In 2007, Kibaki's government promised free Secondary Education, following on from the universal free primary education policy rolled out in 2002. It has yet to be successfully implemented. The aim to provide children from poor backgrounds with fair access to education has been hindered by a lack of both government funding and government will. Without deviating from the topic into Kenya's issues surrounding corruption and tribalism, it is safe to say that a remote Maasai community, such as that around Ol Lentille, was never likely to be high on the list of priorities.
Consequently, many children from rural areas such as this have been unable to access secondary education. Primary education is often a struggle- there are no fees, but families are still required to supply uniforms, some books, there is often no food at school and in times of impending drought, pastoral families may move to better areas, or the father may be away with cattle, forcing children to stay home to look after the small livestock. Furthermore, with no electricity, water and firewood to collect, and parents who often did not have formal education, doing homework becomes impossible, meaning children from rural areas often struggle in school.
In the Lentille area, we have recently constructed a classroom, kitchen, latrines and store as the beginning of Kimanjo Mixed Day Secondary School. There is a fantastic teacher, Mr. Silanke (completing his B.Ed simultaneously), and a teaching assistant. The government are sending a headteacher (government partnership being at the heart of all our programmes to reduce aid-dependency). We are currently raising funds for a teacher/admin block and Class Two to allow the current crop of 25 Form 1 pupils to continue their education in 2012 and another form to be admitted. The next nearest schools are at Oldonyiro and Dol Dol, both of which are a public-transport ride or long walk away (several hours) and so children from Lentille area would have to board. This expense, on top of fees (which are high at the unsubsidised Dol Dol) is simply impossible for many families. At Kimanjo, costs are low, contributing only for lunch and the askari (security guard). This amounts to approx £25 per term and no child will be turned away for lack of fees.
In a letter to the primary donor, Mary, a Form 1 pupil wrote:
"Thank you for this golden chance, I could not have got education otherwise and would sit at home or become married. I now dream of becoming a secretary or a teacher when I finish and am a proud girl with my secondary education"
So, why secondary education? Corruption and nepotism mean that the kenyan government are coming up short in several areas, so what made us focus on this for 2011? It is an extension of our support for Primary Education and Quality of Teaching and Learning, where we support 7 government primary schools with extra teachers, teacher training, resources etc., and we believe secondary education is crucial for the social, economic and political development that community members are striving for. Importantly, the decision to open a secondary school was taken by community members, including Kijabe Group Ranch chairman and Primary school head Mr. Monto, in partnership with the Ol Lentille Trust, and a lot of awareness raising and support gathering was done in 2010. It is a real community initiative, and here is why...
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: Secondary education gives kids more opportunities in life including better chances at employment/higher income, better knowledge of how to access services and justice systems, and confidence/ability to interact in community and political systems, thereby increasing their potential to advocate for more services/food/development in their area.
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: education fosters confidence, knowledge and therefore empowerment. The more girls that can access secondary education, the more equal society will become. In order to improve access to education for girls, costs must be driven down so families can afford not to have to choose between children. Educating boys further in subjects such as social science also allows them to have an informed opinion on gender equality, and education often means access to more developed communities/cosmopolitan towns and cities where gender equality may be higher on the agenda than in rural areas. Educated women are far more likely to send their daughters to school. It is amazing to see the impact education has on Maasai girls' ability to participate in society as much as the men do.
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rates: This has been empirically proven by UN statistics- a mother with secondary education has 50% less chance of her child dying before the age of 5 than a mother with no education. Education also improves family and child nutrition, reducing incidence of malnutrition or disease and strengthening immunity. Secondary educated women are far more likely to immunise their children and seek medical care when necessary. Healthcare provision often has a huge stigma in traditional communities. The photo shows our healthworkers carrying out nutrition assessments in the community.
