Education Program Update: Incredible Opportunities for University Students

After witnessing very low transition rates from basic education to higher-level education for pupils within Kuku Group Ranch, the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust offered their first merit secondary school scholarships in 2005. The beneficiary of this first scholarship is today a teacher in one of the schools in Kuku Group Ranch, while other beneficiaries of subsequent scholarships have become professionals in other fields. Our secondary school scholarship program has so far benefited 44 students from the Group Ranch.

The leaders of tomorrow!

To bridge the gap of advancement to continued higher-level education, MWCT, in partnership with the Kuku Group Ranch Leaders, implemented a University Bursary Initiative in 2015. This initiative will seek to empower and encourage successful, eager, and committed pupils from Kuku Group Ranch to not only excel in their studies, but to encourage interest and career paths in environmental conservation. Selection for the scholarships is based solely on academic merit and for Kuku Group Ranch members who qualify to join Universities in Kenya. So far, a total amount of 3 000 000 Kenyan Shillings has been awarded to 42 students!

The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust sends tremendous appreciation and thanks to the contributors who have made continued education possible for the 42 selected students. MWCT hopes to seek a continued effort to find sustainable sources of funding for scholarships for both secondary and higher level University education. Students successfully completing their University Education sanctioned by a MWCT scholarship, will be guaranteed a working position through the County Council. Not only does this act as a form of incentive, but also will seek to further the understanding and appreciation to pupils that environmental conservation awareness and understanding can provide long-term benefits.

A tremendous thank you to Renee Arakelian for making this huge leap forward in the advancement of education in Kenya possible! We are very grateful!

www.maasaiwilderness.org

Education Program Update - Kanzi Academy

The Head Teacher at the Kanzi Academy has provided us with another informative update from her and her students this past week! Please enjoy!

Jambo from the Kanzi Academy! This week has flown by! The Kanzi Academy has had a wonderful week. Having had even more rain, we have been on lots of walks; observing change in our environment and discussing the "what-ifs" of too much rain, not enough rain, and so on. It is fascinating how "tuned in" the children are to their immediate environment and the importance of the right climate. Their awareness and learning has obviously been helped by their recent practical activities with regard to their planting and growing. There has been much sorrow with regard to the "control" plants, which have been kept in the dark, planted in stones, or deprived of water. Their "passing" has been met with some sad faces!

Student's observing their "shamba" outdoors

One of the biggest and most noticeable changes here at the moment is that everything at Campi ya Kanzi is very green! Being able to describe our environment on lovely walks has made it easy to introduce Class 2 to the world of adjectives; which they are really enjoying. Adjectives are wonderful tools for vocabulary expansion. No longer do I hear "Good morning Sarah, your dress is nice"... I rather hear "Good morning Sarah, you have a beautiful, colourful, blue dress on today!". Their awareness of placing adjectives in sentences has really given their sentence writing a colourful boost!

In Physical Education, the children's confidence in swimming has moved on from a couple of timid souls clinging to the side with a look of terror on their faces, to now being able to make some effort to swim a width with a kick board. In fact, two children are swimming very well, one with no float at all!

We have been out "data gathering" as part of our maths this week. I am introducing the children to recording data in different ways. At this age, it is all about "playing with numbers" and realizing that numbers can be used in different ways to provide us with information. So we are going to put a graph together entitles: "What is your favourite soda". We have walked around Campi ya Kanzi to gather such information which has been fun and informative.

Relaxation has become even more relaxing for the students now that we have our fantastic new yoga mats. Thank you Antonella! I have introduced the children to positive thinking while relazing. I talk to them about their favourite colour,  about making it big and beautiful. Then we make this colour into a sheet and fill it with positivity and things that we love and/or are good; things that we need. Then we "allow the sheet" to float down and cover us. I talk to the children calmly and gently about "noticing their breathing"... and usually end up with one or two asleep! It's a lovely time, and certainly the children are learning to be aware of themselves, their bodies and their minds.

Students with their new yoga mats!

This week we are having a gentleman come to teach the children (and myself) Transcendental Meditation (TM). I will give further updates on the progress of this once we are finished our course.

Feeling very relaxed during relaxation time!

Art this week has been all about rainbows! With our current exposure to rain and sun we have been seeing so many beautiful rainbows, which have then prompted all sorts of discussion from they are formed!

