Aidlink is an Irish charity working to educate, enable and empower individuals, families and communities in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana. In 2019 & 2020, ElectricAid helped with funding to create a quality and inclusive educational system in 2 primary schools in Turkana, Kenya.
Turkana is among the poorest and most at-risk areas in Kenya. The Turkana people are often discriminated against and they are significantly below the national average in terms of access to clean, safe water and education. Life has been made even harder in recent years due to climate change. Prior to October 2019, Turkana County experienced severe drought and had not seen a drop of rain for three years. In the past, droughts typically occurred every 10 – 15 years. Now with the effects of climate change, droughts are occurring every 2 – 3 years. Families have been forced to move around to find pasture for their animals. During droughts, boys typically drop out of school to migrate with their animals and girls stay at home to collect water. The distances girls travel to collect water during drought can reach up to 18km. This places girls at a much higher risk of gender-based violence and sexual assault. In October 2019, Turkana was hit by severe flash floods that wiped out many homes and villages as well as farms and livestock and killed nine people. These flash floods cut off villages and families from schools and food sources, leaving communities in danger and students out of school. They are still trying to rebuild.
ElectricAid donated €10,339 to Aidlink to implement an inclusive quality education programme in 2 Turkana primary schools, to achieve the following goals;
- They met the UNICEF standards of a child-friendly, gender sensitive and disability-friendly school in both schools. They had inclusive, gender and disability-friendly latrines, water tanks installed, and teachers were trained on gender and disability-responsive participation and inclusion.
- Children, particularly girls and those with disabilities, in the two schools were informed and empowered to defend their rights and engage in education. Rights of the Child (RoC) clubs were established in the schools and the members were trained on child rights, life skills (including health and sanitation) and supported to participate in at least two international human rights campaigns.
- Target schools and communities were given enhanced knowledge, capacity and skills to manage the effects of drought and reduce its impact on access to education, particularly for girls and learners with disabilities.
800 students, teachers and their families benefited from this programme because of the newly provided improved water and sanitation infrastructure. The number of girls and children with disabilities attending school has increased significantly because of the new gender sensitive and disability-friendly latrines and facilities which help them to feel more secure at school. A large proportion of students in these schools are now able to demonstrate knowledge of children’s’ rights and families have been able to learn how to properly prepare for droughts and how to make sure droughts do not impact their children’s education. The benefits of this project were also felt by the wider community who were able to see the benefit of education and are now more likely to send their children to school. This programme also achieved the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
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