(supported by eRKo Slovakia)

Stories shared with us by Project Participants

Anna from Emurwadikir village:

Anna did not get a chance to go to school. She celebrates that now she knows how to write her phone number; she is able to retrieve a number from her phone and make phone calls without any assistance.

She assists her husband to sell milk and is able to account for the money that she receives from the sale from the milk. She keeps a notebook and compares the records with what the milk diary keeps to make sure the family does not get robbed.

Anna has participated in health trainings, facilitated by a public health nurse who visits her adult literacy class every week. She has built a toilet at her home and has a tippy tap at her home. She has taught her children to wash their hands to avoid diseases. Anna plans to bring her friends to her class so that they too may learn to read and write.

Mary from Ilipatmaro Village

Mary is a trader at the local market, she sells dry foods – beans, maize and flour.  Mary could only speak the local Maa language before joining the adult literacy class, this made it difficult for her to travel outside of her village to trade.

Mary joined the literacy class hoping to learn to read, count and can speak in Kiswahili. Mary desired too to be able to calculate if her business was making profit or not. After studying for one and half years, Mary, today trades outside of her village (at Bisil Market), is able to keep records for her business. Mary has also joined a savings and loans group with other women from her class and will this year take a loan to expand her business.

Mary is proud that today she can buy airtime and top up her phone for herself, as she understands the instructions given. Mary has introduced new foods to her family diet as she has learnt about good nutrition from the health trainers that visit her adult literacy class.

Mary hopes to continue learning and sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Exam in future.

Elizabeth from Emurwadikir Village:

Elizabeth never set foot in school, in her early years, she stayed with her mother and other women around the home, looked after cattle and assisted in doing household chores. After undergoing the female cut (FGM) Elizabeth was married off at the age of 13 years and was moved to a different village to become the 3^rd wife to a man that was older than her Father.

In 2019, ChallengeAid through the support of eRko started an adult literacy class at the Emurwadikir  Centre.   Elizabeth joined the adult literacy class so as to stop being dependent on those who could read. She was previously afraid to travel outside her village as she could not read road signs and could only communicate in her mother tongue. She also had problems trading as it was impossible to handle money. She now makes and sells soap (a skill she learnt at the adult literacy class) at her village Centre and is able to give the correct change while selling to her customers.

Elizabeth who is a mother of 5, is widowed and was disinherited by her husband’s family. Elizabeth lost all her livestock when her husband died; this left her very poor. Elizabeth says that she now makes some money and is not idle.  She hopes to acquire some goats from the profit that she is making, which she saves in her Self-Help group.

Joyce from Kurket Village

Joyce says she is more confident since learning to read and write, she feels that even her husband respects her more and consults with her. Her husband who is not able to read or write asks for her assistance in reading SMS from his phone, find a contact from his phone book and to check if the milk dairy has entered correctly the amount of milk the family delivers.

Joyce has been trained as a volunteer health educator and has built a rack for drying up her utensils after washing them – she learnt from the health nurse that the practice could kill germs. She washes her hands now before handling food and insists that her family does the same. Joyce says she is able to advice expectant mothers on what to eat, and has been fighting the myth that women who are expectant should be denied food and made to work hard (this was practiced among the Masai, in the believe that it kept the unborn baby small and therefore easier to deliver naturally). She knows that this practice puts at risk the lives of both the mother and child.  

Joyce says that today (because of the health trainings that she has received) she is more open to delivering her children at a health facility and she encourages other women to do the same. In the past, Joyce delivered all her children at home and only visited the hospital if there were serious health problems after delivery.

Rebecca from Bisil Village

Rebecca lives in Bisil town, where she moved to after the death of her husband. She was married away from her village, while she was still a teenager and never had the opportunity to attend school.  After the death of her husband, she lost her livestock to her husband’s family and she and her children left her matrimonial home and moved to Bisil Township where she started to trade at the market. This was quite difficult for Rebecca as she could not count and depended on her child who was attending school.

