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Oxfam in Kenya - the chance of an education
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Photo: Geoff Sayer/Oxfam |
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El Das is a settlement in north-eastern Kenya. Like many trading
centres in the region, it has grown rapidly in the last 15 years.
Destitute families have settled there, having been driven from the
land where they once herded their animals by successive droughts
and, in 1998, by freak floods.
The primary school in El Das was not capable of coping with the
growing community, especially since the floods undermined its foundations.
The school was dangerous, the walls and roof collapsing in where
the children sat. Faced by a shortage of funding for education,
the community decided to do something about it themselves. They
raised more than £500 to repair the school, a huge amount for a
poor rural community. Oxfam helped by providing materials –
cement, timbers, iron sheeting, and plaster – and the school
was rebuilt with seven classrooms.
Local people really value the chance of an education. "Once
you have knowledge, it cannot be taken away," said Malele Farah,
chairperson of the Parent Teacher Association. "Through schooling,
a child can learn to teach others. They can become self-reliant
and help their community and nation."
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