Current Cause
The Maasai Heritage Preservation Foundation work extensively in Africa. Through the support of schools in Africa, children are being offered a chance to prosper. The current projects that the Foundation supports are detailed below:
Memusi School
The Maasai Heritage Preservation Foundation are raising money to construct, furnish, equip and maintain a school where English and Swahili will be taught, as well as key life skills such as hygeine and personal care. Memusi has been supported by the MHPF for the past year and the school has prospered under that support.
The school was established with 4 children, and it has since grown to educate 45 children in the 1 tin hut that is used for the school. Memusi has steadily developed over the past 2 years and has developed to such a point where the school have won awards in local educational competitions. This is a testomany of the hard work of Simantoi and the people who have developed Memusi since its establishment.
Critically, the school has also grown in local support. Unknown in Maasailand, Memusi even has a Maasai men starting at Foundation level with the children from January 2008.
Although Memusi School has certainly prospered in the 2008, it has not been easy as the school have faced drought as well as the difficulty of the school collapsing during a storm. The school was also impacted by the post election troubles, when several of the families left the area. However, having dealt with more problems than many will ever face, the school has continued to grow and prosper and has now taken on a second teacher with the class size increasing. Each term more students turn up - Memusi school is in demand.
Although the school is growing in student numbers, it has reached its capacity. In temperatures of 45 degrees in a school made of tin it is incredibly uncomfortable for the children. The school is also unsafe due to the tin and wood structure and was seriously structurally damaged on a number of occassions in 2008. The structure is also built on borrowed land and with cheap material given by local well wishers and as such is not suitable for the delivery of quality education that the MHPF are aiming to deliver.
The Foundation are now working with the school and the region eldersin planning a new school. The region contains 1,500 people, the majority of whom have no formal education. They do not speak Swahili (the language of the country) and have never been taught English or German (the language of business) and as such the Maasai people are struggling. It is critical for their continued survival that they are helped and we firmly believe that this begins with education.
The Foundation and Memusi school are aiming to provide education that is not limited to the young, but education and a place to be educated available to people of all ages.
Land has been granted for a school and plans have been drawn up with the Foundation looking at controlling the building costs. A support structure is in place through the foundation so that the school can get the support it needs once built.
Too many children in Kenya are not in School and too many adults have never been educated. The schools they do have are over-run with students and more schools need to be built to give more people an opportunity to attend school. Through the development of the school at Memusi, generations of children will be offered an opportunity.
Memusi has been a key success from 2006 to 2008. The school is a representation of the dedication of the people involved in the school. It is in credit to Simantoi Mbarye, the parents, the children and region elders that Memusi school has developed so well and dealt with all problems in its path. In expanding that success to the wider community, MHPF are excited at the opportunity to develop Memusi school to accomodate 450 children.
TEAM School and Farm, Mlali
TEAM school has become a great success since its creation. It has become the central point of the community and is vitally important for the people of Mlali. The community are behind the school and they are playing a key role in driving the school forward. Requests are made on a weekly basis from guardians and parents who wish for their children to come to TEAM school, Mlali. The people of Mlali also have the vision for expansion where the school can take on Primary and Secondary age children, offering quality education to the people of Mlali. However, the school has reached its limits due to the building that TEAM are using.
For 2 years, TEAM school in Mlali has utilised 3 rented rooms in a office building to teach its children. Although the rent is reduced, the cost of utilising the building is still an overhead that the school can ill afford. As such, a new school is being planned for 2009. The school will provide a firm residence for TEAM school that will allow the school to develop further. It will have numerous classrooms, providing extensive education to pre-school children as well as expansion to Primary aged children. The school will also have water, toilets and cooking facilities to help in key areas of the childrens care.
In addition to the development of a new school, MHPF are aiming to develop a farm in Mlali that is owned by TEAM school. The farm will have the following key benefits:
- Food for Children - For many of the orphaned children that attend TEAM school, they have never been guaranteed a meal a day. It is the aim of TEAM school that all children will receive 3 meals per day to help the children develop.
- Food for Families - In Mlali, the poverty is so bad that many of the parents go without food in order to feed their children. With the creation of a farm, food will also be provided to the parents of Mlali children
- Employment - Many people in Mlali are un-employed. The farm will provide employment opportunities for the people of Mlali who will be paid to maintain and farm the land for the school.
- Finance - Extra food will be sold at a local market. To raise the level of income to the school, the money will be vital.
Land has been identified in Mlali, which will be used to create the farm. In order to create the farming environment, tools will be required to farm the land and investment will have to be made at the outset to clear and prepare the land. Funds from MHPF will have to be used to establish this.
A key goal of MHPF and all of its schools is self sufficiency and the ability to run without continued investment. It is with belief that in creating an environment that is sustainable, MHPF schools will continue to thrive and grow. In developing a new school in Mlali, and creating a farming environment, MHPF are progressing towards that self sufficient environment. The removal of rent and food costs will allow the school to thrive and further develop, without the concern and need for financial support.