There
are less than a handful of secondary schools in the Maasai region,
while college facilities are unheard of. Maasai land has
the highest primary and secondary school dropout rates in Kenya
-- mainly because of lack of local schools in the region. Many
Maasai children start their primary and secondary school education
late because schools are so far away from their communities.
Many
students have not been able to complete high school education
due to lack of school fees, uniforms, and books. High schools
in the urban areas are far away and are expensive, making
it impossible for Maasai families to afford education for
their children.
Maasai
girls, picture above, conversing about their future studies
after the Merrueshi Primary School.
The
national education statistics shows that a limited number
of Maasai children have completed secondary school, while
even fewer of them have had a chance to attend college. Education
is one of 3 most critical needs, among water and health clinics,
in the Maasai region today.
With
the emerging challenges and rapid changes of the modern world
in the Maasai region, it is critically important to have a
high school run by the Maasai people in their own community.
We strongly believe that a an all Maasai high school will
give Maasai children the opportunity to further their studies
beyond primary school.
Needs
for this project
Five
classrooms,
staff room, five teachersí houses, kitchen, dinning hall,
lecture hall, washrooms, dormitories, desks and tables.
High
school is what we need to successfuly move the Maasai community
forward through the 21st century. It is our hope to educate
the Maasai children so that they can become agents of their
own change rather than victims of change. High school education
will benefit the Maasai children and their communities. We
are hoping to have the Maasai High School built by 2006.
How
you can help as a devoted Friend of the Maasai
There
are so many ways you can help us. Members and non-members alike
can help us by organizing a fundraising event in your local
community; giving financial support; giving in-kind donations;
you can volunteer to help on a specific project; or refer us
to someone you know who can help our organization in any capacity
that s/he could.
For
example, children from Medina Elementary School bought 20
cows and 34 goats used to pay school fees for students in
Merrueshi Primary School.
Also,
children of Julius E. Sprauve School on St. John in the US
Virgin Islands raised over $ 10,000 used to provide clean
water to Maasai children for the first time.
Other
persons and groups have contributed skills and knowledge in
many different ways. Please do what you can because everything
counts.
Imagine
a community with power to decide its own destiny.
Education
is our power.
Help us to prepare agents of our change, and to
realize a sustainable future for our generations
to come.
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Note:
Success of the Maasai High School will mean success to other
Maasai communities. The neighboring communities will adapt this
model of community building and implement it in their own settings.
