Educating Children & Youth
Education is empowerment, protection and hope for children, young people and their families. Education saves lives and transforms futures, and is the key to long-term sustainable development.
We work with some of the poorest and most isolated communities in Africa: the nomadic pastoralist Masai and Turkana in Kenya and the Karamajong in Uganda. In these communities, children, especially girls, face many barriers to attending school including poverty, hunger, poor facilities and negative social practices such as child marriage and FGM among the Masai.
We provide access to safe water, sanitation facilities and daily lunches in schools. These act as a pull factor as community support grows with the improvement of local facilities. We also train students, teachers and communities on chid rights, changing attitudes towards education and harmful social practices from within.
By working with communities and providing resources, we are ensuring that:
- All children that should be in school are in school and learning
- School is a safe place for all children, especially girls and children with disabilities
- By being in a safe school: health outcomes improve, child marriage is delayed and FGM is reduced
- Communities are empowered and enabled to take action and live dignified, sustainable lives!
In 2019 alone, Aidlink provided:
- 22 schools in Kenya and Uganda with clean, safe water and sanitation facilities, reaching approx. 6,500 students and their families
- Over 10,000 children in Kenya with daily school lunches
Over the last 10 years, Aidlink together with the Girl Child Network has worked with more than 280 public primary schools, with approx. 100,000 children directly benefiting from our support. This has resulted in a 35% increase in enrolment and 27% increase in completion of school among girls and boys in Kajiado County, Kenya.
Read more about our Education programmes here.
Lolupe Primary School
Lolupe Primary School in Turkana, started under an acacia tree over 10km from the river Turkwell. In 1984, people began to settle in the locality and a community well was constructed 5km from the village by the government.
In 2015, the newly established county government funded the construction of 4 classrooms. More children began to come to school but because there were no water or sanitation facilities, hygiene and sanitation were extremely compromised. The situation was even more challenging for the girls who would have to stay at home during their menstrual cycles (missing up to 1 week of classes per month!).
Aidlink and the Girl Child Network (GCN) included Lolupe Primary School in their programme in 2017, providing water and sanitation facilities that included a latrine block with a changing room for girls and a water tank. Aidlink and GCN facilitated ‘community conversations’ and negotiations that resulted in the county government connecting the school to the local well 5km away, ensuring a continuous supply of water to the school.
The improved water and satiation facilities gained the support of the community and this has contributed to the increase in enrolment and improved attendance at school. With adequate water facilities, the school was able to establish a school garden that now provides lunch for students. With the whole community behind the school, Lolupe is setting an example to others in the area on how to create a child-friendly and gender-sensitive learning environment that supports both boys and girls to achieve their full potential!
