Sr. Clare Tobin OSU
Ursuline Sisters
Coordinator of projects in Nairobi, Kenya
My
main focus was to work with my Kenyan
counterpart in the co-ordination and supervision
of projects and personnel with which the
Ursuline Sisters were involved. This covered
both education and health though here I am just
going to concentrate in education and my role
therein.
During 2007 I visited our projects situated in
Nairobi, Kitale, Kitui and Turkana. The best
result of the year was that I have now handed
over leadership role to a Kenya Sister, Sr.
Pamela Kiraithe, and a Kenyan leadership team.
All of us, Sisters, have benefited from misean
cara in-country training, human development
courses, counselling, computer courses,
leadership courses, financial management, etc.,
which build up capacities so that we are ready
to take up different roles when the need arises.
In Kitale, the Montessori school is in its
second year and has had good results in
encouraging parents to send girls to school. The
building of the Primary School for girls -
funded by misean cara - has begun and we hope to
have it ready for January 2009 to continue
quality education begun in Pre-School. Small
classes, qualified/well-motivated teachers,
efficient management and supportive teaching
aids and resources should address the problems
of illiteracy, low school attendance and failure
to make the grade to enter secondary school. The
nurses in the Dispensary continue with health
checks in the Montessori and neighbouring
schools, which opens the door to visiting the
needy families who have problems, eg, HIV /AIDS,
malnutrition, abuse and so on. The classroom for
the Kanamkemer Montessori, Lodwar, has been
completed and is furnished and ready for use. It
means 40 4 and 5-year-old old girls will
graduate from the floor and sit in desks for the
first time!
The biggest challenge we face is retaining
highly qualified staff. Turkana is a remote area
with a harsh climate and so we aim to create an
attractive learning environment for the girls in
Lodwar so that they continue their education,
which is their only route out of the poverty
trap. I feel that we need to give more time to
parents in enlightening and empowering them
about the benefits of education and the need for
their daughters to stay on at school.
As our education projects 'grow', we will have a
chance to evaluate and effect changes according
to the needs and challenges of the time. This
approach has proved worthwhile when we
established the Pre-School in Kitale.
Furthermore, the Ursuline Congregation with a
strong Kenyan contingent of trained, efficient
personnel will continue to work with the
Ministry of Education and the Diocese of Kitale
and Lodwar to sustain these projects well into
the future.
In Turkana, the poor roads and heavy rainfall
made travel very difficult. Flying was the only
option at times and it was expensive. The
collapse of the bridge in Kainuk hampered all
travel to and from Lodwar for a few weeks. Our
building project in Kanamkemer suffered a
go-slow because of lack of building materials.