Summary: Celebrating Nine Years of Progress

Many of Mashuru’s traditionally nomadic Maasai people have started putting down roots. It’s a major cultural shift for them, but one that bodes well for the children — because staying in one place means that children now have the chance to go to school.

Higher-quality education is one of the most positive changes this community has seen. Girls are attending school in greater numbers than ever and overall academic performance has improved. Families still struggle to keep their children in school but they know it is critical to do so — and understanding the importance of education is a huge step forward for this community.

Unfortunately, severe drought complicates the situation. Drought has always been an issue in Mashuru, although it used to hit every decade or so and now it has not let up for three years. Recovery is a difficult process, but the people are determined to work through these tough times to improve their children’s lives. 

Without World Vision’s support, it is more likely the Maasai people would continue their nomadic lifestyle, and this means fewer children would be in school, more girls would face early marriage and rates of HIV would likely be higher. World Vision’s support has allowed the people to improve school facilities, which motivates and encourages children to stay in school. This gives them the chance to build a future and demonstrates to parents just how important education is.

Together, since 2000, our sponsors have helped us to:

• Enrol 33% more children, including girls, many for the first time ever;
• Build 37 classrooms;
• Provide 800 desks to help 2,400 students; and
• Build a dormitory to benefit 600 students.

Another major step forward for this community is the way in which HIV and AIDS is being addressed. Taboos are lifting. Attitudes are changing. Stigma and discrimination are easing and voluntary testing is on the rise.

By working closely with churches and other faith-based organizations, people are learning how important it is to care for and support each other. It is also encouraging to see the Kenyan government’s area advisory councils take on a pivotal role in caring for orphaned and vulnerable children and people living with HIV and AIDS. Between 2000 and 2007, our sponsors helped: 

• Identify 871 orphaned and vulnerable children and connect them with home visitors who encourage them to stay in school and provide support;
• Care for vulnerable children by paying school fees;
• Support people living with HIV or AIDS by improving access to anti-retroviral medication;
• Provide faith-based Channels of Hope training for more than 100 faith leaders and 1,000 church members;
• Youth form 23 peer clubs and 16 out-of-school clubs so they can share HIV-prevention strategies; and
• These young people become more assertive, because by challenging cultural norms, they have a better chance of avoiding HIV.

Accomplishment: Education a Beacon of Hope

These days, Agnes, 16, is thriving at school. Her very presence in the classroom signals hope, particularily in a culture where early marriage for girls is still quite common.

Three years have passed since Agnes was rescued from marrying an older man she had never met. “My family did not have money for school so my father was going to give me a husband,” she recalls. “I was sad. I was thinking I can’t go. I need to learn. My friends were in school and I would have to stop.”

Although Agnes endured fear and a difficult transition period, she has moved on and accepts what her family felt they had to do. “Education is the key to my success and I need to work hard,” she says. “My family is not rich so I have to learn so that I can one day help them.” 

Today, the presence of more girls in Mashuru’s classrooms means they are exposed to opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have had. This makes their future more hopeful and the entire community benefits as a result.

Building and improving schools, working with local education committees and giving girls an alternative to early marriage is all done with a view to showing families how education makes the entire family better off in the long term.  It’s a fundamental cultural change, and one that the people of Mashuru are embracing. In 2008, our sponsors also helped us to:

• Build five classrooms to benefit 200 students;
• Provide 320 school desks for 17 primary schools, reducing the number of pupils sharing desks from three to two;
• Provide an education workshop for 32 school officials and community leaders;
• Train members of 93 school management committees to interact with parents regarding the importance of schooling and the protection of child rights; and
• Support the Women’s Community Based Organization in their role as protectors of child rights.

World Vision has been working with local authorities and community-based organizations to rescue children and begin the important process of reconciliation with the family. Boarding school fees are covered so they can study in a safe and nurturing environment, and the girls receive uniforms and other essentials.

Marriage under the age of 18 is illegal in Kenya but the burden of educating and feeding a child forces many poor families to marry their daughters early. Most of the girls, instead of finding a home of comfort and safety, endure endless days of servitude.

