International Women’s Day- March 8th

Women are making great progress in so many areas throughout the world but progress can sometimes be painfully slow in the rural areas of Africa.

We have just finished our survey of the schools we support- the most positive gender ratio we have currently achieved in Primary Schools is 42% girls to 58% boys in Maasai areas, falling to 35% girls in the Samburu areas, with some classes as low as 13% girls. In order not to ‘lose’ this whole generation of girls we are currently conducting a house to house survey, with the help of very active Chiefs and Community Health Workers, to see how many children are still at home (both boys and girls) and to work with families on ways to help the parents to register their children. Sometimes something as simple as a uniform can be the difference between parents giving their child an education or not.

Imagine having your whole future hinging on a dress or a pair of shorts.

It goes without saying that education is a basic human right. We often have to remind ourselves here that this is the 21st century: just because kids here were born on the wrong side of the equatorial divide they still have equal rights. Girls have as much right to education as boys- but in educating girls the benefits for the future can be far, far larger. In the rural areas where FGM rates are still very high- 98% in the most remote communities, early marriage is inevitable. Since in the developing world 70,000 adolescents are killed by pregnancy the health risks involved in FGM are far reaching: keeping girls in school delays FGM and therefore delays marriage and saves lives: that simple. Babies born to adolescent Mum’s are 50% more likely to die in their first year. This is the 21st century. That figure is just not acceptable. Education saves lives.

In addition the effects on the economy and the environment are clear. Whilst there is enormous debate on the actual statistics, there is nevertheless an agreement that there is a clear correlation between the number of years a girl spends in school and her family size. Many studies agree that a 10% increase in female literacy leads to a decline of 0.5% total fertility; seven or more years in school leads to half the number of children; giving a girl no education she will bear 6.8 children, if she completes secondary this will fall to 3.2 children. Whatever figures you are reading the correlation remains. Moreover a mere one year in Primary school boosts the earning power of women with girls putting up to 90% of their earnings back into the family income compared to boys who will put back only 35%. Statistics are statistics and open to abuse, but the trend is clear.

An educated girl accesses health care not only for herself but also for her family. She is more likely to access pre and post natal care, to give birth in a health facility, to access family planning, to have a reduced risk of HIV AIDS both for herself and her family. She is less likely to be spending the 3 - 7 hours a day by an open fire exposing herself and her infant to smoke that is 100 times above accepted safety levels- the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day...... and so the list goes on.. and on...

Study after study has shown that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty and social prejudice. An educated girl has more say in her home, family decisions are more democratic and domestic violence is reduced.

Despite all these benefits, 30 million more girls than boys are out of school in the world. Empowering women and achieving gender equality is a difficult and slow process that entails shifting attitudes, traditions and practices.

How can we afford NOT to educate women? If only as the most effective way of improving health care and reducing healthcare costs. If only to reduce population growth. If only to improve family incomes. If only to give the girls in the developing world some of the chances that our girls in the West have had for three generations.

Above: meet Rose and her daughter Selina...Rose, who was unable to finish her own Primary education, was the first woman in the locality to open a bank account saving for Selina's 'university' education, Rose was also the first woman to wear trousers - I have often thought that the best gender equality motivator in schools would be to offer the girls a chance to wear trousers. (Rose is also an excellent pancake tosser......)

Support girls education today in whatever way you can!!

Fmeale genital mutilation-Towards an end to the Cloak and Dagger ?

The Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) education campaign progressed remarkably smoothly in Laikipia North this year, now in its third year the 28 established NHP Health Workers and their support team , led by NHP Nurse Rose, are now proving to be a self motivated and highly efficient team –Rose’s smile and calmness have maintained a positive effect on the whole community, deflecting the fiery exchanges seen in our first year.

