Education

Conservation Clubs
In September 2004, planning started to create a program of teacher training in selected schools in northern Kenya located in the Community Conservancies. The program initiated in 2005 with a first-stage needs-assessment workshop. This resulted in a plan to develop Conservation Clubs, to be conducted on an after-school basis, and jointly sponsored by a teacher and a community participant. Club activities will build upon environmental education concepts already in place in the national curriculum, include key conservation norms and practices present in the indigenous cultures and serve to further reinforce the work of the Community Conservancies.  
The Conservation Clubs aim to raise the awareness for the necessity of conservation, build positive attitudes toward conservation initiatives, and finally, involve schoolchildren, teachers and community members in key conservation activities that will improve the situation for wildlife and people who share the same habitats. The development of the Clubs has involved the creation of a curriculum which was used during the training workshop for the teachers and community partners in August 2006 at Mpala Research Centre.

Grevy’s Zebra Bursaries
Primary education (grades 1-8) in Kenya is free. Most students finish primary school well prepared for the transition to secondary school and with skills to enable them to succeed later in life. However, after years of studying hard in the hope of going to and graduating from secondary school, most primary school graduates cannot afford to pay the high cost of secondary school fees and are not able to continue their education beyond Grade 8.

To increase the educational opportunities available to residents of rural Northern Kenya and to reinforce the value of conserving Grevy’s zebra to Kenyan children and community members, the Northern Rangelands Trust has awarded eight bursaries so far through support of the Saint Louis Zoo, White Oak Conservation Center and many private donors.

The Girgir School Girls’ Dormitory
Children attending the Girgir Primary School in Archer’s Post, Kenya walk as far as five kilometres to and from the school, making it a very strenuous journey. Girgir Primary School already has a boys’ dormitory, however, until now, there was no accommodation available for girls. Often the girls were forced to find accommodation in the town of Archer’s Post where they had to work during the evenings to earn their keep.
In August 2005, during an educational needs assessment supported by several organizations1, it was decided that a girls’ dormitory was a high priority for this school. The Girgir School Girls’ Dormitory project started on 11th April 2006 and was recently completed. The construction of this dorm was generously supported by several partners in St. Louis, Missouri2.

When the next school session begins, the new dormitory will accommodate 30 girls. The building has three cubicles which will be equipped with fifteen bunk beds. A matron’s house has also been constructed at one corner of the dormitory to ensure the safety of the girls and attention whenever needed. The funds will also be used to purchase mattresses, mosquito nets and to install a solar lighting system. Members from the local Kalama community were hired to construct this dormitory.

[1] The educational needs assessment took place in August of 2005, and was generously supported with funding and staff from the Northern Rangelands Trust, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Moi University, Princeton University, Saint Louis Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Oregon Zoo and the John Ball Zoo.

[2] The construction of the girls’ dormitory was generously funded by Southwest Bank of St. Louis, Fischer and Frichtel, Inc. , Dalco Home Remodeling, KMOV-TV/St. Louis, Missouri and the Saint Louis Zoo.