Continents has been our topic in Geography this week and the children have really embraced it! They have really enjoyed noticing how the oceans "join up" and have loved exploring world maps and the glops. With most of the children never having experienced a cold climate, they cannot imagine what snow or ice is like, but this will soon change, as in science they are learning about materials: man made and natural and if they can change or not. This will extend to the making of ice-lollies, so they will be up close and personal with something cold and tasty!

Painting rainbows in Art!

As ever, if you have any question, or would like to know anything further about life at the Kanzi Academy, please feel free to post any questions here!

Karibu tena! Sarah

Education Program Update - Another week at Kanzi Academy!

We love hearing about what the Kanzi Academy is up to - courtesy of Head Teacher Sarah! Read about the latest from the Academy below:

Jambo! Again, another busy week has been had at the Kanzi Academy! This last week, the children have been planting in their shamba (farm). As part of science, they have been looking at what condition best suits germination... so they have had much fun indeed and taken great care of their plants, which have included maize, oranges, passion fruit, potatoes and much more! Luckily, we had more than 72 mm of rain last week, so everything was well watered!

The children have been practicing acrobatics in PE and loving it! They are very skilful and have been demonstrating excellent balancing and co-ordination. They went horse riding as well, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Classroom acrobatics! 

A few days back I flew to Nairobi to buy our reading scheme books; (Oxford Reading Tree). The children are incredibly excited and already becoming competent, independent readers and writers! To help remember which page the children are on in their book, we made book marks using a mosaic theme. The children found this concept fascinating, so I think we will be exploring this further.

Tatio, our Maasai elder who teachers Maasai Lore has been talking about nature and the environment with Class 2 as well as telling the children the names of the trees, along with their "medicinal" uses for lotions and "potions"! All the children have been completely absorbed in this. A couple of days back the children and I went on a walk; discussing the environment and noticing the changes around us since the rain. As we sat and talked, Stanley picked up some twigs, a seed pod, along with some dry grass and started to create "bush babies". Such creativity from natural things!

We have been talking about Diwali - the Hindu festival of light. So in art we have been colouring Rangoli patterns. Do not always confuse colouring with something boring! Colouring is almost like a meditation - it relaxes the mind. The conservations and questions that transpired as a result of all sitting around a table and working together was quite something!

Rangoli patterns coloured by two students! 

And whilst I mention meditation - we now have new yoga mats, thanks to Antonella, so we can now relax in comfort. In fact, last weeks' relaxation and meditation was so relaxing that two little souls fell asleep!

So to finish off - our favourite affirmation of the week was "I am unique and valuable".

More to follow next week. Karibu tena, Sarah

Education Program Update - Kanzi Academy Weekly

A great update from the "happenings" at Kanzi Academy last week. We love to share what is going on at the school, how the students are progressing, and demonstrate the uniqueness of the Academy. Enjoy!!

---

What a wonderful first week we've all had at The Kanzi Academy (KA)! All of the children and staff team have settled in really well, which has meant the creative juices have already started to flow!

I like to adopt a kinesthetic learning approach at KA, as children of a young age do not need to sit at a desk for hours on end... they are children! So when learning about verbs, (and children are built for verbs!) we get up, go out and physically practice and demonstrate them; running, jumping, eating, laughing, clapping, climbing, etc. Also, if the children are struggling with a concept in maths, I will often have them stand up, walk around and think on the area that they are having difficulty with, while moving - it really helps. We also do this in relaxation too. When the children are having their relaxation session, I talk to them about "all the difficulties they might have met during the week melting away..."

Kanzi Academy Class 2 Classroom

This leads me on nicely to our affirmations. The children have been writing their own affirmations, as well as choosing different ones to go on our "affirmations door". Everyday the children engage in positive through and have a sense of "I can do". Being a NLP Practitioner, I am very aware of the power of positive thought and see its' benefits when working with young children who can easily become frustrated because they think they "don't know how to do...", which rapidly becomes an "I can't do...". This is an unacceptable hurdle which we can learn to jump over effortlessly.

Kanzi Academy affirmations door

We have welcomed Tatio this week, our Maasai Elder. He has come to talk to the children about Maasai lore, which they thoroughly enjoy. Culture and roots are every important. Whether yours or someone else's they are often interesting, intriguing, and educational. more than that perhaps, is the awareness of responsibility and sense of belonging they give us; a vital life-lesson. Tatio will be doing some exciting, practical things with the children, such as painting their faces red, dressing them in traditional clothes, and more more. Pictures to come!