The new Bill outlawing FGM, passed on September 7th, has helped this campaign dramatically. The Bill, proposed by Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi back in 2010, provides that a person convicted of carrying out FGM will face seven years in jail or a half million shilling fine; causing death via FGM can result in life imprisonment. Aiding and abetting FGM also carries heavy penalties. Three years ago it was difficult to get local politicians to support the campaign to, at the least, delay female circumcision, since they were not sure on which side votes lay; but the new law has made things clear for all. We have been fortunate that the local Chiefs have taken a very positive and forward thinking stand, ensuring that progress over the last three years has been fast. Traditionally, as soon as a girl has been circumcised she is pronounced ‘ready’ for marriage, leading to the end of her education. But in many cases the Chiefs have actively insisted that girls not be taken out of Primary school and have also assisted them in registering themselves in school, where local teachers have identified girls being kept at home.

Our campaign in Isiolo is in its first year, with a brand new team of highly enthusiastic Health Workers. Here many lessons have to be learned concerning logistics- particularly as we are currently drowning under a sea of mud, wiping out roads on a daily basis.And never underestimate the infinite time required for Kenyan politics ! No one can focus on education until the all important decisions of how many ‘lunch’ goats to be assigned to each village has been settled. Perhaps such precise allocation decisions have more priority in the Samburu community than in the Masai community where NHP was formerly based. We still have the biggest Baraza (meeting) tomorrow, and rains permitting, we will meet our last year total of over 2,000 attendees.

The team are promoting an alternative public ‘Blessing’ for the girls as their Coming of Age ceremony- rather than the Cloak and Dagger (..literally) ceremony that has been taking place behind closed doors for so many years. Since the average age for circumcision is puberty this has meant few girls accessing secondary education.

The health problems begin with the infections and heavy bleeding caused by the non-sterile and unprofessional operation, proceed via the hazards of early pregnancies, for girls who often have several more years of growing and are already poorly nourished ; through to large areas of scar tissue causing horrific and often life threatening tears and haemorrhaging during birth. In addition mothers will starve themselves during pregnancy, even when food is plentiful, in order to limit the size of their baby to limit the danger and pain of a healthy birth weight baby.

I cannot say that I am taken in by the argument given against the cut by many men and women, at every baraza that the lack of sexual satisfaction obtained by the women causes more female 'promiscuity' or as generally translated from the Maasai 'prostitution', but I guess I am not one to be able judge this question.

Whilst meetings can be highly charged, and to some it is still seen as a controversial and emotive topic; if each year another cohort of young girls is given the choice to delay the cut until after secondary schooling that has got be a good thing for Kenyan development.. and Kenyan politics.

Female Genital Mutilation -moving away from The Cut

This is a busy week for the NHP team at Lentille. Prior to the December circumcision season they are organising as many 'barazas' as they can cope with.

A Baraza is a big community meeting, under a tree, with Chiefs, Community Leaders, men, women and youth.. and much food to be consumed! The subject of discussion is alternatives to female circumcision.. last year over 2,000 people attended these meetings.. as we extend now into Isiolo District this number is expected to rise. This week 3 barazas will be organised in an attempt to keep girls in school in January- and prevent the medical horrors of The Cut which leads to so many child- birth problems. Traditionally, as soon as girls are circumcised they are taken out of school to be married -and childbirth quickly follows. Since the traditional age here for circumcision is puberty (13 years) the medical complications for these young girls giving birth when they are still growing rises further. Often the girls starve themselves during pregnancy in the hope of giving birth to a smaller baby... not a healthy state of affairs for mother or child.

However tradition is changing very fast and in the two years we have been running these barazas we have seen a huge sea-shift in the attitudes to girl-child education and a far greater understanding of the dangers of circumcision. Increasing numbers of girls are now being allowed to delay circumcision until completion of secondary school when they can themselves make an informed choice. Health care here is tied directly to education- with the buiding of the new classes at Kimanjo Secondary school parents and daughters can see a real economically viable alternative to marriage. By incorporating the new government secondary Principal, and the Primary head-teachers, into these barazas we try to join up the education/health-care work.

This year we are also trying to positively incorporate the female circumcisors into health care work by offering them incentives to become agents of referral in bringing pregnant Mums-to -be, to the clinic... so they no longer need the added revenue stream of conducting circumcisions. We look forward to following up this post on how lively these barazas are this week! Change will not come without contoversy for sure!

Education For All - a route to a future

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"

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]”