The long road to early care and education for children of rural Kenya

The journey for education is not an easy one –聽as most parents and teachers can attest to, especially in the northeastern parts of Kenya.

Here, parents and their children have to walk for long distances just to access one of the basic needs of any child, the right to education and quality care.

Access to another basic need –聽proper health and hygiene, especially for mothers and young children – also needs to be looked into聽as a matter of urgency.

Halima Hajar knows this all too well. 聽She is a mother of eight –聽her youngest is one year and eight months while the eldest is 19.

Her youngest goes to the聽Pamoja聽Early Childhood Development (ECD)聽Centre on the outskirts of Garissa County, where the locals are largely pastoralists.聽

It聽doubles up as a school, looking聽after more than 30 children from the age of three to nine.聽Due to lack of resources, the children who are in preschool and the older ones are all taught in the same classroom – but they sit in different rows and are聽taught at different times.

Halima said, in order to have more children get an education, schools聽need to be brought closer to the people and be well-facilitated.

国产视频淭he challenge聽in this area is no playground, no food, the children have to walk for long distances to school,” she said. “If they can live near the schools then it国产视频檒l make it better for them.国产视频�

She has appealed to the government to give them a feeding programme and build a playground, not to mention provide them with a health facility.

Halima said: 国产视频淭he closest clinic is five kilometres (three miles)聽away and we have to walk the whole distance. As a parent I would like to have a clinic or hospital closer to us.国产视频�

国产视频’s #5for5 campaign has been calling on world leaders to invest in early childhood development.

With 90% of brain development happening before the age of five, all young聽children should聽have access to quality care including nutrition, health, learning, play and protection.

Fatuma Juma –聽a parent in the聽Bulla area of聽Garissa County and mother to a five-year-old –聽is lucky enough to have a clinic next to her. She said her pregnancy was made easier by the frequent visits to the clinic for checkups.

国产视频淲hen I was pregnant, I always went to the hospital for checkups –聽it is not far from here,” she said. “Even the health worker would make regular visits.国产视频�

She is grateful for her situation, because she was also taught a lot by the health worker who talked to her about the benefits of breastfeeding and giving birth in health facilities –聽information which Fatuma would love for all mothers to know.

She said:聽国产视频淲hen my baby was young I breastfed for three years, as much as I was told to do it exclusively for six months.国产视频�

She said she was also taught the benefits of talking and playing with her child –聽but regrets that the toys she bought for her child are never used by him.

国产视频淚 buy toys聽for my child聽but others steal them,”聽said Fatuma. “I had a baby chandelier when he was young聽and a ball.国产视频�

Mariam Juma, a community school聽teacher at Pamoja ECD Centre, said the lack of adequate schools in the area is a big challenge,聽as well as the need for聽a feeding programme.

For now, they make do with the little they have.

She said:聽国产视频淭he government can help by building or expanding the schools in this area. We聽have no support from anybody in running this school –聽we don国产视频檛 even have food for the 32 children here.国产视频�

She takes in children from various communities from the age聽of three and聽ensures they have toys to play with,聽such as footballs and skipping ropes for the girls.聽During classes they are taught how to read, sing and draw.

Mariam said that,聽when it comes to health聽matters:聽“The ministry of health only sends representatives to look at the children when there国产视频檚 an outbreak in the area”.

Another teacher,聽Sarah Hassan, said students can walk up to four kilometres to get to school聽– and sometimes they don国产视频檛 have any students at all.

She said:聽国产视频淧arents don国产视频檛 bring students because they don国产视频檛 have money to buy the school uniform and聽no money to buy food for their children.

“The school has no playground or toys, which adds on to the already existing challenges.国产视频�

Sarah said that聽students who make it to school in聽the morning often聽don国产视频檛 return after they break for lunch.聽

Area Medical Outreach Officer Salim Omar said most of the families are poor.聽They do what they can to help mothers before and after they give birth and teach them how to take care of their children.

国产视频淭he mothers are given post and anti-natal care –聽however after our budget ran out in 2015 we do what we can,国产视频� said Salim, appealing聽to the local and national government to build a dispensary closer to them.

Ambulances don国产视频檛 even come their way due to a lack of resources.

The children also get vaccinations from the nearby dispensary, three kilometres away. But that is the least of their problems.

According to Salim, the area is rife with poor sanitation and lack of water that makes living here聽almost unbearable.

国产视频淭he mothers here walk up to two kilometres to fetch water.聽We build a shallow well but has been misused and thus the water is so contaminated and cannot be used for household stuff.

国产视频淓ven pregnant women have a hard time going to the clinic聽because it聽means either being ferried on a motorcycle or聽driven by donkey carts, which takes a long time.”