Thanks to your support, our groundbreaking YES WE CAN! program is underway in Kenya! Girls and boys are participating in important programs that prepare them to confront issues of gender inequality and violence, to stay in school, and to pursue a quality education.
MOI NAIKARRA
The Moi Naikarra Secondary Boarding School, where our YES WE CAN! pilot program is based, serves nearly one-thousand students in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Boarding at school is a necessity due to the remote nature of the territory and many impediments to travel and transportation.
Moi Naikarra was selected as our pilot school due to its outstanding record of educational success. It is also where FOC Operational Director Stephen Kisoto has served as President of the School Board of Management for the past seven years.
During Stephen’s tenure the school has grown from 378 students to 952 while the percentage of female students has expanded from 21% to 32%. Moi Naikarra has also ranked first on university entrance exam scores in Narok County for the past three years and represents a vital point of access to educational opportunities for the region’s youth.
Our success at Moi Naikarra serves as a model as we work to exand the YES WE CAN! program to schools throughout the region.
MAMA JORIE BUTLER KENT SCHOLARS
When Maasai families are unable to pay school fees or purchase the uniforms that a student needs, it often leaves girls forced into early marriage, and boys to herding livestock. The Mama Jorie Butler Kent Scholarship Fund was founded to help girls and boys access the opportunity for education.
During the next school year, 18 ambitious and hopeful young Maasai will be attending Moi Naikarra school as scholarship recipients. These soon to be students, 11 girls and 7 boys, will receive tuition to cover boarding costs and educational fees, representing a life-changing opportunity for themselves, their families, and their communities. This year’s scholarship recipients were selected from among 81 applicants, based on economic need and academic commitment.
Our hope is to grow the program so families throughout the region with girls and boys who might not otherwise be able attend school have access to the support they need.
YES WE CAN!
As the Maasai confront the challenges of an encroaching modern world many long-standing cultural practices have come into sharp contrast. Even today many Maasai girls are taken out of school and married into a lifetime of servitude as early as 11, and 3 in 10 girls in Kenya under the age of 19 will be subjected to forced genital mutilation. Such culturally entrenched norms are often stubborn to change, especially when a people feel threatened by outside influences.
The YES WE CAN! program was conceived to help provide this generation of Maasai with a bridge between the old ways and the new, honoring their culture while providing a future of equal dignity for all. The evidence is clear that as women and girls from traditional cultures achieve greater access to equality, education, and personal autonomy the welfare and economic prospects of the culture as whole are elevated.
The YES WE CAN! curriculum includes eight chapters, spanning a full school year, developed in partnership with established organizations in Kenya that have demonstrated successful outreach programs among vulnerable populations. The curriculum is culturally sensitive and age-appropriate, dealing with issues of gender inequality, gender-based violence, and sexual and reproductive health. The program also includes guest speakers, including role models from amongst the broader Maasai community, and instruction in self-defense.
YES WE CAN! is integrated through the well-established FOC Conservation Club at Moi Naikarra. Over the years FOC Conservation Clubs have been launched in more than 50 Mara schools. There are currently 220 students in the club at Moi Naikarra, where YES WE CAN! content is presented twice weekly.
This first of it’s kind program in the Mara will prepare a new generation of Maasai to create a future of shared dignity and respect. Expanding the program will require training new educators at each new school to facilitate the curriculum. As the program expands through FOC Conservation Clubs at other schools, the team of teachers trained to facilitate YES WE CAN! at Moi Naikarra will take on an additional role, that of “training the trainers.”
HELP US SPREAD THE GIFT OF EDUCATION
Here are some ways you can help:
- Share this news with friends and family
- Post about it to your social media
- Make a direct contribution to support our work
Since the early ’80s Friends of Conservation has partnered with the Maasai to preserve their heritage through conservation. Now, with your support, we are empowering a generation of young people to embrace their future, as equals. Together with our dedicated wildlife scouts, community education programs, and FOC Conservation Clubs, the YES WE CAN program and Mama Jorie Butler Kent Scholarships are preparing the next generation to rise to the challenges they will face as stewards of the treasured Masai Mara.
Thank you!
With love from Jorie and Reute