Education Program Update - Fist Half-Term at Kanzi Academy!

We are very happy to annonce that we will be having the Head Teacher at Kanzi Academy - Sarah Morton - contributing to weekly Education Program updates from our Kanzi Academy school, which is located at Campi ya Kanzi! Our Kanzi Academy program is extremely unique, and we are excited to share their lates updates in the coming weeks!

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I have just completed my first half term as the new Kanzi Academy Head Teacher, so this is my first contribution to the blog. Out first half term was full of fun, learning and getting to know each other. As the new head teacher, it is not only my job to ensure that we deliver a first class curriculum, but also to empower the children to find their own work ethic, leadership qualities and of course, being where we are, to work in harmony with environment that we are in.

Kanzi Academy is certainly unique. Not just because of its amazing cultural and environmental richness, but because of the way the children learn and progress.

Every child is an individual. As such, it is vitally important that they are able to express their views, opinions and maintain their identities. this is turn, leads to them being able to maximize their full potential.

We offer a broad-based curriculum, teaching: English, Maths, Kiswahili, Science, Social Studies, Geography, History, the Arts, Spiritual Education, and PE. The curriculum is an amalgamation of the UK's National Curriculum, the Kenyan Curriculum and the International Baccalaureate. This provides the children with a mixed palate of learning opportunities from which to paint their own unique picture.

Education should not just be about "blindly ticking boxes" of achievement. Whilst the children at the Kanzi Academy are academically very capable, education is about a holistic journey. As such, we engage with our environment and play our part as global citizens; partake in trips and walks, express ourselves through art and different art media as well as explore our physical body and spiritual being through general PE, swimming, horse-riding, yoga, relaxation and meditation.

As a result, I believe that the children are fully engaged in their own journeys and the impact that has on their personal identity. They are been and willing learners, aware of their own needs and areas for development. The children show great compassion and awareness for the needs of others and love to think 'outside the box'. Put simply, they are tomorrow's leaders today!

Now that I have explained the ethos of the school, I will be posting a weekly update with a few more details of what we've been up to, perhaps some comments from the children, and of course some photos. Please feel free to make any further enquiries or ask questions!

Asante and Karibu tena, Sarah.

Education Program Update - An Amazing Donation

October 16, 2013 marked a very exciting day for Campi ya Kanzi, and the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust Education Program!

Elizabeth and Ramsey from the United States have been staying at Campi ya Kanzi for the past week. Elizabeth found Campi ya Kanzi and the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust due to her extreme passion of wanting to understand the elephant poaching epidemic, along with its effects in Kenya. Her mission to be of aid to the elephants of Kenya is inspiring, and if you are interested in learning more about her story, please visit her blog here.

Iltilal Primary School

Before Elizabeth and her husband Ramsey made the journey to Kenya, Elizabeth hosted a gathering in her home. Twenty-seven women gathered to learn through Elizabeth about the elephant poaching crisis in Kenya, in regards to the ivory demands and its everlasting negative effects on the species and to the ecosystem. Elizabeth also shared with these women the information that she gathered from conservation trusts that are key stakeholders in the elimination of elephant poaching - the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust being one of them. 

Elizabeth also provided those in attendance of her presentation a donation request list. The purpose of these donations would be to support the Education Program of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, and more specifically, The Kanzi Academy. 

Samson with the unbelievable donation of school supplies!

We cannot express enough gratitude to Elizabeth and Ramsey, for not only travelling across the world with 3 massive bags of school supplies, but for expressing such support and gratitude towards our programs here, and for inspiring immense generosity in others. 

Wow!

The donation is absolutely outstanding. The total number of items donated totalled approximately 14 000 items. Just unbelievable. The school supplies included were:

2 560 pieces of construction paper, 2 160 pieces of notebook paper, 1 204 crayons, 362 regular pencils, 170 coloured pencils, 136 colour markers, 100 stickers, 99 erasers, 88 glue sticks, 80 pencil sharpeners, 75 dry erase markets, 69 ballpoint pens, 21 sets of math flashcards, 20 pairs of scissors, 13 rulers, 11 pencil cases, 8 alphabet flash cards, 7 letter practice pads, 6 paint sets,  5 nature, science, space, history reference books, 5 sets color & shape flash cards, 5 puzzle and crossword books, 4 dry erase learning boards, 4 calculator sets, 2 backpacks.

Elizabeth and head teacher, Catherine, meet in the courtyard of Iltilal Primary School

Due to the overwhelming amount of supplies, it was believed it would be most beneficial if the supplies were split between four different schools within Kuku Group Ranch. One of these schools being the Iltilal Primary School. This school, with 861 school children from grades Nursery - Grade 8, were extremely welcoming to Elizabeth as she brought a large bag of school supplies on her visit!

School children in Grade 6 beam with excitement when catching a glimpse of the supplies!

The donated items were all of tremendous quality and will ensure sustained use in these schools for years to come

Head teacher Catherine displaying some of the items to her class!

Iltilal School demonstrated extremely gratitude towards Elizabeth during her visit!

