UPDATE FROM THE FIELD: MARCH 2023
Longtime friend of For the Good Deborah Hardaker and two of our longtime young ambassadors, Kate Hardaker and Laia Ogilby, traveled with director Kayce Anderson and her daughter Blu to Kenya at the end of February into early March. They visited a new region where we began expanding our work in 2023 and were also able to celebrate with the village of Mausa at the official opening of their new high school.
Families heading home from the celebration in Mausa, February, 2023.
Thousands of people came on foot from all over to attend the opening of Mausa Day Secondary School, wearing their finest Maasai shukas and beadwork. The Governor of Narok County and the regional Member of Parliament (MP) also flew in by helicopter to attend the event. The highlight of the day was when the MP signed over several unexpectedly generous checks –– enough to finish building the final required classroom and lab space for the secondary school; help rebuild Mausa’s primary school, which burned down in 2007; and purchase desks and books for the secondary school.
That celebratory day marked a turning point both for Mausa and our organization. Years of work reassuring communities that they can indeed start their own schools felt like it had finally gained traction. Mausa’s success offers proof to other communities in the Loita Hills and beyond that they too can successfully fundraise to help launch their schools, and also offers tangible evidence of our commitment to match their efforts, classroom by classroom. Already, two other villages, Olmesutie and Entasekera, encouraged by Mausa’s success, have nearly completed their fundraising to finish their schools, and two others, Olorte and Morijo, will soon be launching theirs.
Esoit Primary Head Teacher with students in the first secondary school class of the high school, February, 2023.
With our success in the Loita Hills, we are expanding our work west, to the region of Olderkesi. On the group’s final days in Kenya, they were able to meet with the head teacher and BOM (parents school committee) of Esoit Primary School in Olderkesi to help launch their first high school class this year. We’re incredibly excited for the opportunity to reach thousands more children in this high need region.
Every one of the classrooms opened in these villages will shelter thousands of hopes and dreams. It is only thanks to the incredible generosity and caring of our donors that these classrooms became a reality –– and now offer a better chance for those thousands of hopes and dreams to become reality themselves. On behalf of the children of Loita and Olderkesi, we extend our heartfelt gratitude.