Class 2 have begun talking about Martin Luther King Jr.; an important and historic African without a doubt. We have talking about his works:

"I can change the world with my own two hands.

Make a better place with my own two hands.

Make a kinder place with my own two hands."

The importance of hands!

This has prompted much discussion, as Class 2 are VERY inquisitive. It has also led nicely into our spiritual education and the importance of hands: giving, hugging, touch, helping/kindness, etc. We have come to the conclusion that hands are very important, both practically and symbolically!

It has also been a very physical week! The children had a wonderful time practicing their teamwork on Monday with Philip as they learnt about relay races. This was not only great physical exercise, but taught them about timing, anticipating someone else's moves, how they had to rely on each other and work together. Tuesday we began swimming, which was great fun. Some of the children have never been in a swimming pool before; so confidence building is what is is all about right now. However, some of the children are already able to use a float and get to one side of the pool to the other in their own style! Our horse riding on Wednesday had to be postponed as supplies were being delivered to the stables. This however didn't stop us having a nice walk to go and see the baby rabbits! Friday saw us finish with a little yoga and relaxation.

Student's in the school yard

Finally, the children have not just been creative with their minds... they have made "trees of life" for the wall, learnt about the Kenyan flag, made hand pictures to go with our works from Martin Luther Kind, and much more!

"Trees of Life"

The above photos are snapshots of our week. Please feel free to post any questions, comments, or ideas! They are always gratefully received.

Asante, Sarah.

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!

---

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!

An Inspiring Elephant Story

Hello from the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust Headquarters in the bush!  We have a few recent stories about animals on the ranch and MWCT's Conservation Program, including this great news.  In mid-July we had an experience which was incredibly inspiring and heartening, and which showed that the Maasai community has really bought into our conservation efforts.  

Elephants crossing a road on Kuku Group Ranch in front of a Campi ya Kanzi safari car. 

The story begins on a slightly sad note, which is that one of the older wild elephants on the ranch took ill and died.  In one sense this is sad, but on the other hand it means it was able to live a long, full life and die of natural causes - an admirable fate for any large African mammal in these trying times of poaching.  The elephant was noticed by two young Maasai boys herding cattle; they alerted their fathers that an elephant had died.

MWCT's Community Rangers holding the ivory tusks after careful removal.

On receiving this news, the fathers came straight to MWCT Headquarters and notified our Conservation Coordinators of the death.  This was particularly wonderful, as the fathers could just as easily have gone to harvest the ivory and sell it to poachers for a substantial fee.  Upon hearing about the elephant, we dispatched several of our Community Rangers to remove the tusks and give them to Kenya Wildlife Services as required by law, so as to keep the ivory away from poachers and off the black market that has fueled so many elephant kills in recent decades. 

MWCT Assistant Commander Narua gives one of the boys two shukas a reward for his help.

In return for their commendable actions, we held a ceremony at the local school in which we honored the actions of the shepherd boys and their fathers in front of their peers.  One of the boys, a student, received a full new school uniform, and the other received two new shukas to wear around the village and while herding.  Our Head Ranger Muterian also spoke with the other students about how important their tips can be, as most schoolchildren act as herders and roam the bush during weekends and school holidays.

MWCT Head Ranger Muterian speaks to students on the importance of conservation and MWCT.

It was truly a moving occasion to see the Maasai community take such pride in doing the right thing to conserve their natural resources and biodiversity, especially when it would have been so easy to sell the information to poachers.  Events like these show that MWCT is truly making a difference in the lives of the Maasai and making substantial progress in helping locals to view their animals and land as valuable treasures.

Health Update - School Outreaches, Sanitary Pads, and More!

Time for another update on MWCT's Health Program!  It's been a while since we've updated, but it's been a busy and exciting past few months.  We've continued our outreaches to schools all around Kuku Group Ranch, specifically primary schools in Iltilal, Kuku Village, Olorika, Inkisanjani, and Enkusero.  During these outreaches the schoolchildren are gathered together while Lena and Lairumbe give presentations on various health topics.

Lena instructs schoolgirls as to the proper use of sanitary pads.

Often we utilize the Swahili-based TeachAIDS materials on HIV/AIDS prevention, and discuss the effects of puberty, safe sexual practices, proper use of condoms, and more.  We also take the opportunity to dose all students with deworming medicine, protecting them from the harmful long-term effects of worms.  Finally, we discuss the use of cloth sanitary pads for the schoolgirls, and dispense sets of pads so that they can begin using them.