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health: Again very well shown by UN stats. In the Ol Lentille community, Female Genital Mutilation was at a rate of 95% up until 18 months ago, despite being illegal. Now, girls with a good primary education and the prospect of secondary are choosing to say 'no' to FGM and pick an alternative ceremony instead. They see an alternative to early marriage, conforming to dangerous tradition and having many expensive children, as they believe further education can provide a better life for themselves and their children. It is estimated that each year of secondary schooling reduces fertility rate by 10-20%. The average primary school leaver in the Lentille community will have 4 children, for a woman with secondary education this falls to two. Secondary educated women are more likely to use appropriate contraceptives and seek pre and post-natal care. "It is estimated that an additional year of schooling for 1,000 women helps prevent two maternal deaths." (World Bank, 2009)
Goal 6: Combat HIV, Malaria and Other Diseases: As previously stated, education improves chances of appropriate access to health services. HIV, TB, malaria and hygiene are also key parts of the science curriculum in both primary and secondary school in Kenya, so the more kids are taught, the more likely they are to be able to prevent themselves from contracting diseases. Educated kids are more likely to access contraception, and are more likely to understand the economic and social impacts on communities and countries of pandemics such as HIV. Educated girls are less vulnerable, more able to say 'no' to sex and 'yes' to contraception, reducing HIV spread through extra-marital relations etc.
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability: secondary education provides kids with the chance to integrate into a wider community, through ICT (including in Kimanjo secondary), teachers from cities with global knowledge and a well developed curriculum. This means they are exposed to global debates on things such as climate change. Children in Kimanjo Secondary are particularly exposed to this, since their school would not exist without the amazing conservation efforts of their community (conservation supports tourism which attracted the major donor to the school and provides the surrounding group ranches with a consistent income from bednights, conservation fees and rent from the investor/managers). There are wildlife/conservation clubs and the Solomon and David, KPSGAs (Kenya Safari Guides) impart their knowledge on environmental issues. The school is solar powered and rainwater collection is a primary concern. The children are sensitised to these issues and the importance of sustainable development, in the hope that they will advocate for 'green' ideas throughout their futures.
In the Lentille area, we have recently constructed a classroom, kitchen, latrines and store as the beginning of Kimanjo Mixed Day Secondary School. There is a fantastic teacher, Mr. Silanke (completing his B.Ed simultaneously), and a teaching assistant. The government are sending a headteacher (government partnership being at the heart of all our programmes to reduce aid-dependency). We are currently raising funds for a teacher/admin block and Class Two to allow the current crop of 25 Form 1 pupils to continue their education in 2012 and another form to be admitted. The next nearest schools are at Oldonyiro and Dol Dol, both of which are a public-transport ride or long walk away (several hours) and so children from Lentille area would have to board. This expense, on top of fees (which are high at the unsubsidised Dol Dol) is simply impossible for many families. At Kimanjo, costs are low, contributing only for lunch and the askari (security guard). This amounts to approx £25 per term and no child will be turned away for lack of fees.
In a letter to the primary donor, Mary, a Form 1 pupil wrote:"Thank you for this golden chance, I could not have got education otherwise and would sit at home or become married. I now dream of becoming a secretary or a teacher when I finish and am a proud girl with my secondary education"
Jeremiah went one further with his ambitions- this is the sort of hope that this opportunity inspires in these youngsters:
“When I heard that the school was going to be built my heart melted with joy like butter exposed to direct heat. I want to be a politician and I promise that I will not be corrupt. All drug traffickers and corrupt politicians will rot in jail. I will fight hunger and poverty and kick HIV, malaria and cancer out of Kenya. I will work extra hard to make all of this come true”
So, why secondary education? Corruption and nepotism mean that the kenyan government are coming up short in several areas, so what made us focus on this for 2011? It is an extension of our support for Primary Education and Quality of Teaching and Learning, where we support 7 government primary schools with extra teachers, teacher training, resources etc., and we believe secondary education is crucial for the social, economic and political development that community members are striving for. Importantly, the decision to open a secondary school was taken by community members, including Kijabe Group Ranch chairman and Primary school head Mr. Monto, in partnership with the Ol Lentille Trust, and a lot of awareness raising and support gathering was done in 2010. It is a real community initiative, and here is why...The Millenium Development Goals are an overview of the most important aspects of global community development. They specify Universal Primary Education (UPE) as a target for 2015 (Goal 2), but do not mention secondary education. However, it has been shown that secondary education feeds into many of the other MDGs.
