NEO•GRIOT

There are two primary schools in the Sereolipi area – Ndonyo Wasin Primary School and Sereolipi Primary School. In 2001 there were only 130 children attending these two primary schools and this was less than 3% of the children in the area. Yet the people believed that education was a key to their survival in the 21st century. It was the best thing they could do to improve the socio-economic structure in their communities and thereby create significant and lasting change in the lives of their children.

However, Northern Kenya is one of the poorest and most marginalized areas in Africa and the average annual income in the Sereolipi area is less than $250 a year. Even the most basic initiatives are beyond their financial means. In addition, the Samburu community is nomadic and most children live 10 to 40 miles away from these primary schools. The parents themselves had never been to school and had little understanding of what going to school entailed. They were reluctant to send their 6 year olds to a strange school so far away – particularly when they had an important role in looking after the goats and cattle at home.

Their goal was to get as many children of the nomadic families to come to school as possible.

Jane Newman first met the people of Sereolipi when she was driving from Nairobi to Addis Ababa and the car she was in broke down in their village. At that time Jane was working in advertising in New York City. The following year she retired and she returned to stay with them for a month. She realized that their dream was worthy and their ideas were good but they had no chance of making it happen simply because they had no money. She helped them set up Sereolipi Nomadic Education Trust in 2001 and decided to raise funds for them through friends and business associates in the US and Europe.

The first initiative of the project was to establish some preschools in the outlying nomadic communities where the parents could see the benefits of school first hand.

The preschool classroom is under a thorn tree with a blackboard propped against the tree trunk this is used to teach 25 to 35 tiny children to read, write, add and subtract. The schools are managed by an active committee of men and women elected by the communities. And the school is very much part of the culture.

Two preschools were opened in 2003. They proved to be very successful at sending students into the primary schools so more were added and now there are 14 of them. Each preschool is supported by a sponsor in the USA/UK who donates $1,000 a year for the salary of the teacher, food for lunch and a cook to make it as well as blackboards and books to teach with.

As the preschools brought more and more students into the two local primary schools it created the need for dormitories. Almost all the nomadic children have to board at the school because their families live and migrate anywhere from 10 to 40 kilometers from the two schools. The existing dormitories were extremely overcrowded.

The second initiative was to build two dormitories for girls and two for boys in each of the two primary schools. People in America donated enough money for these eight dormitories complete with shower blocks and toilets and fully equipped with new bunk beds, mattresses and sheets. Solar lighting was installed.

As well as the dormitories other aspects of the infrastructure needed to be improved to cope with the influx of students. More desks and school uniforms were bought every year for both schools.

Water was put into Ndonyo Wasin primary school because the students were walking 4 kilometers a day to fetch water from an open well dug in a dry river bed. A large airy computer room with Internet access and a library were added to Sereolipi school. An ambulance and nurse were brought in to look after the health of the students in the primary schools and preschools. Camels were bought to give the students extra nutrition and an evening meal was given to Ndionyo Wasin boarders.

The number of children attending primary school has increased from just 132 students in 2001 the year before we started to 780 in 2010. In addition there are over 400 students attending the 14 preschools so we have about 1,200 students in total at school.

The third initiative was begun in 2006 and its goal was to set up a scholarship program for students graduating from the primary schools. Secondary school is not free in Kenya and the cost of school fees, supplies and transport to send a student to secondary school was nearly three times the parent’s annual income and it was simply impossible for the parents to pay. The program looks for individual sponsors in the US/Europe who are interested in helping one of these bright students to realize their dream and the sponsor pays $1,000 a year to send the student to one of the best secondary schools in the country. We now have 90 students in the scholarship program.

For more information on the scholarship program go to thorntreescholarship.org

The fourth initiative was started last year in Ndonyo Wasin Primary School which has 240 students enrolled (up from only 32 in 2001). Its goal was to improve the quality of education the students were receiving so that more and more of them would qualify for the scholarship program which required a pass mark of 300 out of 500 in the primary school exams.

In rural schools in Kenya the government provides less than 45% of what is needed to run a basic school capable of delivering adequate academic standards. In our schools the situation was even worse. For example, in 2007 the Kenyan government gave Ndonyo Wasin Primary School only 30% of what the school needed to function at a basic academic level. The school had only 3 teachers when there were 8 classes from Standard 1 to 8. The government supplied only basic food of corn and cow peas for lunch even though the school is 100% boarding and the students need breakfast and dinner as well as lunch. The government only supplies enough money for text books for one subject text book to be shared by 3 to 4 students and no English or Kiswahili reading books. Not surprisingly, and in spite of all the efforts of the head teacher, the school was not doing well.

In 2008, it was agreed that we would supply the other 70% Ndonyo Wasin Primary School needed for one year to see if it would help increase grades. We added 8 teachers, bought Unimix (a nutritionally balanced porridge) for breakfast and ugali and beans for dinner. We built a new kitchen with energy efficient stoves and also a new library that has about 2,500 reading books in it. And we have added 3 new large, light classrooms. Our stated goal was to make sure that all the students achieved 60% or more in all their 5 subjects.

The results were excellent – a 20 to 30% increase in grades across all classes in Ndonyo Wasin. There was still lots of room for improvement but it was good enough to continue in Ndonyo Wasin Primary School and to extend the program to Sereolipi Primary school in 2009. We also agreed to add in a third school in our area called Lerata Primary School that had 130 students enrolled in it.

In 2009 the exam results were outstanding with a further 30% increase in Ndonyo Wasin, a 35% increase in Sereolipi and a 32% increase in Lerata. The increases continued into 2010 and the three schools are well on their way to being some of the best schools in the country. As a result of this, the number of students entering the scholarship program has doubled between 2009 and 2011

Through all of these activities Jane Newman works closely with the community, teachers, head teachers, and school committees to ensure the project is well managed and that each activity has clear objectives and is fully evaluated on an annual basis. Jane travels to Sereolipi, Ndonyo Wasin and Lerata and visits the primary schools and pre-schools at least twice a year.

None of this would have been achieved without the generous support of all the people who have donated money to the project over the past 8 years. It has been amazing what has been accomplished and the Samburu people are extremely grateful and so very appretiative. They send blessings to all who have helped them.