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By Megha Rana

The Maasai tribe of Kenya is a strict patriarchal society, where the men lead and hold all decision-making power. Traditionally, the woman’s role is to follow all male decisions while staying at home, tending to children and performing household duties.

Maasai women are deeply connected to their land and efforts to preserve their communities.  They have in-depth knowledge of local wildlife and the local ecology, making them ideal candidates to work on conservation efforts. But until recently, the community structure has denied them the opportunity to use their unique skills at a professional level.

In 2019, a group of young Maasai women stepped forward to challenge these  long-held gender roles.  Sponsored by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), they created Team Lioness, the first unit of all-women rangers in Kenya.

The women of Team Lioness are part of a ranger unit that protects the traditional land surrounding the Amboseli National Park. They are trained as anti-poaching rangers, acting as a first line of defense against the poaching of elephants, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, and other wildlife.

(Paolo Torchio/IFAW)

These Maasai women were the first females in their community’s history to secure employment. They are determined to shift gender roles so women have opportunity.  According to Purity Lakara, one of these first proud Maasai rangers,

“Women are only allowed to stay at home, looking after their kids and giving birth. We are not meant to stay just at home. No. We are educated to come and change the world. So that’s what we are doing right now.”

IFAW’s East African director, James Isiche, said this project was a tough pitch to the elders of the Maasai community. The patriarchal structure made it difficult to  convince them to allow IFAW to recruit Team Lioness.

In the end, Team Lioness has become so successful that there are plans to recruit even more women of the Maasai community, as well as create similar anti-poaching squads in other areas around Africa.  Ultimately, Team Lioness is breaking boundaries and building opportunities for not only themselves, but also for other women of the Maasai community.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/maasai-women-kenya-safari-reopening/index.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kenya-maasai-women-defy-gender-norms-anti-poaching-rangers-team-lioness/

https://www.ifaw.org/projects/team-lioness

By Petra from Sparkley.eu   www.sparkley.eu

How has the quality of education in Kenya changed since 2003?  Why isn’t it working?

When free primary education became available in 2003, Kenyan schools were unprepared for the huge student influx.  Between 2003 and 2012, the number of students attending Kenyan primary schools increased by more than 3 million.  7,000 primary schools were added nationwide.  However, the facilities, staffing and supplies were far from sufficient to accommodate all interested students. 

Since 2012, the pupil-teacher ratio has steadily increased.  By 2015, World Bank data revealed a ratio of 31 students per teacher.  But according to a 2015 BBC report, classroom size was vastly underreported.  One Nairobi school, the Olympic Primary School admitted that some classes have as many as 120 pupils in one room, handled by one teacher. 

Moreover, it is reported that more than half of the teachers in public schools do not attend classes, with 15% of teachers not coming to school at all and 45% teachers being present at school, but in fact not teaching.  In 2021, the Kenyan Teachers Service Commission reported a teacher shortage of 104,000 instructors – over 46,000  at the primary school level and close to 58,000 in post-primary schools.  

This situation is tragic. Children hoping to overcome poverty through education find themselves in schools where the number of teachers is not sufficient.  Teachers are overloaded and report “burn out” within a few short years.  So, understaffed schools find themselves not only short-staffed but also with many absent teachers, forcing class sizes to balloon beyond management.  

Therefore, Kenyans with the financial means enroll their children in private schools where they are guaranteed a quality education.  Private school fees range from around $6,000 to $27,000 annually.  Two thirds of Kenya’s population live on less than $2 per day. Therefore, access to education by low-income families is an impossibility. As the world develops and becomes increasingly connected and computerized, low-income children, fall further and further behind. 

In Nyamboyo Village, a rural area of Kenya where most of our students live without basic modern necessities such as electricity and running water, the problem is more acute.  This is a community based vocational school, like NTS is so important.

NTS provides a 3-year professional education to youth aged 14-20 completely free of charge. There are NO hidden fees.  We also realize that student retention depends upon health and well-being.  If students are hungry, it is difficult to learn.  If students are not safe, it is hard to stay focused.  If young women fear an embarrassment during their period, they will not come to school.  We have taken it upon ourselves to eliminate stigmas, obstacles and barriers where ever possible.

