My host Emmanuel Tasur and his wife, Lillian, run the volunteer program here about half an hour drive from Kilgoris (should show up on Google maps) and 50 km from Maasai Mara game reserve, near the “Oloololo” entrance gate. Their house is in an area where nature is more abundant than houses.
Our closest neighbors are Emmanuel’s sister, Georgina, and her family. She has two boys and one girl. Larry, her middle son, is 7 years old and incredibly smart. He speaks English better than most adults here and even figured out how to use my digital camera without any input from me. (His artistic talents, however, leave much to be desired). I recently taught him and some of his friends how to play the card game “War,” and when Larry is on a hot streak he tends to say, “Tonight, I will eat goat!”
Emmanuel’s school is already showing a great deal of progress, even in the short time I’ve been here. Three classrooms have been cemented and they’ve begun on the administration offices. The walls need to cure for 7 days, then they’ll be painted and other finishing touches will be added. Even though I’ll be gone when they start painting, I’m glad to know that the students here will soon be able to learn in permanent buildings.
When Emmanuel got the idea for his school, he had some requirements that he wanted to meet. First, a quality education for everyone. When he went to school as a child, there were too many students and too few teachers, so he made sure that his school would have a good student/teacher ratio. He also has a few mentally handicapped students in some of the early classes, which is almost unheard of here.
Second, cultural preservation. The school is in Maasai land, so he wants to preserve the “good parts of Maasai culture” (don’t ask me to define them). There is a rich history and strong traditions here, and what he sees as a loss of his culture worries him. However, when he hired the teachers and staff, he made sure that there was a good mix of the different tribes represented.
Third, environmental sustainability. He plans on using organic farming methods to grow crops, and wants to teach to his students the importance of the environment to their community. I’d say that’s pretty respectable, yeah?
A few weeks ago he got a letter from the Minister of Education letting him know that he’d been appointed to the “board of governors” of a local high school. He hadn’t applied to the position- he didn’t even know that there was an opening. But his reputation preceded him and at his first board meeting was elected chairman. Laughing, he said to me “I told them that I wasn’t going to serve unless certain things were met, including me being chairman of the board, so they elected me!”
Everything was going according to plan, until he found out that the principal and the old chairman had been funneling funds meant to go towards building a new dorm into their personal bank accounts. He tried to stop them, but most of the power lies with the principal, so Emmanuel stepped down from the position instead. The other board members talked him into staying on the board, though. That is just one of the parts of Kenya I can’t stand. It’s so corrupt here. Even though the board knows about the money, there’s nothing they can do about it, and the principal knows that everyone knows about the money, but he does it anyway, because he can. Screw everyone else.
So that’s why Emmanuel is a breath of fresh air. I envy the honesty, focus, and drive he has when it comes to his project. Basically everything goes towards the school. While the classrooms are almost finished, he still needs about 65,000 dollars to build the two dorms. (about 33k per dorm, but he may be able to get that down to 25,000 per dorm) He plans on building a public library and a clinic available to the whole community on the school property, and needs money for that. He still needs to build a permanent kitchen and living quarters for the staff, which will cost even more money. And also, to sponsor a child at his school costs 365 dollars for the whole year. That includes books, food, uniform, school fees, everything. All for a dollar a day. Just remember that even a few dollars goes a long way in this country. If you want to donate, go to www.villagevolunteers.org.
I asked what Emmanuel wants to do when he’s done building his school. He replied with a smile, “Build more schools, of course!” If he’s the person in charge, then I know it will get done.
Alex Salkin
Dago Dala Hera Orphanage
Alex Salkin is a 24 year old graduate of Willamette University with a B.A. in Anthropology. He just returned from a 6 week trip to Kenya through the Village Volunteer program (www.villagevolunteers.com). If you have questions or comments, please contact Alex.Salkin@gmail.com