Help us support girls’ education

As I've mentioned before, the Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project doesn't concern itself only with baboons. We also take pride in supporting the local community. Our newest project focuses on supporting high school education for girls in the area.

This is a group of female students at Il Polei Secondary School in front of their dorm. Like most of the schools in rural areas, students that live too far to walk in every day can board at their high school.

Principal John Ngumba (below, left), and Deputy Principal Ndegwa (right) are inspiring leaders in this community. Together they are working hard to improve the educational environment, especially focusing on girls' education. Historically, girls' education has not been a priority in traditional cultures of rural Kenya. Things are changing, but they are changing too slowly for John Ngumba. He works tirelessly to keep his students focused and the community supporting their attendance in school. 

When we approached John about what we could do help out at the school his answer came almost immediately: they need a new girls' dorm. Why? To accommodate more girls. 

Here's a look at a the current girls' dorm at Il Polei Secondary School:

The simple tin structure does the trick.

The students sleep in bunk beds and keep their belongings in tin trunks.

The high ceilings and few windows keep the structure cool enough during the hottest times of year.

After the tour of the dorm itself we saw a little more of how they live at the school:

This is the shower, a tin enclosure where buckets of water are carried and used to wash.

Laundry is hung out to dry on acacia bushes.

These are the girls' toilets.

They also have a vegetable garden on site that the students help tend.

So, what would it take to provide a new dorm? Here's a breakdown of the costs:

The estimate for a new girls’ dorm is as follows:

                  Foundation               $7,900

                  Roofing                    $2,200

                  Wall materials          $6,700

                  Labor                      $4,200

                  Total                      $21,000

For 21,000 USD we can provide space for another 42 girls (at least!) to board at school. And you can help. The current CABS crew is trying to raise this money with our family and friends from home.

Ways to help:

1. You can donate now by following this link to the UNBP website: http://www.baboonsrus.com/7.html

2. You can contact Ann Cole (hellocoles@comcast.net) or Debbie Roberts (debvroberts@yahoo.com) to organize another method of donation

3. And if donating money is not your thing, we are also hoping to gather some sanitary napkins and underwear to help girls stay in class during their periods - again contact Ann or Debbie to help on this front.

Thank you for any and all support you can provide.

      -The current CABS crew

It's baby season on Laikipia

The long rains are just beginning here on Laikipia Plateau and babies seem to have arrived with them!

Before I left the US I visited a 2nd grade class at Mitchell elementary school in Ann Arbor and many students asked if I could send pictures from Kenya of baby giraffes and baby zebras. Until now I have only spotted juveniles, but now there are teensy babies everywhere!

Here are a few of my sightings:

The adults in this herd of Cape Buffalo circled quickly around their young when they spotted me.

We have seen plenty of cute baby Iimpala too. 

This is tiniest giraffe I've ever seen! 

But don't worry, mam wasn't far away.

Here you can see how small the baby is next to mama.

Although these are not newborns, we have had many elephant herds in the area with young.

Even at this stage they are HUGE! 

And here is a little Plains Zebra.

When they are this young their stripes appear brown instead of black.

And let's not forget about baboons! Although they do not reproduce seasonally, here's our newest little guy: Xtreme!