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: Secondary education gives kids more opportunities in life including better chances at employment/higher income, better knowledge of how to access services and justice systems, and confidence/ability to interact in community and political systems, thereby increasing their potential to advocate for more services/food/development in their area.
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: education fosters confidence, knowledge and therefore empowerment. The more girls that can access secondary education, the more equal society will become. In order to improve access to education for girls, costs must be driven down so families can afford not to have to choose between children. Educating boys further in subjects such as social science also allows them to have an informed opinion on gender equality, and education often means access to more developed communities/cosmopolitan towns and cities where gender equality may be higher on the agenda than in rural areas. Educated women are far more likely to send their daughters to school. It is amazing to see the impact education has on Maasai girls' ability to participate in society as much as the men do.
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rates: This has been empirically proven by UN statistics- a mother with secondary education has 50% less chance of her child dying before the age of 5 than a mother with no education. Education also improves family and child nutrition, reducing incidence of malnutrition or disease and strengthening immunity. Secondary educated women are far more likely to immunise their children and seek medical care when necessary. Healthcare provision often has a huge stigma in traditional communities. The photo shows our healthworkers carrying out nutrition assessments in the community. 
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health: Again very well shown by UN stats. In the Ol Lentille community, Female Genital Mutilation was at a rate of 95% up until 18 months ago, despite being illegal. Now, girls with a good primary education and the prospect of secondary are choosing to say 'no' to FGM and pick an alternative ceremony instead. They see an alternative to early marriage, conforming to dangerous tradition and having many expensive children, as they believe further education can provide a better life for themselves and their children. It is estimated that each year of secondary schooling reduces fertility rate by 10-20%. The average primary school leaver in the Lentille community will have 4 children, for a woman with secondary education this falls to two. Secondary educated women are more likely to use appropriate contraceptives and seek pre and post-natal care. "It is estimated that an additional year of schooling for 1,000 women helps prevent two maternal deaths." (World Bank, 2009)
Goal 6: Combat HIV, Malaria and Other Diseases: As previously stated, education improves chances of appropriate access to health services. HIV, TB, malaria and hygiene are also key parts of the science curriculum in both primary and secondary school in Kenya, so the more kids are taught, the more likely they are to be able to prevent themselves from contracting diseases. Educated kids are more likely to access contraception, and are more likely to understand the economic and social impacts on communities and countries of pandemics such as HIV. Educated girls are less vulnerable, more able to say 'no' to sex and 'yes' to contraception, reducing HIV spread through extra-marital relations etc.
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability: secondary education provides kids with the chance to integrate into a wider community, through ICT (including in Kimanjo secondary), teachers from cities with global knowledge and a well developed curriculum. This means they are exposed to global debates on things such as climate change. Children in Kimanjo Secondary are particularly exposed to this, since their school would not exist without the amazing conservation efforts of their community (conservation supports tourism which attracted the major donor to the school and provides the surrounding group ranches with a consistent income from bednights, conservation fees and rent from the investor/managers). There are wildlife/conservation clubs and the Solomon and David, KPSGAs (Kenya Safari Guides) impart their knowledge on environmental issues. The school is solar powered and rainwater collection is a primary concern. The children are sensitised to these issues and the importance of sustainable development, in the hope that they will advocate for 'green' ideas throughout their futures.So, you see, Secondary Education is of utmost importance, particularly to the girls of Lentille and the girls and boys who would not otherwise be able to afford to continue schooling. These sorts of local community schools are key to providing education to as many of the poorest kids as possible, as the central government is financially unable and politically unwilling to become more involved in these communities.
If you'd like to support the cause, go to www.justgiving.com/teamlentille3p or for more information, download the '3 peaks info pack' from http://www.ol-lentilletrust.org/ which is packed with info about the programme, the charity and how you can get involved.
I'll leave you with a quote from Josephat, one of the Kimanjo students:
“When I finish my education I would like to be President of my country, so that I will be able to build more educational buildings for the poorest children like me, so that everyone will be able to learn just like me. Thank you Charlie and I hope that when you read this work of my brain you will be as happy as Sandyboy [I think he means the Sand Man]”
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