SCALING OUR WORK:  NAIKARRA AND OLDERKESI 

After five years of measured work in Loita, we feel confident that our model to improve access to education can and should be expanded to similarly marginalized communities. We began expanding our work to Naikarra, a 1052 km2 region of southern Narok County that forms much of the western border of the Loita Hills region where we currently work. There are over 20 public primary and 14 ECD preschools scattered across this remote region. And though there is one surprisingly high performing rural boarding secondary school in Naikarra, no affordable day secondary school exists across the entire area.

Naikarra’s historical lack of government support combined with its geographic isolation has created a region that is far behind other regions of Kenya in terms of education and social issues. “Many people here don’t understand the value of education,” explains our Intern Coordinator Christine Mpoe, who grew up in the region and overcame countless obstacles to obtain her own university degree. “FGM and early marriage are also still very common, especially in Olderkesi. Many here still believe that no one will marry a woman who is not cut or who stays in school because she is older. Some of the most important things needed for life to be better for girls here are access to nearby day secondary schools; help from the chiefs to help people understand the health risks of FGM; and to change the idea that a woman must be married by age 16. Lack of pads is a big problem for girls too.”

 Poverty and climate changes, combined with the broad scattering of settlements and a lack of political voice has resulted in very little water, sanitation, transportation, energy, or communications infrastructure in Naikarra. There are few medical facilities and no day secondary schools, making it extremely difficult for children to attend school past 8th grade. These structural gaps have led to low levels of education and literacy and high rates of disease, child mortality, gendered inequities and to a high level of continued traditional practices such as FGM and early marriage, which contribute significantly to school dropout rates for girls.

Beatrice Pere, one of our new Team Angaza members, also grew up in the region and, like Christine, overcame many hurdles to earn her university degree. “Many parents here are not educated,” says Beatrice. “They are also stretching a lot financially to educate all of their children. You’ll find that often, they will choose to educate their boy children over their girl children, because [traditionally] once a girl is married, she won’t be bringing any support back to the family. We also see many girls dropping out due to pregnancy, even at the primary level. Once that happens, parents usually won’t return them to school but look to get them married instead.”

The flip side of the seeming overwhelming challenges in Naikarra is the opportunity it offers to make a truly life changing difference in the lives of promising secondary students like Vivian and spirited, passionate primary students like Lasoi, a six-year-old who wanted to go to school so badly that last year, every morning for two weeks, she ran from her house to join other village children heading to school. Each night her father punished her for disobeying him. Today, thanks to her 6-year-old determination and the work of our staff to shift her father’s views around the value that Lasoi’s education can offer the entire family, both Lasoi and her younger sister Mariama are now in school. Our goal in this high need region is to create similar change in the lives of thousands more girls through the opening of four new day secondary schools and work to change parent’s hearts and minds about the value of education for their children.