- Project overview:
Nandi people are classified among the legendary Kalenjin speaking people that occupy the expansive Rift Valley province. Rift Valley province is characterized by humid, hot and dry weather conditions in the months of December, January, February and March and cold and wet in the months of April, May, June and July. But in August, September, October and November the climate is warm and cool which is a very comforting climate. It is one of the 42 recognized ethnic communities in Kenya known for their hospitality. Nandi’s are farmers in nature practicing mixed farming, keeping animals and growing of food crops. Nandi district host the Nandi forest; Nandi Rock which is the single largest rock in East Africa. The total area of Nandi district in which 40% of the total land is a forest
Majority of the populace live on the hills which offers cool and conducive environment for agriculture. Kamagap Primary School is located on the high lands where climatic conditions are favorable for meaningful agricultural activities and community members are very hard working.
Kamagap Primary School is located in Kamagap, Kibwareng Sub-Location in Aldai Division, Nandi South district, Rift Valley Province in the Republic of Kenya; some parts of Rift Valley are sometimes referred to as semi-arid zone.
- Activities:
Manual work such as brick making, construction, teaching primary school children, planting trees, soil conservation,
Intercultural activities such as home visits, inter-cultural learning and advocacy on gender sensitivity in collaboration with community based organizations. Volunteers will work for six hours per day from Monday to Friday.
- THEME:
GENDER SENSITIZATION
Sub-Sahara Africa is lagging behind other continents in achieving Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is due to the enormous challenges the continent is facing in achieving development as a whole. Poverty, bad governance, conflict and the HIV/AIDS pandemic have made the task of raising the development levels of Africa even more difficult to accomplish.
It is also agreed that there are groups that are particularly disadvantaged in terms of access, retention and performance in education. These include the poor, rural populations, the physically challenged, orphans and people in armed conflict and post conflict situations. Both boys and girls in these categories are affected. However, due to the unequal socio-economic gender construct in most African societies, the scale of disadvantages is tipped more against girls and women. Numerous studies have illustrated this situation to the point that education policy makers and practitioners have been forced to accept that there are serious gender disparities in education that call for urgent action. The factors behind the gender inequity and inequality in education include negative cultural values, attitudes and practices that foster teenage pregnancy, early marriage, sexual harassment, excessive domestic chores and the disregard of the importance of girls’ education. There is also the lack of gender responsiveness among the teachers, in the curriculum, teaching methodology, teaching and learning materials, school management systems and the overall school environment.
The gender-based constraints to education tend to be more pronounced in rural areas due to the fact that the environment is normally more accommodative of gender inequality. Rural areas display stricter adherence to traditional cultural values, attitudes and practices. As such practices detrimental to girls’ education such as early marriage, abduction, genital mutilation, sexual violence, excessive domestic chores, male superiority and domination of women are tolerated and encouraged by the community both inside and outside the school.
Rural areas also constitute the majority of the un-reached sections of the populations due to poor infrastructure in terms of transport and communication. Extension workers, government officials and development agents often exclude visiting rural areas using poor transport facilities as a justification.
For example, it is common for schools in rural areas to operate for several years without getting a visit from a school inspector or officials from the headquarters. As such, exposure to practices that could bring about positive changes to education practice can be very limited.
It is important, therefore, to recognize that provision of education for rural areas poses additional challenges in general and particularly for the achievement of gender equity and equality. The good news however, is that a lot is already happening in the area of gender in education which is relevant to education for rural areas.
The last decade has witnessed considerable attention to gender and education at the level of both policy and practice. As such the Education for Rural Areas initiative need not reinvent the wheel but rather review what is already happening and see how any new interventions can build on existing efforts.
It is the intention of this camp, therefore, to focus on sharing experiences on strategies and interventions that have the potential to eliminate gender disparities in education for this community.
- Orientation:
Volunteers participating in this project are expected to meet at the KVDA Residence in Kilimani, Nairobi on 6th July 2013 for the mandatory one day orientation session before departing to the project site as a team. Subject to provision of full flight details, all volunteers will be picked up at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on arrival.
- Participation Fees:
Volunteers participating in this project will be required to pay Euros 300 for a package of three weeks and this will include two way airport pick up, full board orientation day, fares to and from the project, food and accommodation at the project, facilitation, certificate of participation and administrative costs. Partners are requested to adequately inform the volunteers that the participation fees caters for a wide range of votes and is not only limited to the work camp foodstuffs. This has in the past been a major cause of conflict.
WHAT DOES THE PARTICIPATION FEES COVER?
Project preparation; Transport to and from the project; Communication with the project hosts and the volunteer; Certificates of participation; KVDA administrative costs; Orientation (meals & accommodation); project evaluation and follow-up and program overall coordination.
WHAT IS NOT COVERED?
Excursion activities, local travel while in the community, personal effects, needs and wants.
- ACCOMMODATION:
Project hosts will provide accommodation with two separate rooms for male and female volunteers. This will be very modest and designed in a work camp set-up where there are no beds, electricity and running water (in most cases) and the volunteers will sleep on the floor using mats and sleeping bags to experience the complexities of life in rural Kenya. Volunteers with special needs like those who are physically challenged should alert KVDA on application so that efforts are made to accommodate them appropriately.
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KISWAHILI TRAINING PROGRAM {optional}:
Kiswahili training program is tailor-made to suit volunteers’ preference and open to individuals keen to have basic knowledge in Kiswahili that is widely spoken in East Africa and nowadays taught in prestigious Universities in the world. The 10-day program is organized in a serene atmosphere in order to quench for thirst among volunteers. Those willing to participate in the program should inform KVDA at least two weeks before arrival and this will be done at an additional fees of Euros 200 all inclusive.
EDUCATIONAL TOURS {optional}:
KVDA educational tour is tailor made to afford the volunteers an opportunity to visit spectacular sites of Interest that will include the famous safari, archeology and other specialties. The fees charged is all inclusive of meals, accommodation and tour guiding. Educational tour will be held before and after the work camp and volunteers wishing to participate should take note of this before planning their travel itinerary.
Kindly note that the fees are inclusive of the park fees by Kenya Wild Life Service, tour guide, food and accommodation. Below are the rates for the guided tours:3 days tour to Masaai Mara National Park – 350 Euros
4th day tour to Lake Nakuru an extra 150 Euros
Nairobi National park (One Day) 150 Euros
Bomas of Kenya 100 Euros