ABOUT THE SAVE THE ELEPHANTS AND ELEPHANT WATCH SAFARIS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME
We
work closely with local primary schools in the area and select highly
motivated intelligent students who come from impoverished pastoralist
backgrounds and whose families are unable to afford the secondary school
fees. Unfortunately, without a proper education, these students will
have little access to higher training or employment opportunities. The
local people are now beginning to realize the genuine value of education
for their child’s future and are extremely supportive of the STE /EW
efforts. One of our main focuses is Conservation Education and we also encourage students to become Ambassadors of the area and of their cultures. We now have an established project where guests who stay at the EW Camp in Samburu can sponsor students and create personal relationships with them. We select students based on merit, determination and motivation. These students build friendships with their sponsors, and us and stay in close contact through letters and pictures. Sponsoring these young people provides them with a rare and precious opportunity that will change their lives.
The local communities surrounding Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves struggle to send their children to Secondary School. As part of the community projects, Save the Elephants (STE) supported by Elephant Watch (EW) consulted the local people living around the Reserves.The general consensus was a strong need for secondary education and training opportunities which were non existent, especially for girls. As a result of this, STE & EW have created this fund for education and training for the children from Northern Kenya. It offers them an opportunity to get a proper secondary education combined with hands-on elephant and environmental awareness. This fund is largely supported by guests who stay at Elephant Watch (EW).
So far 29 students have already completed their secondary school education under this programme and most of them are now actively involved in Conservation and Eco-tourism. One, who completed his secondary education in 2005, emerged as the top student in Isiolo District. We have been successful in raising funds to sponsor him through a 6-year Medical degree in Nairobi University.
Wildlife Conservation Network serves as our support organization in the USA. 100% of the donation made goes directly to Save the Elephants. All donations will be exempt from tax.
NEWS FROM THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME
Benjamin Loloju, our 2009 graduate from
Lenana School is doing famously. From his small beginnings in a manyatta in Ol
Donyiro village living with his eight siblings, he has conquered the odds to
emerge one of the top 100 students in the country with straight A’s. He has subsequently won many awards and
certificates in recognition to his excellent performance.
Now that he has
finished school, and in the true spirit of community conservation education,
Benjamin has been working as the field education officer, taking care of fellow
students at STE, and helping conduct interviews for bright young boys and girls
much like himself, giving them the same opportunity he received. Last year, he got the amazing
opportunity to go to UK for an internship at Oxford University though his
sponsors and Fritz Vollrath, a professor at Oxford.
Here, he narrates a little
of his experience: “My journey to Europe was one I will never forget. Climates
and generations will change but the experience i got on this particular safari
will never fade away. Travelling in a big plane was so exciting. London is
particularly beautiful and the environment so clean. I was in Magdalen College
and my internship went very well.”
Through the generous support of our
dedicated sponsors, we have taken 4 girls and 1 boy into our programme this
year. Two of the girls- Susan and Eliza, were accepted into Bahati Girls
secondary school which ranked 3rd in the whole country in the national
examinations while another girl was accepted into Maryhill girls which ranked
32nd in the country. 
Zeituna Mustafa, another 2009 graduate of
the Education programme from the Borana community is now at the University of
Nairobi pursuing her dream career in Bachelor of Commerce.
She says: “Life in
the Campus is exciting and it has taught me to be responsible and more
hardworking. During the weekends I work for STE because I believe in giving
back and that’s one of my principles. I keep in touch with the rest of the 2009
graduates who are doing very well. They are all doing short courses as they
wait for their admission to be called to the university.”
The 2010 graduates did exceedingly
well. To our thrill and
excitement, most of the students passed superbly with Agnes Lekorere and Sally
Lenaimalda emerging at the top of the STE scholarship chart, both
receiving B+.
The remaining four girls,; Rose Lempate, Sabina Lesopiroi, Lucy Lemengusi, Stella Lengewat came out with B, B, B nd B- respectively. The boys did not do as well as expected with James Lokale and Daniel Tuarari obtaining C and below. We hope for better performance from our boys in future.
Alinta is our first scholarship recipient from Westgate Primary School in Samburu, a school that STE has been instrumental in building for the past 4 years. She was accepted into AIC Moi girls, the second best school in Samburu.Our boy, Kamua is from Ol Donyiro where our star student Benjamin (class of 2009) comes from. He has been accepted into Maseno School, one of the best and oldest secondary schools in Kenya.
Eliza Rekenoi (left) and Susan Lolmodoni (right) stand with Resson Kantai, Education Officer (centre) in their brand new uniforms on the first day of school at Bahati Girls.
ON THE MOBILE EDUCATION FRONT:
We ushered in the year by purchasing the new mobile education vehicle with funds donated courtesy of Sea World and Busch Gardens. This officially kicked off the first leg of the Mobile Education Unit, enabling us to visit schools in the area, educating children through conservation films. Our first stop was West Gate Primary where we were given a warm welcome by the standard 8s as well as the environmental club. Our next stop is Ngare Mara part of an important elephant corridor which has seen several poaching incidents in the recent past.
Children of Westgate Primary watch a conservation movie and listen to talks from Joseph Soltis of Disney and Resson Kantai of Save the Elephants
IN THE PIPELINE:
STE plans to begin construction of
teachers’ housing at West Gate Primary School in the coming months. The school which was host to only 3 teachers handling 8 classes has blossomed over the
years of sound infrastructure development, and is now sporting 9 teachers, all
in desperate need of housing. We also hope to construct extra housing to accommodate
volunteer teachers from abroad to further raise the standard of education.
West Gate Primary School Kids
If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will help you begin your new relationship with a student.
Please contact:
The Education Officer,
Save the Elephants and Elephant Watch
Safaris,
P.O. Box 54667, Nairobi 00200, Kenya
Tel: (25420) 891673, Fax: (25420) 890441,
scholarship@savetheelephants.org