A school full of students closely follows one of MWCT's health presentations.

These cloth sanitary pads are available thanks to MWCT's partnership with a wonderful organization called Huru International.  The pads are sewn by volunteers in the United States to keep costs as low as possible, and then donated to a number of different countries throughout Africa.  MWCT also receives pad donations from another great organization, Pads For Africa.  MWCT asks girls to contribute 200 Kenyan shillings for a year's supply of pads, roughly half the initial cost of the pads.  By charging this small amount for the pads, we give the girls and their families something to invest in, so that they see the value in it.

More than 150 happy schoolgirls pose after receiving their new sanitary pads.

Now instead of staying home to avoid being embarrassed by the effects of puberty, the schoolgirls can confidently stay in school and attend year-round, receiving a better education while also living a healthier lifestyle.  We dispensed a year's supply of pads to more than 200 girls over the past few months, and plan to continue our efforts in the new year - with your help and donations, MWCT's Health Program will be better than ever in 2013.

A group of girls pose with MWCT employees after receiving pads.

TeachAIDS Blogs About MWCT - Again!

More news from MWCT's Health Program coming soon, but first some more exciting news about expanding news of our efforts!  TeachAIDS, the fantastic organization who first blogged about collaborating with MWCT back in November, has written another blog post about our efforts and how we've been utilizing their materials to improve our Health outreaches and more effectively communicate health concepts to the Maasai.

Schoolchildren watch a TeachAIDS video and participate in a workshop made possible by the program.

TeachAIDS has developed a set of interactive and media-rich teaching applications to educate about the risks of HIV and AIDS.  However, what sets them apart from other organizations is that they produce these materials in Swahili, allowing us to communicate better with the large numbers of Maasai who speak much better Swahili than English.

In their latest blog post, TeachAIDS describes MWCT's use of its materials, and focuses on our work with girls and young women.  As our Health Program Co-Director Lena says, "The room was silent during the viewing as the girls were fully engaged with the TeachAIDS educational program [...] We are so thankful to the TeachAIDS team for developing these life-saving tools for our communities."

http://teachaids.org/blog/teachaids-empowers-girls-in-rural-kenya

Kanzi Academy Excursion

The students approach a hill called Longido, our destination.

Time for a quick Education update!  Last Sunday the sixth-grade class at Kanzi Academy went for a hike in the savanna surrounding the school.  Located on the grounds of Campi ya Kanzi, the Academy is a private boarding school for gifted Maasai students operated by the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.  Because the students come from all over Kuku Group Ranch, they board at the camp and often do fun learning enrichment activities over the weekend.  On this particular day, the sixth-grade class set out for a walk, accompanied by Kanzi Academy's four teachers and a trained Maasai tracker.

Kanzi Academy's sixth-grade class enjoys the view atop the outcropping.

During the game walk the students had the opportunity to apply lessons learned in their classes during the week, identifying animal tracks and scat, spotting wildlife including zebras, gazelles, and giraffe, and practicing their English in conversation with the teachers and each other.  Upon arriving at Longido, the local hill that was the destination of our hike, we climbed to the top and enjoyed the stunning views of the Kuku Plain unfolding before us.  In the end it was a highly successful walk with great views and good exercise, and we hope to continue with this sort of outside-the-classroom educational initiative in the coming weeks and months.

A student smiles for the camera on the granite rock.

Looking for Kanzi Academy Teachers!

MWCT is looking for primary school teachers for its gifted school, Kanzi Academy, which educates Maasai children along with Luca and Antonella's children.  The school is located at Campi ya Kanzi, in front of Kilimanjaro, and offers an incredible experience in the gorgeous Kenyan countryside.  Passionate teachers interested in a great adventure should contact Antonella at antonella@maasai.com for more information!

The school children of Kanzi Academy want you to come teach them!

Education Program Update

With some recent successes we thought now would be a good time to pass along some updates on the Education Program of MWCT. With the support of various sponsors, MWCT has now facilitated the placement of 14 students in some of Kenya's top secondary schools.

Also through the support of the sponsorship program, a beneficiary of the scholarship program will soon complete his tertiary education and graduate as a qualified teacher.

With the support of all our donors and well-wishers, we currently have 49 teachers and 13 support staff permanently employed, distributed throughout all primary schools on the Kuku Group Ranch.

Thank you all very much for your continued generous support of the MWCT Education Program, and for allowing these young children to be able to attend school.