Fortunately, Agnes no longer has to fear this life, but she is one of the fortunate ones. In late 2006, the then-13-year-old sat in the dark wondering what kind of a wife she would make and dreading what would become of her. Without warning, a car raced through the dark to her home. Agnes recognized the village chief and the police but could not place the face of a woman reassuring her that everything would be OK. Agnes would later learn that the woman was a World Vision-trained volunteer.

“It was better for me to get in a car with strangers than to get married,” Agnes recalls. “They told me to get in the car.” Frightened and anxious, Agnes was taken to a neighbouring town. Eventually, she was brought to the boarding school.

Like Agnes, 12-year-old Anne was also rescued from a life of labour after she and her three siblings were scattered between relatives when their mother died. She has now been at boarding school for five years.

“I used to wake up very early in the morning before others in our family compound. I had to milk the cows, make tea and serve my elders. I then had to fetch water, make lunch, clean clothes, make dinner and then clean up before I went to bed. I felt like people did not love me. I felt so bad. I worked the whole day."

Anne has received other support, including a lantern for studying at night, a mosquito net, blankets and regular health check-ups. She says her life would have been miserable had she not been rescued, and she is so grateful to World Vision for their support.

Accomplishment: One Mother’s Bravery in the Face of HIV

Josephine is 32 years old and a single mother. She has never gone to school. Today, she is living with HIV, but her courage is defining her as she sets an example for others in her community.

Josephine has come a long way since learning several years ago that she had HIV. Any talk of the disease was still taboo at that time, and Josephine’s relatives did not want her to get tested. They were afraid of the result and feared she would die.

It is because of Josephine’s bravery and tenacity — and that of others like her – that attitudes in Mashuru are starting to change. Josephine went for treatment alone and began learning things about AIDS that would set her on a new path. She learned about the importance of replacement breast milk, a healthy diet and immunization.

Since her diagnosis, Josephine has given birth to two healthy children. Both are sponsored by World Vision. They are healthy and in school. She is keeping them healthy with the milk she gets from goats supplied by World Vision. Josephine is also the chairperson of her HIV and AIDS support group. She encourages others to get tested and take their anti-retroviral medication as prescribed, and helps people get to hospital.

“God has really given me courage to speak out even when things are bad,” Josephine says. “We know that God has a purpose. People are putting their hope in us. People are coming to us and asking for advice.”

Thanks to the generosity and compassion of our sponsors — as well as grants from the Canadian and U.S. governments — we have been able to help many more people like Josephine.

Together in 2008, we were able to:

• Support 44 orphaned and vulnerable children with income-generating projects;
• Support the Kenyan government’s efforts to care for orphaned and vulnerable children by training members of the government’s 36 area advisory councils; 
• Provide Channels of Hope training for nearly 500 church members and 58 pastors to help reduce stigma and discrimination; 
• Distribute 27 bicycles to home visitors and caregivers, which helps them to visit more people more often and provide more timely care;
• Support young people with sports kits to help them keep busy and involved in the community;
• Ensure that 851 children identified as orphaned and vulnerable are enrolled in some form of schooling and receive monthly visits from a home visitor; and
• Support 100 children so they can attend formal school or receive vocational training.

Accomplishment: Local Dam Relieves Mother of Terrible Nightly Journey

For mother-of-five Anna Nenkalsh, having a source of water close to home is more than a blessing, it is a lifesaver. Two years ago, World Vision built a dam on nearly 10 acres of land in Mashuru, transforming many lives in the process. Today, more than 1,500 people in one village and 5000 animals depend on this water, and Anna’s terrible nightly journeys are over.

Anna used to wake at midnight once her children were asleep, and begin the 12-hour journey to collect water with only a small flashlight to guide her. The daily burden made her ill and weak.

“The place I used to get water from was 10 kilometres away,” Anna explains. “I can only carry 20 litres. It is not that I am really able to carry those 20 litres but it is that I had to. I had no choice but to go every day.”

Now, Anna has the chance to stay healthy and better care for her children.

“It is a blessing that we have gotten this water,” she says. “We use the water to cook, to drink, to clean. Now I sleep well.” As part of the child sponsorship program, Anna’s family has also received blankets, lanterns, clothes and school uniforms. Most importantly, the children no longer need to move from place to place to find water.

