Kajiado schools wait For God To Make A Way As Drought Bites

Maasai children in Imparbali village in Kajiado West.

Ol Choro Onyore Primary School, deep in Kajiado County is facing imminent closure. The school’s attendance has greatly been affected by the ongoing biting drought.

The government has introduced a feeding programme at the school but it lasts them only two to three days.

Ms. Hellen Siampei, a senior teacher at the school who is also in charge of the feeding program, says that when there is no food, almost half of the learners choose to stay at home.

Children at

Last month, the school received food from the National Government through the chief’s office but it only lasted two days.

“If this continues for another three weeks, we may not have children in school as some of them have to walk for 5kms to come to school,” she says.

Before the drought, parents used to contribute Sh20 ($0.16) per week towards the feeding program, which they can no longer afford owing to the toll that the drought has taken on them and their source of livelihood.

“The drought has affected my cattle, sheep, and goats, I have lost some and been forced to sell the rest at a throwaway price,” laments Mr. John Ole Kipapi, a parent.

Mr. Ole Puruo gestures next to his collapsed bull at Kiserian Livestock Market

“The feeding program helped as I only had to worry about my three children who are in University.”

Ole Kipapi is in despair. A cow he used to sell at Sh100, 000 to pay fees now fetches less than Sh1, 000 while sheep and goat go for between Sh100 and Sh200.

“Tell me, how many animals will I have to sell before I can raise enough fees for all my children?” he poses.

According to the area chief Isaac Mpeti, the national and county governments have tried to intervene but more help is needed to keep the children in school and full for that matter.

“We brought two bags of rice and three bags of beans from the relief kitty. Coming back to this school today, the children see me and they are happy they think that I have brought more food for them,” Mpeti says.

“I feel so bad because today I have come with nothing for them, it really saddens me.”

The chief is now appealing to well-wishers to adopt a school and provide dry grains and drinking water for the benefit of the children.

Kajiado County is among the ten counties in Kenya that have been adversely affected by drought and famine.

Kenya’s vision 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals talk of providing quality education and zero hunger.

The drought situation in the country has intensified with government data indicating that 4.35 million Kenyans are either going to bed on empty stomachs or surviving on single meal a day.

In Kajiado County, Kenya, the school feeding program has been affected owing to the shortage of grains in the country.

The school meals program started by the government in 2018 has over the years contributed to increased enrollment and attendance, higher levels of learning and has even been credited with improved performance in schools situated in drought prone areas.

However, some schools like Oloirien Primary School were not earmarked for the program since the area was considered better off as it was not an arid but a semi-arid area.

According to Mr. Joseph Nkaiwatei, the head teacher, most parents in the school, who are small scale farmers and herders, would donate several bags of maize and beans to before the drought.

The drought that has been biting for four consecutive planting seasons and skyrocketing cost of living has made it difficult for the parents to afford even a tin of grains.

He says that most of the children come from families that cannot afford even one meal a day.

“One day a student came to me that she had a tummy ache, upon enquiring what she had taken for breakfast that morning, she told me hot water,” says Mr. Nkaiwatei.

“That was definitely hunger. I had to give her tea and mandazi that I had carried from home,” he adds.

Despite the drought challenges, he says, they keep encouraging the children to keep coming to school, telling them God will make a way.

“I feel really sorry for our Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates this year as the performance has been dwindling over the years owing to the famine.”

Children Playing at Oloirien Primary school