A chance for education for pastoralist girls in Marsabit County

On a dusty, deserted, and hot plain in Kenya stands a white tent under a sprawling acacia tree serving as a makeshift classroom. A small group of girls obediently listen to the teacher, Mr. Boniface Bonaya. Here, there are no desks nor chairs but rather a woven mat that lies on the hot burning sand. This is the Mobile Non-Formal Education (MNFE) Center in Kutura, Marsabit County, a village close to the Kenya-Ethiopia border and home to approximately 950 pastoralists.

The girls come from nomadic families who roam the plains in Marsabit County in search of pasture. Adeso launched the ambitious 30 month Mobile Non formal Education (MNFE) Project in 2014 to bring education to pastoralists who until then had been denied access to education because of their nomadic lifestyle. For generations, Kutura residents have depended on cattle, sheep, and goats to earn a living. Since animals need water and pasture to thrive, communities have to move in search of these precious elements forcing the children to drop out of school. To address these realities, the MNFE center in Kutura was born.

Doke Sharamo, 17, has been a regular student since the MNFE center opened its doors five months ago. Previously a primary school drop-out, she is convinced the project will help her. “Education will change my life and my community’s’ life for the better. I want to go on to secondary school, then to university and one day become a doctor and help my people,” she said. Doke is interested in learning and she regularly attends classes despite her coming from the furthest Manyatta (neighborhood). “People used to think educating girls was a waste of time,” she added, “but that is changing now.”

To ensure there is no conflict between livelihood activities and education, the project provides flexible learning schedules, with classes taking place when pupils are free  including at night. Some girls start their lessons as early as 6am and tend to the goats during the day while others catch up with the day’s lessons at night. When that happens, the teacher lights the tent with a solar lamp that he recharges during the day. To provide even more flexibility, annual school terms are not based on calendar months like regular schools. Instead, the calendar is determined by rainfall patterns with learning taking place mainly during wet seasons when labour demand on children is low and movement is minimal, thereby allowing more teacher-pupil contact time.

The Centre accommodates girls who dropped out at different levels and the Mr. Bonaya is capable of handling multi-grade pupils with his training in pedagogy provided by Adeso. During the sensitization and recruitment that was conducted in August 2014, close to 300 young women and men showed up to enroll. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for many. There are a total of 32 pupils in the Kutura MNFE center, with the majority being girls. This is particularly encouraging considering that girls in this region have for a long time been excluded from mainstream education. In Marsabit County, only 14.6% of girls over the age of six have ever attended school.

This indeed is a way of ensuring that the girl child is also able to learn and reach the high scales of education no matter where their from. Their will for education indeed created a way for them to study despite their busy schedules.

Reference : adesoafrica.org