NTS supports our students by providing:

• 3 meals a day presenting a full 2,000 calorie diet;
• High quality education provided by local experts with small classes of 20 students, usually being further divided into smaller groups;
• A structured, daily curriculum and 6-hour school day
• English-as-a-Second Language classes;
• Computer literacy classes;
• Classes on nutrition and health;
• Individual and group counselling aimed at raising mentally resilient and positive youth;
• Female empowerment programming to support the special needs of female students;
• Sanitary products for our female students;
• Uniforms, so students have professional clothing for school;
• And a lot of friends and personal support to improve the quality of their lives.

NTS is focusing on providing not only high-quality education, but also raising strong and healthy young adults by improving their overall living conditions.

At the end of the 3-year studies, NTS students obtain a professional certification from the Kenyan National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) – the gold standard in Kenya! Once they graduate, they either get a job placement or decide to begin their professional journey as entrepreneurs. Careers in hairdressing, electrical, carpentry, or tailoring will secure a stable income not only for our graduates, but also for their families.

Families who experience the kind of transformation a free education from NTS can offer, are eager to enroll another child, improving their lives further. We are a model for Kenyan education, one student at a time.

NTS free education is helping pull an entire community out of poverty.

Would you like to support our cause? Contact us at info@nyamboyotechnical.org to discuss collaboration and volunteer opportunities.

References:

https://medium.com/edwell/how-kenya-became-the-strongest-education-system-in-africa-70cdc72024c4 

https://studyinkenya.co.ke/blog/the-kenyan-education-system

https://wenr.wes.org/2015/06/education-kenya

https://www.britannica.com/place/Kenya/Education 

https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/774/Kenya-SECONDARY-EDUCATION.html 

https://knoema.com/atlas/Kenya/Pupil-teacher-ratio-in-primary-education 

By Petra from Sparkley.eu   www.sparkley.eu

How does the education system in Kenya work? 

In 2003, Kenya made public primary education free to all citizens.  This meant that every child, not just those who could afford tuition, would now receive a basic education through grade 8.  School became mandatory beginning at age 6.  And at the end of their 8 years, children would take a national exam.  If they passed the exam, they could enroll in a 4-year secondary education, followed by 4 years of higher education.

In 2008, the Kenyan government claimed to make secondary education free-of-charge.  However, most children who live in poverty have had their education cut short, due to poor primary education and the hidden costs imbedded in secondary education.  This leads us to ask the question:

Is public secondary education in Kenya really free of charge?

Unfortunately, it is only the classroom that is subsidized by the government.  Parents are obliged to pay fees for lunch, uniforms, and transportation, as well as grey areas such as school administration and management. In 2020, it was determined that the government’s subsidy per student amounts to $205 annually whereas parents must pay from $320 – $420 depending on the school type and location.

For families where the primary earners are peasant farmers and day laborers, this is a king’s ransom. These families often live at or below the poverty level of $1.90 a day. They do not earn enough to fully feed their families.  Paying for the secondary education of their children is impossible. 

Without proper education, children in poverty have little chance for advanced training and, as adults, lack the skills to earn a liveable and stable income for themselves and their families. Consequently, they perpetuate this cycle, living in the same poverty as their parents, and raising their children without access to secondary education. This is the vicious circle of poverty that NTS is combatting by offering not only free education, but also a completely free experience that includes clothing, food and home necessities to help families. 

NTS is a rarity in Kenya.  With opportunity for advancement for those born into poverty so limited, it raises the question: How has the quality of education in Kenya changed since 2003?

See our next post for answers…

by Megha Rana

Menstruation is a natural process that occurs monthly for all people with a uterus. Most will first get their period between the ages of 10 to 15, and will menstruate, on average, for 40 years. For some, menstruation is a celebration of a young woman in the making, but for others it is the beginning of a life-long struggle with  period poverty, or the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education 

At any one time, more than 800 million women across the globe are menstruating. Despite this, periods are often drowned in secrecy, shame, and silence. Not having the basics to make menstruation manageable, such as clean menstrual products, , people to talk to, or even the dignity of privacy,  has led to  global health issue. Many women, especially those across Africa and Asia, struggle with period poverty.

