Let me tell you a little about the AIC Kajiado Girls School in Kenya…
The school is located just south of Nairobi on the way to the Tanzania Border.
It has about 700 students, mostly from the Maasai community as this is their land. Of the 700 girls that attend the school, there is a special program… the “Bride Rescue Program” that currently has about 100 students in attendance. This special program was designed in 1986 to rescue young girls from harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (circumcision) and early marriage. The girls make their own choice of leaving their families and villages and make their way to this incredible school to get an education and respite from early forced marriage. Early forced marriages are quite common as the fathers of these girls decide they would be better off being someone’s wife in exchange for some cows and money for her dowry. Once married and begin to start families, it is unlikely that their lives will change…
AIC Kajiado Girls School is a boarding school as many of the girls live far from their homes.
The girls not in the Bride Rescue Program will go home during school holidays and spend time with their families… the girls in the program cannot go back to their homes for fear of being married off or abused. During these breaks, the girls are taught things such as cookery, embroidery and beadwork, which earn them a little income for their personal effects. When the rescued girls come to the school, most of them are traumatized and have to undergo serious counseling. Once at the school, the girls join the ‘speak out club’, whereby they compose poems, songs and plays that are geared towards creating awareness on early marriage and girl child education amongst the girls and to rest of the community. They all have high hopes and do well in their studies recognizing this is a great opportunity for them so they work VERY hard!
Elizabeth’s Story
Elizabeth is a lovely Maasai girl had been married to an elderly chief and circumcised at age 10. She had been beaten regularly and was rescued by a law officer and brought to Kajiado Girls School. Upon her arrival she was welcomed “into the fold” by the teachers and other students who shared their extra school uniforms with her as well as give her the support she needed. It was touch and go whether Elizabeth would stay at the school as she had been “brainwashed” to believe life in the Maasai village with this old chief was the way to live. With intensive counseling and the encouragement and love from the teaching staff and students there was a huge change in this beautiful young lady…. she is actually smiling… there is light in her eyes. About a year after she arrived, her father reconciled with her and was visiting the school and spending time with Elizabeth. Unfortunately, she went back to her father and village some time ago and we continue to try and keep in touch with her. Sadly, there are many stories similar to Elizabeth’s…
How the Friends of Kajiado Girls School began…
Nature Encounters Tours & Travel has been supporting the AIC Kajiado Girls School since 1999.
Some of our projects have included purchasing new mattresses, blankets, sheets, towels, providing sanitary napkins and other personal hygiene products, purchasing and installing 60 new bunk beds, mattresses, blankets, sheets and towels in a new dorm (kindly built by another donor) and purchasing and installing over 700 mosquito nets in the school and community. To this date, there has not been a case of Malaria in the school since the nets were installed in 2009 – that is HUGE! We are so grateful for all our Nature Encounters Tours guests that have contributed personally and through their associations to help… we could not have done this without you! In 2013, we were deemed a society named The Friends of AIC Kajiado Girls School. Our mandate is to assist the school how ever we can in order to make the girls lives better so they can concentrate on achieving their schooling goals and complete their education.
