Learning Together: Bringing Maasai core values into British schools

1. Learning Together:Bringing Maasai core values into British schools Gemma Burford Co-Founder & International Liaison, Noonkodin Secondary School

2. Emaiyan – Blessing(A sense of sacredness) • Maasai remember Engai the Creator every day • Women make offerings of milk • All meetings start with communal prayer • Important meetings held under a sacred tree, the oreteti • Pilgrimages to Ol Doinyo L’Engai, the ‘Mountain of God’ • All communities have a spiritual leader, the oloiboni

5. Enaboishu– Oneness(We ARE one family!) • Young men aren’t allowed to eat meat, drink milk or even take a bath alone! • Elders & children are treasured • Children eat wherever they’re hungry and sleep wherever they’re tired • Everyone contributes to community festivals • Everyone works together in building new houses, searching for lost cattle and growing food

10. Eserian – Harmony(A place of peace) • Peace means a good relationship between people, livestock and wild animals • Maasai live alongside wild animals, and kill them only when they are a direct threat • Human beings are not separate from `the environment’, but part of it • Forest retreat site (orpul) is a place to restore your `warrior spirit’ and health

15. Emorata – Initiation(Taking responsibility) • Clear line between childhood and adulthood • Facing challenges and proving yourself to your elders • ‘Washed clean’: new clothes, new greetings, new roles and responsibilities • Everyone around you recognises you as an adult • Learning secrets of married life • A commitment to serve society

18. Modified Rites of Passage • Traditionally, girls undergo female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/FGC) between the ages of 12 and 18 • This can cause serious health problems and even death • Our organization has helped to mobilise grassroots activists in a campaign to modify the female initiation ceremony • This involved eight villages • Now girls can be initiated without being cut

19. Osingolio – Song (Passing on the tradition) • An oral, not a written, tradition • Songs and stories are the community’s `libraries’ • Elders tell stories to children around the fire • Stories of ancient heroes are used to teach values and moral behaviour • Dance is used to express affection and strengthen community bonds

22. Challenges • Broadening the concept of ‘unity’ beyond the tribe, to the nation and the whole world • Protecting land and cattle • Impact of climate change on agriculture • Getting enough clean water • Balancing traditional and modern education • Cash economy and rural-urban migration

23. Noonkodin Secondary School

24. If it’s not brick, it’s not a classroom

25. P.S. If you don’t wear uniform, you’re not a secondary school pupil!

26. 2005: A Secondary School is born

27. 2006: 30 ‘refugees’ from FGM and forced marriage

28. Temporary housing was needed…fast

29. 2007: The struggle for a permanent dorm

30. 2008: A proud graduate and his family

31. School Partnerships emerge

32. What makes Noonkodin unique? • Focus on values and sustainable development • Unity in Diversity Project: • Students learn from elders about local culture • Generation gaps are bridged • Traditions are documented and preserved • Stereotypes are broken down • Research into medicinal plants provides potential for income-generating activities

33. Priority needs • New water harvesting tank (£2,000) • An emergency vehicle to get students and staff to hospital quickly if they become acutely ill or are seriously injured (£7,000) • Completing the second wing of the girls’ dormitory (£6,500) • Staff training and professional development • Scholarships for 20 low-income students

34. What can £90 do? • Sponsor a day student for nine months OR • Buy a metal-framed bunk bed for the dorm, together with two mattresses OR • Buy 60 text books and 60 pens OR • Cultivate an acre of land to produce organic maize and beans

35. www.serianuk.org.ukThanks for listening! info@serianuk.org.uk