Iloshion
Iloshion is a village in the Rift Valley – right in the middle of the Savannah and about 30 km from Olpirikata. Since 2011 there is a primary school which has been officially recognized by the Kenyan authorities. But unfortunately, so far non of the girls has successfully finished primary school as the girls are facing a number of “challenges on their way to school, which can be up to 9 km long. Those “challenges” – as the former school principal Mary put it – very often lead to pregnancies and consequently the girls cannot go to school any more.
Background: Child Marriage
According to figures from UNICEF each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 – with dramatic consequences:
These girls lose their fundamental rights to protection, health, education, play and relaxation. As soon as girls turn into wives, their childhood is over. From the moment of their marriage, sexuality, motherhood and the responsibility for their household dominate their lives.
Moreover, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are very common in this group of age as their bodies are not yet sufficiently developed to cope with pregnancy and childbirth. The risk of maternal death is twice as high for girls aged 15 to 19 as for women in their 20s and five times higher for girls aged 10 to 14. Globally, around 50,000 teenage girls die each year during pregnancy and childbirth. The risk of a stillborn child or an early death within the first week of life for babies born to mothers aged 15 to 19 years is 50% higher than for babies born to mothers aged 20 to 29 years.
Child marriage is a violation of human rights!
The organization girlsnotbrides.org estimates that in Kenya 4% of all girls are married before their 15th birthday and 23% before their 18th birthday. According to the UNICEF study “State of the World’s Children, 2016” 482,000 Kenyan girls were married before the age of 18 years. Girls in rural areas are more concerned than girls in urban areas.
In March 2014 the Kenyan parliament introduced a minimum age of 18 years for marriage of both genders, men and women. The Marriage Act 2014 has to be applied for all types of weddings, including islamic and tribal rites.
Project
Construction of a dormitory with learning facilities for 72 Masai girls aged 14 to 18 years. The request for this project came from the former school principal Mary. Upon our visit to Iloshion in July 2017 the issue was raised again by the current principal Paul and we had the opportunity to verify in situ the necessity of this project. Paul as well as the teachers proviced us with an update on the current situation and emphasized the need for this project.
Teacher Mary Kapoto and a Masai girl.
Project – Objectives
The project aims to improve the girls’ lives and chances for a better future on the one hand, and on the hand the community also will be able to profit from the project.
- Alphabetization and graduation of the girls.
- Provide the girls with additional skillls which even turn into potential sources of income.
- Training of future instructors for the vocational training and additional skills.
- Installation of schools for vocational training.
Project – Curriculum
This project not only should enable the girls to graduate from primary school and eventually also from secondary education. Additionally, the girls should acquire practical skills.
These practical skills will encompass the following topics and courses
- Sex education and FGM
- Hygiene
- Chicken farming
- Market gardening
- Sewing
- Masai style jewelry production
- Nutrition and cooking
- Informatics
Who will benefit from this project?
Here are some of the girls who will be the first ones to benefit from this project and thus will get a chance to a self-determined and autonomous future.
We are currently fund raising for this project. Donate now!
