, from her narrative you'll feel the emotions of the experience as if you were there with Juliet and Mark. Second, in my early 20's I also lived abroad, in a similar situation but a different country, and reading Juliet's narrative brought back so many memories and elicited a multitude of emotions - many of which I had forgotten about until I read about her experience! Lastly, and most importantly, you'll learn about the power of education, the power of lifting up young women, and the positive impact that has on these women, their families, and their communities.
I highly recommend you read this book, for many reasons. First, from her narrative you'll feel the emotions of the experience as if you were there with Juliet and Mark. Second, in my early 20's I also lived abroad, in a similar situation but a different country, and reading Juliet's narrative brought back so many memories and elicited a multitude of emotions - many of which I had forgotten about until I read about her experience! Lastly, and most importantly, you'll learn about the power of education, the power of lifting up young women, and the positive impact that has on these women, their families, and their communities.
June 3, 2019
Juliet Cutler was only in her twenties when she arrived in Tanzania to teach marginalized Maasai girls. This memoir of those two transformative years thoughtfully juxtaposes the fish-out-of-water experience of a young and earnest foreign teacher with the powerful, inspiring stories of the girls she teaches, many of whom must escape forced marriages and survive genital mutilation in order to learn. Among the Maasai offers a rich and complex view of a culture confronted by change and the volunteers who must reckon with the ethics, effectiveness, and history behind the help they wish to give. Cutler’s love and respect are evident for the community of The Maasai Secondary School for Girls, whose work will remind you of our shared humanity and the possibilities that arise when we rise bega kwa bega or “shoulder to shoulder.”
October 17, 2019
'Among the Maasai' made me feel every emotion possible. It was so raw and real that you couldn't help but to get emotional as you read it. As I read this book, I found myself wanting more and more as I read further into the story. I felt anger, sadness, happiness, and so much more. A lot of the topics in here I had learned about in my Anthropology classes I took in college. So I think after learning about them and then reading it from someone who actually experienced it, was crazy! This is a beautiful story about growth, courage, strength, education, family and friendship. I encourage many to read it especially if you are in the education field or are curious about developing countries and what their children go through for simple things that a lot of us take for granted on a daily basis.
August 21, 2020
The honesty and vulnerability Juliet Cutler displays in this memoir is amazing. If you are expecting a "Hallmark Channel" story of the good white woman who goes to the poor and saves the day, you will be either disappointed or dismayed -- but read it anyway! Living in a culture where females are seen as barely more than animals, but learning to see the people individually and not just a photo caption, is truly one of Cutler's gifts. It can be a challenging read (because to probably most readers, their way of life is just 'wrong' to us, or at best not easy to understand), but it leaves you with a modicum of optimism and hope that the education of young girls can spur changes and growth ... and maybe even save the day, eventually.
December 13, 2022
The Maasai people fascinate me—their stature, clothing, villages, living amidst roaming animals, etc. I was fortunate to visit Tanzania, and stepped inside a boma, a mud and thatch dwelling, met a Maasai family, and had a morani (Maasai man) as a guide for a few days. Juliet’s experiences added to my knowledge, especially about the benefits girls’ education might provide. I wish there were more information about lifestyles within the village, however. I especially appreciated her attitudes of helping people learn from within, not trying to change people to western ways. In the Afterword she names a book, When Helping Hurts, that “trains groups to do community-led work, …the idea that sustainable improvements come not from outside in, but from the inside out.”
May 12, 2020
My parents visited the Maasai as they saw Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti in 1969. I don't even have to see their movies to remember how striking these people were to me, even on film. So, let's investigate in 2020. Ms. Cutler started this venture around 2000. But even now, I think Africa itself is besieged still to grow - without the wherewithal (and that's more than money) to do so.
Multiple wives, twenties of children, self built huts - unreliable water, safety or electricity. Africa is still a hot mess.
BUT...Love always wins. This is a well written account of day to day life. Do we really want change? YES, Some change. But I'd hate to see everything like where I live.
Brava.
Multiple wives, twenties of children, self built huts - unreliable water, safety or electricity. Africa is still a hot mess.
BUT...Love always wins. This is a well written account of day to day life. Do we really want change? YES, Some change. But I'd hate to see everything like where I live.
Brava.
September 13, 2019
When I found out I had the opportunity to read and review this book, I jumped for joy. As some of you know, I lived in Haiti teaching for four years. Though this book takes place in Africa, the similarities to the culture and experience Juliet went through are uncanny.
I love a book that is raw, honest, and attempts to break down biases through experience, while still recognizing there will always be “things” we can’t understand or explain. Cutler does a beautiful job of sharing her experience and honoring the people and culture without coming off as righteous.
I love a book that is raw, honest, and attempts to break down biases through experience, while still recognizing there will always be “things” we can’t understand or explain. Cutler does a beautiful job of sharing her experience and honoring the people and culture without coming off as righteous.
November 4, 2019
One of the most inspiring books I have read in along time. People can make a real difference in the world. Juliet Cutler takes you into Tanzania and the Maasai as if you were there yourself. You fall in love with the people she has interacted with. I love how she faces her fears and doesn't let that stand in her way of her life purpose. She is a true mwalimu, teacher.
April 1, 2020
Amazing story, Cutler did her best to take the white narrative out when she could and did the delicate balance between telling of her experience along with the young girls of the Maasai.
She touches on what the young girls face when trying to do well for themselves by getting an education and the lengths they go to get it so that they could break the cycle that they're facing.
She touches on what the young girls face when trying to do well for themselves by getting an education and the lengths they go to get it so that they could break the cycle that they're facing.
September 22, 2025
I’m glad she didn’t go into her trip with a white savior mentality. But even so, she learned that her good intentions were still maybe not enough to justify her being there. Maybe educating Maasai girls is only setting them up for disappointment—that was an interesting takeaway she had. And in the end, “if you’re thinking of going to volunteer in Tanzania, read When Helping Hurts.”
September 8, 2020
Very moving memoir about a young teacher teaching in Tanzania. I love her honesty and her overall message about volunteering in African countries. Really good book and I look forward to the book discussion with FAWCO today with the author!
February 4, 2020
A beautiful book about humanity, transformation, and self-discovery. This is on my list of favorites and my heart has been cracked open for the Maasai people and the challenges they face.
February 5, 2020
A very moving book that explains exactly what it feels like to be a Westerner in Tanzania.
June 26, 2020
Such a touching, loving, well written book. A beautiful memoir. I learned a lot about the Maasai culture and have much admiration.
July 1, 2020
I support a compassion child from Tanzania and so was interested in reading something about her country. This book definitely made me think!
September 23, 2020
Among the Maasai is a radically humble and inspiring book. If you are interested in other societies and the lot and promise of young women, this is a treasure.
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