ARTICLE HELPS REVEAL SCHEME

By Sheila Ngigi

Since 1992, Nasaru Ntoyie women’s group has worked to ensure girls are saved from forced marriages and their thirst for education quenched. Though an up heal task, they have been very successful and have given hope to so many. Under the close supervision and leadership of Peninah Nasieku Tompo among others, as highlighted in an earlier article, the women sell their hand made beadwork from which funds go a long way to educate and accommodate the rescued girls.

Peninah attending to customers during one of their exhibitions

However, it was after the article was posted on this blog, when an ongoing scheme by callous individuals was discovered. It was established that there were numerous people masquerading either as Nasaru Ntoyie’s partners, volunteers, or employees on the web for a long time now. They had been using the group as a means to get funding and donations from individuals, organizations and other development agencies.

“I had gone to the Maarifa center to read the article on Nasaru Ntoyie which had been posted on the Isinya Maarifa Center blog on the 11^th of May this year. However, on keying in the name Nasaru, I was faced with very many options which appeared after I searched. So I sought assistance from the Field officer who discovered that the options were from other people and not the original Nasaru Ntoyie’s members,” says Naomi, one of the beneficiaries of the group’s girl education project.

Some members of Nasaru Ntoyie

Nasaru Ntoyie Women’s group has since then sought professional advice and assistance. In that light, they were advised to create a blog which they have done with help from the Isinya Maarifa Center. Their link is: www.nasaruntoyie.blogspot.com.

This is before their website is completed and plans to patent their name are underway.

"We are very grateful to the Isinya Maarifa center and ALIN for their support, assistance and provision of access to internet at the community center. Were it not for the article that profiled our group, we would never have been able to save our group", Naomi says with a smile.

LEARNING THROUGH VIDEO…..OLKEJUADO HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

The word library brings to mind books, books, and even more books, the word class room also ringing read, read, read, read. Combine the book and the class and all that’s missing is the student. What most people either don’t know or refuse to understand is that , books , a library and a class room is not all one needs to learn, and even in the library there is more than just gigantic volumes of intimidating books waiting to be read, there are other items like videos that can instill knowledge faster and even more effectively.

Mr. Joseph Sila with his students

Do you ever wonder why a student will remember everything they watched on TV, every piece of action every word as if they were part of the production team and forget most of what they learn in class? Studies have shown that Most people are likely to be more attentive to a TV than to teacher, visual information is easy to process and pictures are like a first language to most people, regardless of this the TV like social media has received immense criticism, parents and teachers are too busy shielding children from TV and videos that they forget its untapped potential, there must be a reason why it is more popular than a book.

Students of Olkejuado high school got out of their comfort zone breaking the classroom monotony travelled over 10 kilometers to Isinya Maarifa center to put the TV and video to good use.

When Mr. Joseph Sila Mbindyo  an agriculture teacher at Olkejuado high school in Kajiado visited the Maarifa center after hearing about the ongoing mobile library program he came looking for books on agriculture for his students to read, just as any other teacher or parent  would , but when the field officer informed him that videos on farming were also available, his focus totally shifted and after going through the DVD inventory he settled for two videos “ farming for life” and “horticultural farming in Kenya”, the date was set and all that remained was the students arrival.

On the D day, to our surprise a whole bus off 55 students arrived at the Maarifa center, the boys carried notebooks and pens. Since they could not fit in the Maarifa center, the Maasai rural training center (MRTC) dining hall which is a stone’s throw away from the Maarifa center was the perfect venue.

After watching the videos, the session was followed by a question and answer session which provoked discussion on what the students had learnt.

Discussion in Progress.

Maybe we shouldn’t judge the TV and videos by the images we see on it, maybe it’s time we really tapped into its true potential, If students love TV so much then why not use is to instill the much needed knowledge, isn’t it said that People learn new concepts more when presented with both visual and audio information as opposed to audio alone?

SECONDARY SCHOOLS NOW BENEFITING FROM MAARIFA LIBRARY

What started as a mobile library program targeting only primary schools has now graduated and is serving secondary schools as well. Isinya secondary is one such school. The school which is still in its infant stages was started in 2011 and as a result has only form 1 and 2 classes, this further means that the school is yet to get some basic facilities such as a library. Meanwhile as the school awaits the construction of these facilities, it needed not agonize over reading materials, this is because Isinya Maarifa center has come to their rescue.

This endeavor was highly welcomed by the head teacher Mr. Mokamba and really encouraged by teacher Ursula Tororei.

Teacher Tororei attanding to her students.

The form 1 and form 2 teachers have mostly been signing out fiction novels.  When I inquired from Teacher Tororei why this particular category, she told me that this would help the students improve their language skills as well as encouraging creative, imaginative and critical thinking and by the time they get to reading set books they will be already accustomed to not only reading large volumes of books but also a wide range of genres as well.

I totally agree with her since reading even if it is a book of fiction does not only pave way to learning but to self enlightenment as well. Gone should be the days when we have to put up with lousy jokes such as if you want to hide anything from an African hide it in a book.