“This community is very happy,” says John Nkaru, secretary of the local water committee in the village of Oiti, where the dam is located. “Cows have water and they can feed properly. The animals are healthy, they don’t have to walk far and they can produce a lot of milk. Even when we take them to the market, they are heavier so we can sell them for more money.”

There is much more to be done to help this drought-stricken area – and we are working to increase access to water for those who are still struggling – but thanks to our sponsors’ help in 2008, we were able to:

• Rehabilitate an earth dam, which helps 71 families;
• Extend four water pipelines, which helps 200 families;
• Improve food security by providing goats and other small livestock; and
• Provide yearly health check-ups for all sponsored children.

Water is critical for Mashuru’s Maasai herders, who have raised cattle for generations. The quality of their livestock depends on the amount of water they can consume. Sadly, three years of drought have made most of Kenya’s rural communities desperate. Long searches for water can stretch out to 30 kilometres, keeping herdsmen from their families and leaving animals to die in the searing heat. 

For those still struggling with the lack of water, we provided goats as a buffer against drought and poverty. Goats need much less water than cattle, and their milk gives families greater food security. Families can also sell the goats when necessary to buy food and keep their children in school – and while this is not the ideal option, it is a coping strategy in the toughest of times.

Building on Sponsorship: Children Thrive as Moms Learn Nutrition Essentials

Grace Nkeleleu joins four other mothers as they huddle under a tree to escape the midday heat. Today’s order of business, at a meeting of their Ilatayiok Lekishu Women’s Group, is chickens.
Ilatayiok means “coming together” in the local Maasai language, and these women have been coming together for two years as part of World Vision’s ENHANCE program. Grace and the others are about to receive 50 chickens to help diversify their children’s diets and provide extra family income. “We are happy that the children will be able to get another source of protein other than the milk,” Grace says. “We are also hoping to be able to sell the eggs.”

It’s a much-needed boost for families in this drought-stricken community, where child sponsorship is the main funding source. Sponsors’ contributions help provide a solid foundation from which the community can meet children’s basic long-term needs, including health care, education, water and nutrition. Sometimes, extra help is needed in a specific area — and because World Vision is already established in Mashuru, we can deliver that extra help quickly and efficiently through smaller, key projects with very specific goals. The ENHANCE program is an example of how we do just that.

ENHANCE aims to reduce child mortality by addressing malnutrition and finding local solutions to Mashuru’s specific concerns. Better, more diversified diets and access to health care are critical. World Vision teaches families how to grow and prepare nutrient-rich foods and how to care for poultry and goats. Other focus areas include breastfeeding, immunization, ensuring adequate vitamin A, iron and iodine, growth monitoring and the prevention of common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea.

In 2008 through, ENHANCE helped 1,690 women and 2,650 children directly by teaching the fundamentals of good nutrition. We were also able to:

• Give Vitamin A to 1414 children younger than 5 and lactating mothers;
• Provide 13,000 sachets of oral rehydration solution to help families manage diarrhea among children under five;
• De-worm 500 children;
• Provide insecticide treated bed nets for 8,000 children and pregnant women to help prevent malaria;
• Distribute 6,600 tablets to prevent malaria among pregnant mothers;
• Treat over 1400 children under 5 years old with pneumonia with antibioitics. 

In Mashuru, as in other parts of Kenya, drought and steep price hikes have left many families with limited resources. To help them cope, World Vision has been working with women’s groups like Grace’s as well as local farmers.

Gilbert Koikai is one of those farmers. His sprawling, lush field in an otherwise dry, brown landscape is a shining example of what can happen when modern farming practices are employed to stave off the effects of drought. As a model farmer, Gilbert works with World Vision and Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture to teach other farmers how best to plant, plough and weed on their own farms. This makes sponsors’ donations go even further.

“I want other farmers to have what I have,” Gilbert says. “They are shocked when they first see it but they are happy that it is possible.”

Many families buy their vegetables and fruit from Gilbert because he offers produce at substantially reduced prices. The nearest market is at least two hours away, and Gilbert doesn’t want people to have to travel that far for their food. 

“I decided to just try farming after seeing a few neighbours doing it,” Gilbert adds. “It was God’s wish for me to do this. These vegetables help me to feed my animals, to feed my family.”