I was asked by the Kenya World Concern headquarters in Nairobi to document Narok WC’s most successful project—a Food Security project at Ongata Naado Primary School—and so today I headed out into the African boonies yet again, this time with the project manager, Dan Kipilosh and the driver Joel (everyone on the Narok World Concern staff is Maasai—I guess it must be a requirement, as this area is the heart of Maasailand and all the projects are in Maasai communities; fluency in kiMaasai is a must.) Have I mentioned how much I love driving around rural Kenya? Seriously, I really do love it—the clouds of dust and the heat are no problem, just get me out there! I have seen so much of the countryside this time around and I find myself wondering if I could figure out a way to do this for a living: traveling to remote African villages and writing about the experience. Hmmm. Anyone have a job offer?
Anyway, Ongata Naado Primary School has been in existence since 1980 and is sited on the Loita Plains, way down another nearly impassible dirt road that cuts off the tarmac highway halfway between Ndulelei and Suswa on the western lip of the Rift Valley. The school languished for years and became known among Kenyan public schools as the worst school in Narok District. It was remote, the students were transient (Maasai is a pastoral and therefore, nomadic culture)and unmotivated and scored among the lowest in the country, the teachers there were rejects from other schools (ineffective teachers or teachers that were in trouble for other reasons were sent to Ongata Naado as ‘punishment,’) and the area had a very high incidence of human/wildlife conflict—meaning bands of elephants regularly marauded shambas, trampled crops and attacked humans, contributing to the extremely poor and hungry population.
In 2000, US/AID and World Concern identified the area as being in dire need of food relief and so bags of maize and beans began to arrive. But that didn’t change the nature of the place or address the problems with food security and elephant security, so in 2006 the Kenyan government coupled with World Concern to do just that. The government agreed to fund a food security project at Ongata Naado for 8 months and Dan Kipilosh got to work. WC used the government money to build and install a solar electric fence (to deter the marauding elephants) and surrounded 28 acres on the school compound. They rented a plow, purchased seeds and taught the teachers how to plant. The Kenyan Ministry of Forestry provided seeds for trees and the school set up a nursery to grow seedlings to plant as a windbreak around the 28 acre shamba.
To make a very long story short, the results have been unbelievably dramatic:
1) In 2009, three years after the project started (and 2 years after WC was completely out of the project) the school harvested 410 bags of maize, more than enough for the school’s yearly needs. The school sold what it didn’t need and with the proceeds bought 2 bulls that they fattened on the left over maize stalks and the long grass that had grown up around the shamba. The school sold the bulls and used the proceeds to construct temporary classrooms.
2) These classrooms were needed because as food at the school became secure, the enrollment increased. Between 2005 and 2010, enrollment went from 307 to 841.
3) With increased enrollment came more government attention. More and better teachers were assigned, the government funded the building of a ‘modern’ cooking facility, changed the school to a boarding facility and built a girl’s dorm and 2 more classrooms (that ended up being used for the boys’ dorm.)
4) In 2010 the school, for the first time ever, began to attract female teachers—largely because of the electric fence and the subsequent demise of the dangerous elephant attacks.
5) An agricultural club was started at the school and the students now plant their own shamba and grow the school’s veggies—sukuma wiki, tomatoes and onions, as well as some fruits—bananas, passion fruit, mangos and papaya.
6) Graduating Class 8 exam scores have improved every year, older boys (who normally would be pulled from school to tend the herds) are being retained; even more remarkable, the number of girls now nearly equals the number of boy students. This is highly unusual among the Maasai as the boys are favored for education and the girls are often married off and pregnant by age 12. The fact there are so many girls at Ongata Naado is reflective of the community’s acceptance of education as an important option for their girls.
7) Migration of the population has been much reduced because the Maasai no longer have to wander to ensure their own food security.
8) Elephant attacks and elephant destruction of crops has dramatically declined area-wide as a result of the conditioning effect of the electric fence (apparently, all it takes is one good jolt to teach an elephant to scram.)
There is so much more to write about this, but I’ve said enough. This whole remarkable turn-around is all because of one big garden and an elephant fence. And the best part is that the project is completely community sustained. The school does still receive some government food relief in years of drought (like last year) but overall, this project is a success of astronomic proportions.
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