Given that reading means gaining knowledge and we at the Maarifa center pride ourselves in sharing of knowledge we are really proud of Isinya secondary school for embracing this program and we will give them all the support our knowledge platform can offer, we pride ourselves in inculcating knowledge to whomever and whenever required.

MULTI-STOREY FARMING NOT JUST FOR URBAN AREAS

A multi-storey garden is an upright sack filled with soil, in which food crops like vegetables, kales, carrots or onions grow in its sides.

This kind of farming is considered an urban farming method especially for people without enough farming land. Although many residents of Isinya have considerably large sizes of land, they are unable to practice year round crop production due to water scarcity. This is further made worse with the ever increasing food prices and unreliable rainfall. Multi-storey farming not only makes efficient use of water but it is also safe from droughts and floods. The way I see it, this kind of farming might actually hold the key to sustainable farming and food security in arid and semi arid areas like Isinya.

 Women of Nassaru Ntoiye’s women’s group recently benefited from training on multi-storey farming. The training was facilitated by ALIN and conducted by Lois Gakuru an extension officer from the ministry of agriculture (MOA).

In order to make the sack garden, you need only a few requirements and to three hours of your time.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ONE 90 KG SACK/GUNIA

•   1 90kg gunia
•   2 wheelbarrows or 45 kgs of good soil
•   2 wheel barrows or 45 kgs of mature manure
•   1kg DAP (skip this if you are practicing organic farming)
•   ¼ bag of small stones
•   4 wooden stakes
•  Seedlings of kale or spinach
•   A can or tin with no bottom or top
•   Knife
•  Enough water

TEN EASY STEPS

Step 1

Indentify and prepare site to place the garden making sure it is flat.

Thoroughly mix the soil, manure and the DAP

Step 2

Tear the bottom of the gunia such that it is open on both ends

Step3

Use the 4 stakes to ensure that the sack stands upright.

Step 4

Place the bottomless can in the middle of the sack and fill with stones

Step 5

Fill the area around the can with the soil, manure and dap mixture

Step 6

Pull the can up, refill it with stones and fill the area around with the soil mixture 

Step 7

Water the soil mixture till it is well saturated (do this after every layer of soil mixture)

Step 8

Repeat steps 6 and 7 till the sack is full

Step 9

Make holes in the sack beginning from 1foot from the ground.

Insert a stick in each hole to form planting hole

The spacing between the holes across the sack should be one inch apart. You can use your hand to measure this, which is the distance between the tip of your middle finger and the tip of your thumb.

Step 10

Plant your seedlings in the planting holes on the side of the sack using a blunt stick

NASSARU NTOIYE AND THEIR NEW SACK GARDEN

QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP DURING THE TRAINING

WHY SMALL STONES?

The small stones in the middle of the sack not only enable for easy watering of your garden, but also enable aeration of the root area of the plant as well as providing a hold for the roots.

WOUNT THE PLANTS GROW FACING SIDEWAYS?

Remember that lower primary science and agriculture lesson where we learnt about phototropism????  That word ring any bells???? If it does then you know that the direction of a plants growth is determined by the direction of light source. As soon as the roots take hold the seedlings will stand upright towards the sun.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD THE GARDEN BE WATERED?

Preferably every evening. During the day a lot of evaporation takes place and plants therefore will not maximize water intake. You can also use the water you have rinsed your clothes in instead of pouring it.

SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAM ONE YEAR LATER

In a bid to enhance information sharing ALIN has established several Maarifa centers across east Africa which facilitates information sharing through a number of platforms such as free Internet access, publications and libraries. One of such centers s located in Isinya.

Early last year(2011) we received a donation by book aid which ranged from children’s book, novels, books on agriculture, human rights, gender, health... you name it, this brought  a lot of excitement among the Maarifa center users, in all this excitement we noticed that  for the longest time  the children’s books section of the library remained unused and even the children that regularly came into the center did not seem interested , this became cause for alert and it was time for affirmative action, if the readers can’t come to us then we shall go to them, this was the beginning of the school outreach program..

In this mobile library initiative a school is allowed to borrow up to a hundred books every day or more and is responsible for the books safety. We decided  to pilot the idea at Isinya primary school.

We first spoke to the then DEO Mr. David Ndungu and briefed him about the idea, he was so excited he gave us a list of other schools in the area. Then we approached Mr. Nyamwaro the head teacher at Isinya primary school and he received the idea with open arms when we informed him of our intention. He immediately designated a teacher “teacher Samuel Kong’ani” who would be the bridge between the Maarifa center and the school, the program rolled out instantly.

Within no time other teachers no longer had to go through teacher Samuel, they came straight to the Maarifa center and signed out books. And for those who had lessons later in the day they would give either the field officer or the volunteer details of books required such as which class how many books etc which would be prepared in advance.

The students now no longer need their teachers to borrow books for them, they comfortably march into the Maarifa center and borrow a book of their choice keeping the Maarifa abuzz with activities one such student is Lydia Awuori a standard 2 pupil she is in 2 blue and last year she was in 1blue she has borrowed a book almost every single school day since last year, this made me really curios on whether the books have been on any help to her. Lydia is really shy but finally she tells me that she was number 4.