According to a 2017 Time Magazine article, “when a girl misses school because of her period, cumulatively, that puts her behind her male classmates by 145 days.”

The outcomes of period poverty in Africa include:

• Girls missing one or more school days – 1 in 10 girls in Africa do not go to school during their menstruation period because of a lack of access to menstrual products and/or because there are no safe and private toilets to use at school. 
• Lack of access to clean menstrual products – 50% of school-aged girls in Kenya do not have access to menstrual products nor can they afford them.  Transactional sex in in exchange for menstrual products is also widely reported.
• A feeling of shame and fear towards one’s period – Sociocultural norms, and taboos often lead women and girls to fear others “discovering” their soiled period products. Girls may even burn evidence of their periods as a way to remove traces of their menstrual blood, for fear of shame, bullying, or even violence against them.

(Statistics according to Action Aid and Down to Earth.) 

Menstrual health hygiene remains an issue layered with negative perceptions and limited understanding due to the taboo and stigma behind it in communities across Africa. However, a concrete understanding of how to manage menstruation is vital. There are many efforts that can provide sustaining and successful solutions: a good education on menstruation, addressing stigma/shame, healthy menstrual health management, supply distribution, as well as eliminating tax on menstrual products. This spring, NTS will begin providing reusable pads to our female students.  We will also begin a reproductive health program.  Our goal: No NTS will ever again miss school again because of her period.

Together, we can overcome period poverty and create period equity for all.

So, now that we know how to replenish our electrolytes quickly, how do we keep a daily balance both during this heat wave and in general?  As Courtney Hamilton, NTS nutritionist tells us, the most important electrolytes are:

Sodium: We lose this in the highest concentration when we sweat.  Just adding more salt to our food during the heat will help replenish sodium.

Chloride:  This is also lost in high concentrations when we sweat but is harder to replenish.  The best food sources are tomatoes and lettuce.

Potassium:  This is lost very quickly in the heat and causes weakness, fatigue, and cramping.  The best local food sources are oranges, melons, potatoes, green leafy vegetables, avocado, and beans.  Fortunately, most are readily available at our markets.

Calcium: This seems to be a mineral everyone knows.  The best sources are milk and green leafy vegetables.  Many of us have cows at home so have ready access to milk.

Magnesium:  This helps with fatigue.  The best sources are green leafy vegetables, nuts, peanut butter, beans, and lentils.  Nuts and peanut butter are a favorite student food.

We’re not in citrus season so we’re relying on banana peels in our water.  However, oranges and lemons peels also release electrolytes in water so their peels so in a few months, we’ll welcome citrus water as a new taste treat.

Now you have an idea of what you’ll see on our plates as our brutal summer unfolds.  While we’ve never seen snow, it sounds awfully nice…

It’s been over 40°C (that’s 107°F) every day this week. Climate change has hit Nyamboyo Village with a vengeance.

Everyone is soldiering through the school day but by the end, we’re exhausted and achy. So, we reached out to our beloved nutritionist, Courtney Hamilton, for advice on how to combat the side effects of heat.

Here are highlights of her response:

When we sweat, we lose more than fluids. We lose electrolytes which are the essential minerals that help our bodies function. Electrolytes include sodium, magnesium, potassium, chloride, and calcium. If we were in the US, we’d drink Gatorade. But what are the sources we can access easily in Nyamboyo Village?

The answer is surprisingly simple and sitting here on our plates!

Citrus and banana peels are full of electrolytes. We can easily serve bananas every day at NTS. All we need to do is add them to our water and let them sit for a bit. Presto – instant flavor and hydration innovation! (And as with any recipe, a pinch of salt can’t hurt and will add essential sodium.)

Next week, we’ll talk about the essential foods we eat that also help us keep our electrolytes in balance particularly through the heat.