The generosity of our guests at Campi ya Kanzi is immensely appreciated. Asante sana Elizabeth and Ramsey, your donation and support has contributed to the aim and objectives of the partnership between Campi ya Kanzi and the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and we are forever grateful!

Health Update - Tetanus Campaign

We would love to share a brief, but exciting new update for the MWCT Health Program which occurred in September of 2013. On September 13-19, the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust supported the Ministry of Health Tetanus Campaign by arranging a series of outreaches.

This campaign aimed to support women that are at a reproductive age - and are therefor more susceptible to the tetanus disease. Because this is a very fatal disease, the importance of immunization was emphasized through these outreaches as it is preventable with provided immunizations. MWCT Health Staff complied with the campaign by ensuring the message of the importance of this immunization was communicated.  

A local woman receives a tetanus immunization

This Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Campaign was launched by the Kenya Ministry of Health to ensure a commitment to the global goal of controlling, eliminating, and eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases in Kenya.   

School girls queue to receive immunizations

MWCT organized three health outreaches to the villages of Kuku, Samai, and Enkusero to ensure that the communities living far away from the campaign would still receive the benefits that the campaign provided. As a result of this, Iltilal Health Centre exceeded it's target by 18%, which was 175 women above the targeted number.

MWCT Ambulance Success Story!

Recently, here at MWCT, we had the opportunity to give a presentation to some special guests, hosted at the Chyulu Conservation and Research Center. Stories of our Conservation, Education, and Health Programs were shared and discussed throughout the afternoon.

Our Health Program Development Director, Lena Koh, shared a wonderful success story with those in attendance at the presentation in regards to our ambulance!

Our ambulance "Anna"

Our ambulance was donated to MWCT in 2012 by Anna Kulidjian. The unit was a tremendous addition to the Health Program, as has further allowed for expanded reaches of medical capabilities, and rapid transport of extremely sick patients which were tasks that were nearly impossible without the use of this vehicle. It has proved tremendous convenience for the Maasai in Kuku Group Ranch thus far.

It's uses became specifically crucial for one particular medical emergency that occurred last week. On October 16 at 4 p.m., a local Maasai woman was brought to the Iltilal Health Centre by her mother in law and traditional birth attendant. This pregnant woman was having contractions for the previous four hours in her home. Upon arriving to the Centre, MWCT medical staff did a physical exam, palpitations, and a vaginal exam (VE). Upon performing these exams, they realized that it was a cord presentation. This can occur during pregnancy when the umbilical cord descends before the fetus prior to delivery. It is a definite obstetrical emergency and requires a immediate emergency cesarian section - if a natural delivery were to take place, the baby would must likely suffer from hypoxia and it would be fatal).

Our ambulance was dispatched immediately and the MWCT Health team rushed to Loitokitok district hospital (over 50 km on dirt road and averages over and hour driving time). The ambulance, the team, and the woman made it to the hospital in record time (less than one hour, while driving through military road blocks with sirens on) - and the medical staff at the maternity unit were ready and on hand to receive the woman. The team worked together to prep the patient for surgery and then she was rushed into the theatre. The emergency c-section was performed. The baby had to receive resuscitation due to his severe distress, but he was successfully saved! Staff stated that if the surgery was delayed any longer, the baby would not have survived.

View of the inside of our ambulance

It is stories like this that are shared and further place tremendous importance on the support that is given to MWCT, and certainly in regards to the donation of our ambulance. It's services have continued to provide extraordinary emergency assistance to community members and we are very proud of this particular success story.

Our ambulance servicing many villages located within Kuku Group Ranch

Health Update - Outreaches and Education Day

We would like to sincerely apologize for our delay in sharing the efforts of the trust for the past few weeks on this blog! However, there has still be plenty of activity within our programs, and the MWCT Health Program has been very busy this past month. The MWCT Health Staff accomplished four village outreach programs in the month of September to different communities within Kuku Group Ranch. These community outreaches are accompanied by MWCT Heath Staff, government health staff, as well as the community health workers.

Village members wait patiently for services provided in our outreaches

These community health outreaches continually aim to mobilize information to Maasai community members to create an understanding of the programs of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, and the services provided within.

As an added outreach, MWCT Health staff took the wonderful opportunity to deworm 333 school children as they were all gathered in Olorika for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust Education Day. The MWCT Education Day is a day celebration that is hosted for the primary school located within Kuku Group Ranch that receives the highest top marks on the KCPE exams (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education).

Deworming pills are handed out to school children in Olorika

In other very exciting news for the MWCT Health Program, the Iltilal Health Centre received the most amount of child deliveries under skilled care at the health facility in the month of September. This is very exciting for our program, as it is the highest monthly total for this year! Furthermore, the proposed renovations in the Langata dispensary have now been completed. As a result of these renovations, a new room has been constructed that will now act as a post-delivery room, as well as serving double-purpose as a room for Dr. Gabriel to stay on his 3-day outreaches to this village.

Continued efforts in health outreaches to villages of Kuku, Olorika, and Oltiasika

Furthermore, we would like to share the following link that has displayed the MWCT Health Program efforts to utilize Medical Aid Films in the communities with the Kuku Group Ranch. Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust is featured on their website here: http://medicalaidfilms.org/working-in-the-maasai/