Although it is extremely difficult to measure impact in such a situation Mr. Nyamwaro was of the opinion that the books may have to some extent contributed to the good performance of the school in last year’s KCPE, he also feels that the students have been greatly exposed.

And like they say “a good book has no ending” the same applies to the school outreach program, now we roll out in full force and with confidence.

HOW TO TREAT SOYA BEAN MEANT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

Soya is species of the legume like the bean but unlike most protein foods like meat and beans soya is considered a source of complete protein food because it contains all the essential amino acids.

Dried Soya beans

Soya can be eaten as stew, it can be roasted and ground into powder which is taken  as soya tea or mixed with porridge flour which is extremely nutritious especially for  young children or mixed with chapati or ugali flour or deep fried and eaten as a snack. Milk can also be extracted from the seeds. Just to name a few of its uses.

 Recently it has come to great attention that consumers of soya in Isinya have not been treating the bean. Soya contains a chemical known as trypsin inhibitors; these are chemicals that interfere with protein digestion in the body and may even cause pancreatic disorders. For human consumption soya beans must be treated in wet heat/ boiling water to destroy these trypsin inhibitors. It is for this reason that the ministry of agriculture’s (MOA) home economics department led by Loise Gakuru embarked on a soya treatment sensitization campaign.

Requirements

• Soya beans  (measured as per cooking requirement)
• Source of heat such as jiko
• Clean water
•  Clean sufuria

Soya treatment process

Step 1

Sort the soya to remove any discolored or spoilt beans.

Step 2

Bring water to boil.

Step 3

Pour a hand full of soya or less into the boiling water.

Loise Gakuru demonstrating how to treat soya

Notice that immediately the soya hits the boiling water the boiling subsides, wait for the boiling to resume then add another handful, then wait for the boiling to start boiling again before adding more this takes only a few seconds. Do this for the entire soya you intend to cook.

Step 4

Leave the soya beans to boil for at least 10 minutes

Notice that the seed coat of the soya comes out in the process.

Step 5

Pour out the water and prepare as preferred e.g.  Boil with maize for githeri, boil the same way you would boil beans, dry in the sun if you intend to dry roast them or grind them or any other way you may prefer to eat them.

Florence David translating the process to the elderly women

 It is important to note that all soya meant for human consumption should be treated this way.

By Njeri Kenyaggia

NASARU NTOYIE SAVING THE GIRL CHILD ONE BEAD AT A TIME

The Maasai are an asocial people where traditionally the woman is discriminated in social cultural, economic, religious and political aspects of life. The most gruesome of traditional practices in this community is female genital mutilation (FGM). This is a practice that has over the years has been attributed to bringing a lot of misery to the girl child as well as denying her a chance to an education since most of these girls are forcefully married off at a tender age. It is for this reason that in 1992 a group of bold women founded a group called Nasaru Ntoyie which is Maasai for let us save the girl child.

I had had a chance to talk to one of its founders Peninah Nasieku Tompo, adorned in the Maasai traditional wear she could easily pass for any Maasai woman. However there is nothing ordinary about Peninah also commonly known as mama Odu or mama Symo, is an extra ordinary woman. In Isinya and Kajiado at large she is a champion, a champion of the girl child’s rights.

Meet Peninah

At first glance she has a bubbly personality which hides her lifelong tale and burden she bears for her community. As I talk to her, this time not as casually as other days it strikes me that she is full of contagious passion.

Her story began nearly 40 years ago when a mzungu literally snatched from the hands of an ugly FGM and early marriage and this paved the way for an education. This experience opened many doors of opportunity for her something women in her community at the time could only dream of, it also enabled her to view the world around her from different lenses.

  Peninah now a  retired nurse and trained advocate is ironically a mother of 5 boys and one would then ask themselves then why the hustle to rescue other people’s children. She tells me that being a rescue case herself, it’s enough that she rescues other young girls as away to give back to society for changing her life for the better. She is also glad that the new constitution dispensation recognizes that FGM is a heinous crime.

Each member of the group is at task to make do some bead work which is later sold and a percentage of the money goes to educating girls who have been rescued by the group.

The road has not been without any bumps, Peninah has been threatened, criticized and even sometimes ostracized by her fellow women folk for the work she does, despite all this, vivacious Peninah cannot help but smile at the successes the group has had over the years, she tells me that a good number of girls that the group has rescued have now completed their university or college others working. The girls have also followed in her footsteps by rescuing girls in the villages they come from.

Peninah attends to a customer during an open day in Kitengela

Anyone who has seen a Maasai woman doing her bead work knows that it takes a lot of time effort and commitment, each bead goes in alone, but all beads together form an intricate design to be held at awe by all those who see it. In this same spirit Nassaru Ntoyie’s efforts will continue until each child is safe from FGM and forced early marriage and one bead at a time the group shall finally get there.    

Article written by Njeri Kenyaggia