Our Trust was set up at the end of 2012, supported by Real Africa donations and our clients. I’m in Africa this week visiting several of the projects that we are involved with. I visit East Africa each spring to ensure that everything is ready for the season ahead; checking vehicles, talking with the guides and visiting the offices. The Trust gives me a great opportunity to escape the cities.
My first stop this year will be to visit the small village of Ololchura, situated just a few kilometres from the Sekenani gate into the Masai Mara reserve. This is the site of our first major project. With only one small classroom the school currently has to either do lessons outside in the yard, or cram all the year groups into the same building. The first phase of our plan is the construction of a second classroom.
Having successfully raised the funds, we have received the necessary permissions from the local authority and educational committee and work is to start there as soon as the main rains have finished. I shall be there, together with Charles Jukes the Trusts main trustee, to appoint the contractor, set the schedule and payment milestones, and meet up with the teachers and children.
We have plans to assist further, with the provision of water and power to the school and village. Watch this space.
Next is a visit to the Cookery School at the Karen Blixen Camp in the Mara North Conservancy. This project offers young Masai students the opportunity to be trained as qualified cooks and chefs. An intake of eight students do the two year course, emerging at the end with a qualification that allows them to work in the lodges and camps of the Mara.
Such vocational training is important for two reasons. First, it allows money from tourism to go directly into the local community in the way of wages. Secondly, having provided local children with basic primary education, it also allows the pupils to stay in the area and earn a good living, rather than having to travel to Nairobi in search of work and possibly ending up in the slums.
My last stop, on the way back to the airport, is to visit Kithaka at the Sheldrick Trust in Nairobi. Kithaka is the orphan elephant we sponsor and as he’s been ill recently it will be good to see him, hopefully, back to his most mischievous. Through the Sheldrick Trust we support anti-poaching in Tsavo.
I’ll be reporting more on the projects upon my return.
