Ormee Ministries

~ exceptional education for Maasai children ~

Our Story

Founder Heather Wash and Chief Visionary Joseph Lemoyian Ng’ida met in 2010, when Heather and her husband visited Tanzania. Shortly thereafter, Heather, together with her husband and four young children, moved to Tanzania to serve with a mission organization. Joseph and Heather became ministry partners, serving in the northern rural bush area of the country. While serving vulnerable Maasai children, they began to dream of starting a school, an exceptional school, meeting not only academic needs, but physical and spiritual needs as well.

Our Why

Maasai children in this area are often destitute, many orphaned, and live in traditional huts. They suffer through drought, malnutrition, illness from unsafe drinking water and other diseases like malaria. Without an education, a boy has little hope of becoming more than a goat herder and most girls will be given away in early marriage. The few government schools in the bush have poorly trained teachers, few supplies and the students have poor outcomes, rarely passing the mandatory Standard 7 exam, which enables a child to move on to secondary school. Providing an education to these children not only gives them hope for their future, but also elevates their entire family and village.

Ormee (or-may) means “something that doesn’t die.” We believe that education is a gift that doesn’t die. We also trust that the spiritual education they receive at Ormee will lead them to life everlasting.

Our Numbers

Ormee Primary School received official registration with the government of Tanzania in 2020 and became a legally registered nonprofit in the United States in 2023. We currently have 173 students and 12 teaching staff. When the last national exam Standard 7 results were published, many were amazed – Ormee Primary School ranked #1 in the region and #35 out of nearly 18,000 schools in the country! These results are truly amazing and made the news all over Tanzania. This little school in the bush, with no electricity or reliable water source, is achieving extraordinary results. Please consider partnering with us, our dedicated teachers and very worthy students.

Read Our 2023 Impact Report