Girls’ education is not only about having access to school, but also about helping girls to feel safe and supported in classrooms. At Grand Circle Foundation, many of our projects are focused on empowering girls to feel safe and confident in school.
In the video above, learn more about the importance of investing in girls’ education, and then continue reading for an update on our projects.
Building Amboseli Secondary School from the Ground Up
Since 2011, Grand Circle Foundation has been partnering with the Maasai community of Amboseli, Kenya. The primary school we support here is a shining example of the difference the Foundation can make in a community with the help of O.A.T. travelers. We’ve seen Amboseli Primary flourish since we began our partnership: In 2010, it was a low-performing school, ranked #67 of 90 schools in the region. By 2017, it ranked #3.
The Amboseli Lewis Secondary School.
In the years we’ve been working with Amboseli, we’ve completed several projects that not only improved school performance, but also helped better the lives of the community at large. We’ve sponsored the education of 47 students—one of whom we saved from being sold into marriage at the age of 11. And we’ve built a new dormitory for girls, who have historically dropped out at an alarming rate due to chores at home, pregnancy, and the simple fact that education for girls in East Africa is not deemed as important as it is for boys.
With Amboseli Primary School thriving, they asked Grand Circle Foundation for a secondary school. Harriet Lewis agreed to support the project and committed to match all traveler donations dollar for dollar. Within a year we had raised $60,000, and in 2017 we started to build. We started with four rooms, to be used as an office, a classroom, a dormitory and a multi-use room. We then built toilets for the teachers and the students, and provided access to an adequate supply of clean water.
Today, Amboseli has a secondary school, which is fed by nine local primary schools. This creates a priceless opportunity for Maasai children who might otherwise never been given a chance to further their education.
The completion of a girls’ dormitory at the school was a game changing opportunity for the girls of the Amboseli region. They no longer have to leave their region and go to a school more than 12 miles away, nor do they have to walk up to five miles per day in a wildlife zone.
A Safe Space for Girls at Lemong’o Primary School
Lemong’o Primary School was founded in 1991 with no classrooms—lessons were held under a tree. It took until 2013 to complete the building of the school, which serves the local Maasai community in rural Kenya. When Grand Circle Foundation began our partnership with the school in 2014, 63 students attended.
Sandra Vaughan with a student at Lemong’o Primary.
When Sandra Vaughan, Grand Circle Foundation’s coordinator in East Africa, first visited Lemong’o, she witnessed poverty at its lowest. There were no school textbooks—only copies for the teachers. One class had three pencils for eight students. One piece of chalk was being shared amongst five teachers. The Maasai school board chairman was tenacious in trying to get funds from the parents in the community, but the money simply wasn’t there. Early Foundation projects at the school included a new classroom, desks, benches, water tanks, textbooks, and miscellaneous school supplies.
Within a few years, enrollment at Lemong’o was thriving—but one crucial structure was lacking, particularly for the girls. When Maasai children are sent home after school in the evening, they are sent to collect water and firewood or care for livestock, instead of studying and doing homework. Boarding facilities enable children to concentrate on their studies.
We had one classroom that doubled as a boarding facility for the boys to sleep in, but there was nowhere safe to house the girls. Believing that a dorm would improve enrollment, academic results, and attendance, Sandra worked with the local community to propose the construction of a 48-bed boarding facility at Lemong’o. The dormitory now offers 48 girls a safe place to board and empowers them to access a full education.
Toilets, Toilets, and More Toilets
Access to WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), in particular safe water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene education, can reduce illness and death, and also affect poverty reduction and socio-economic development. Lack of sanitation contributes to approximately 700,000 child deaths every year due to diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea can have a negative effect on child development—both physical and cognitive.
A toilet block built by Grand Circle Foundation.
In addition, lack of toilet facilities can prevent students from attending school, impose a burden on women and diminish productivity. Currently, 95% of the schools we visit have access to clean water, and 97% have adequate toilet facilities.
As we continue to build toilets at schools, we also continue to improve the design. All facilities now have at least one western style toilet in a stall large enough to accommodate a disabled person. Skylights provide light, windows provide ventilation, and tiles make the toilet easier to clean and maintain. It may seem simple, but this is not a design typically found in public school toilets in East Africa. Every girls' toilet block now includes larger stalls, changing areas, and a fire pit to burn used menstrual products. And of course, all toilets include hand wash stations.
Visit a school supported by Grand Circle Foundation and see firsthand the difference we’ve made with the help of our travelers during Kenya & Tanzania Safari: Masai Mara to the Serengeti.
To learn more about the projects Grand Circle Foundation supports, or to make a donation, visit www.grandcirclefoundation.org.
