Education Program Update - Dreams Turned Reality!

July 3, 2014 was the official grand opening of the brand new Iltial Primary School Library! With the presence of MWCT Founder, Luca Belpietro, MWCT President, Samson Parashina, MWCT Education Coordinator, Titus Muia, and Charles and Rita Field-Marsham, the library was officially declared open! A truly exciting day for the community of Iltial, the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, and the whole of Kuku Group Ranch! 

Students of Iltilal Primary School wait patiently for the grand opening! 

You can read more about the library project, funded entirely by the Charles and Rita Field-Marsham Foundation on our previous blog post here! Most importantly, this library is the first of its' kind for the Foundation, focusing primarily on conservation, wildlife, and the environment - aligning seamlessly with the mission of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust!

The library is of stunning construction - beautifully created for the purposes of providing a calming, relaxing, and ideal place for students to expand their knowledge through the use of amazing technologies and materials. The library features a Smart Board (interactive touch screen), two computers with connectivity, plenty of table/chair stations, and beautiful shelves filled with over 2000 brand new books! 

Students and teachers already making use of the new smart board! 

The grand opening event was truly special! Attended by all Iltilal Primary School students, their mothers and fathers, leading community members, staff of MWCT and Campi ya Kanzi, and the Field-Marsham Family. Demonstrations of poetry and traditional dance were enjoyed prior to the official opening.

Iltilal Primary School traditional Maasai dance

The unveiling of the doors, and KEY signature - "Knowledge Empowering Youth"

Below, MWCT President and Chairman, Samson Parshina, and MWCT Founder, Luca Belpietro, share words of appreciation, and  further of encouragement for the students to utilize the library, emphasizing the realization of the distribution of beneficial knowledge for generations to come! 

MWCT Education Coordinator, Titus Muia, opens the ceremony

Across Kuku Group Ranch, 19 primary schools, and 1 secondary school are supported by the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust - with a total of 7000 students enrolled, 50 certified teachers and 10 support staff employed. The opening of this revolutionary facility at Iltilal Primary School will allow for Education to now blossom even further into the region, providing once-unavailable educational opportunities to thousands of students!

Education Program Update - Fulfilling Community Dreams through Education

Improving access to education within the 280 000 acre Kuku Group Ranch and increasing education opportunities and the ability for growth, development, creativity of hundreds of students represents one of the many goals of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

The exteriors of the brand new library at Iltilal Primary School

Across the Group Ranch, 19 primary schools and 1 secondary school are supported - with a total of 7000 students enrolled, 50 certified teachers, and 10 support staff employed. The launch of a brand new exciting library project at Iltilal Primary School has allowed for education to blossom further into the region. Iltilal Primary School currently has 860 pupils, ranging from nursery school to class 8.

Although its not completely set up yet... it is looking amazing!

This thrilling new project, funded, constructed, and implemented by the Field Marsham Foundation,  is set to have its' grand opening at the beginning of July. The Field Marsham Foundation seeks to communicate the message of "Knowledge Empowering Youth", more specifically by implementing turn-key libraries to schools through their Library Program.

The initial construction of our new library began in October, and it is not approaching its' final steps of completion over the coming months. This library is the first of its' kind for the Field Marsham Foundation. Books were selected carefully and with detail to truly reflect what Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust means. The library is majorly focused on conservation, wildlife, and the environment. Outstanding!

Each library the foundation implements calls for a Library Council. This council is comprised of student representatives from each class from Class 5-8. The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust has hired a librarian, who will be based at the library full-time.

The library council working alongside Niccola Milnes (Programs Manager for the Field Marsham Foundation)

The library is organized in an "untraditional" way compared to many other libraries. It is organized into categories such as "African Animals, Geography, Children from Different Cultures, Funny" and even resources for the teachers to utilize.

When speaking to the new Library Council whilst they were in the process of labelling a portion of the 2000 brand new books, we asked them what they most excited for when the new library opened - "we will have the opportunity to learn more with all of these books". The horizons will be expanded beyond imaginable with the tremendous resources located within this facility.

Shelves of Knowledge!

 MWCT is extremely excited and thankful about this project. Stay tuned to the blog for more progress on the new library and its' grand opening in July!