When the literacy class was started, she joined as her business was not thriving and she hoped to learn how to count. At the literacy class, Rebecca learnt arithmetic and has used the skill to keep the records of her business and know when she has made a loss and why she made the loss. Rebecca is a member of a self-help group that she formed with other women who attend the adult literacy class, where she took a loan and expanded her business. Rebecca sells salt and supplements for cattle, which she sources from Kajiado town.

Agnes from Ilipartmaro Village

Agnes had not entered a classroom before joining the adult literacy class started by ChallengeAid. During her childhood, girls from her village did not go to school but just stayed with their mothers helping with household chores and looking after cattle, until it was time for them to get married. She was charged with looking after family’s cattle and was away herding cattle for most of her life.

Agnes desired to read and write so that she could read the Bible for herself. She also wanted to be able to hold conversations in Kiswahili because every time she was ill or took her child to the hospital a translator would be needed to assist in communicating with the medical staff. This embarrassed her and she always feared that the translator would tell others about her health problems.

 Agnes can now speak in Kiswahili and is able to communicate with the medical staff when she visits the Health Centre. She, for the first time, joined a savings group and enjoys greatly meeting with other women. Agnes’ family has employed a herder who relieves her when she has to go to the adult literacy class or when she needs to attend group meetings.

Rebecca from Kurket Village

Rebecca states that her eyes opened when she learnt to read and write. Her greatest joy is to be able to write her name and that of her husband; and to recognize the date when her children were born. Rebecca volunteers to teach the new women who are joining the adult literacy class now on how to read and count.

Rebecca was a member of a savings women group in the past but the group collapsed and her savings were lost.  She says that the new group that they have formed with other learners through the support of ChallengeAid is controlled by members and members keep their own individual records now that they are able to read and count. Rebecca states that she is saving money so as to be able to improve her house by replacing the roof.  Rebecca spends time in the evening learning from her children what they had been taught at school. Her children enjoy revising in the evening with their Mother.

Elijah from Bisil Village

Elijah decided to learn to read and write as he found it embarrassing to ask for assistance every time he needed to do a financial transaction. Elijah is a successful trader but he always needed to be accompanied by a person who could read when he needed to do financial transactions at the mobile money shop or at the bank. He said, his affairs were then known by many people who he did not trust. Elijah also desired to read the Bible for himself. Elijah had previous joined an adult education class but dropped out as the class was not held consistently and he felt that he was not learning much.  

Elijah joined the class run at his local church and supported by ChallengeAid, he studied for a year under this program and can now read and write in Kiswahili and he can read his Bible. He has also benefited from a loan from his group and says that the interest charged is low and the repayment terms are friendly. Elijah has invited many more men to join the adult literacy and they are all grateful for the opportunity.

Priscila from Kurket Village

Priscila volunteered to mobilize learners from her community to join the adult literacy class. She moved from Church to Church and from Manyatta to Manyatta to inform other women about the opportunity to learn to read and write at a place close to their homes.  Priscila says that the class is a big blessing and has become a place for the women to meet and even discuss their problems.

Priscila has been awarded a certificate of literacy proficiency by the County Government of Kajiado after studying consistently for 1 year and hopes to continue studying and to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Exam in future.

Elizabeth from Ilipartmaro Village

Elizabeth was among the first ladies to join the adult class at her village. She had attended school as a child but left after studying for only 3 years so that she could be married.

When the adult literacy class was introduced, Elizabeth attended classes consistently and soon learnt to read and write. She afterwards became a Sunday school teacher in her Church (the main requirement was for one to be able to read and write).

Elizabeth says that she has used the skills she has learnt in the health education sessions and that her home has become cleaner and her family appreciates it.

Elizabeth was also elected a treasurer of her self-help group, which has led to her being well respected in her community. She has become a leader in her community. She says she is more confident speaking during public meetings and is not afraid as she is able to understand the matters that are discussed. She says she is able to contribute to decisions made in her family and make herself heard.