Educational Projects

“Educating girls is a sure way to raise economic productivity, lower child and maternal mortality, improve nutritional status and health, reduce poverty, and eliminate HIV/AIDS and other diseases.”

• UNICEF

Secondary School Education

TEMBO’s commitment to secondary school education is at the heart of our mission. Determining how to provide the best quality education for girls continues to be a challenge we face. We find that one of the greatest barriers to girls doing well in school is their lack of adequate English literacy. By the time girls reach secondary school they are expected to know three languages: Maasai (spoken at home); Swahili (learned in primary school); and English (the language of instruction in secondary school, for which they have almost no preparation).

TEMBO is looking for creative ways to address the language issue so that the girls we sponsor have a better chance of succeeding in school. In June and July 2010 during the one month school break, TEMBO will begin offering a supplementary English Language Program to Form I and Form II students (Grade 9 and Grade 10.) Volunteers in Canada who are Educators and Teachers of English as a Second Language have prepared the program. This program will take place outside of the classroom and will have the feel of a “camp” experience. The girls will learn to speak and write English better through a variety of enjoyable activities.

In 2010, Canadian donors are sponsoring 85 girls in 10 different secondary schools. Some of these schools are run by the government and some are private. There are a number of reasons why some girls cannot attend government schools. For instance, if a girl fails to pass the national exam at the end of primary school she may not attend; or if a girl becomes pregnant she may not attend. Since some factors are beyond a girl’s control, TEMBO consults with school officials and parents to see if exceptions should be made. An example would be a girl becoming pregnant. Pregnancy at an early age is a common cultural occurrence among Maasai girls. TEMBO, and other NGO’s in the village, encourage these girls to return to school once their babies are born, since education will result in better care for their children in the present and lower birth rates in the future. However, these girls must go to private schools. Tuition fees alone for government school are about $250.00 per girl per year. In a private school these same fees run as high as $1000.00 per year. The cost of uniforms, shoes, food, monthly toiletry items, books, school and exam fees, and clinic fees are over and above this.

Post Secondary & Vocational Training

Students graduating from Secondary School, and even those who have left prior to graduating, often choose other fields for further education. The current Chef at the TEMBO Guesthouse studied Hotel Management. Others students sponsored by TEMBO have studied Community Development which prepares them to work with NGO’s. Some students have taken Secretarial Studies.

Community Facilitation

In addition to providing sponsorship opportunities, Project TEMBO funds “informal” educational programming. This is crucial in an area where most of the population has not been educated and many cannot read or write. Through community facilitation we bring important information directly to the villagers.

Mary Laiser, a 38 year old local Maasai woman and single mother, is TEMBO’s Community Facilitator. Mary provides information that is both practical and important to the work TEMBO is doing. It is information that is not included in the school curriculum.

TEMBO has helped Mary develop lesson plans around a series of books put out by the United Nations. This series, The Sara Club, is designed to teach girls to know their rights, value education, be pro-active, have good relationships with boys, and avoid dangers such as FGM (female genital mutilation) and HIV/AIDS. The books were written with girls in mind but Mary has adapted the content to include information important to boys, too, since they have requested to be part of the weekly classes. Mary offers these classes four days a week at both the primary and secondary school level in Longido and Kimokouwa.

Mary believes it is imperative that the adults know what she is teaching the children. She conducts sessions with the parents of TEMBO sponsored students and reaches more families through the women in the micro-finance groups. Mary uses every opportunity to include the village and tribal leaders in her classes. She is often approached by other NGO’s to provide information to their groups. For instance, in the Child Mother program, run by another NGO in Longido, Mary teaches girls who have become pregnant at an early age about how to prevent this from happening again.

Teacher Training

TEMBO’s education program also includes preparing new teachers. Teacher Training and Certification is central to TEMBO’s mandate. Currently, at the college level two girls are studying to be primary school teachers and another to be a Montessori School teacher. Since 2004, TEMBO has sponsored more than 20 young women to become teachers. Most graduates find work in rural areas where class size can be as high as 125 students at the primary level.

Longido Community Library

The Longido Community Library was begun as a result of our desire to make learning available to everyone. Thanks to a huge book drive and a corporate donor in Canada, thousands of books now line the shelves in the library’s small room that we temporarily rent from another NGO. These books were organized by volunteers from Canada during a January 2009 trip. The huge selection of English books complements the modest but growing selection of Swahili and Maasai books. The book collection is maintained by a woman from the village.

At the request of the students and teachers, TEMBO has purchased sets of secondary school curriculum books. These are an important addition to the library since few textbooks are available for student use in the schools. The government has also initiated a self-study program encouraging adults to complete secondary school. The selection of books in the library provides a great resource for these adults who would otherwise not be able to participate in the program.

Library use is highest during school breaks. Students who are keen to learn use the break from school as an opportunity to continue studies. Teachers and NGO workers also use the library as a source of information and recreational reading. Generally speaking though, few villagers use the library since most have limited education or have never been to school. Future programming can change this.

In 2010, TEMBO will hire a qualified teacher-librarian to provide programming in both Longido and Kimokouwa.