Empowering Marginalized Communities through Education

This constant movement makes it incredibly difficult for children to attend school.

Extreme Poverty is also another major driver of illiteracy because many families simply cannot afford the costs associated with schooling such as travel to school, food, accommodation, and uniforms. School fees poses an insurmountable challenge for impoverished pastoralist families who lack disposable income. Furthermore, because children are valuable assets in herding livestock; enrolling them in school means a direct loss of household labor and income.

Girls are heavily relied upon for household chores and family care therefore their education is frequently deprioritized. Further, cultural obligations affecting girls such as early marriage, early pregnancies, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and sexual exploitations are the primary obstacles preventing the Borana, Gabra and Rendille girl-child from accessing education. These factors force a constant trade-off between traditional livelihood of herding livestock or attending formal schools.

According to the 2019 census, their cultural identity is deeply rooted in pastoral-nomadic traditions, livestock keeping, and strong kinship systems. Being a pastoral-nomadic community, one of the primary environmental challenges they face is harsh climatic conditions and frequent droughts thus leading to mobility in search of pasture and water that often forces them to engage with their neighboring communities into resource-based conflicts. This mobility, while adaptive for survival, directly conflicts with formal schooling systems, which are typically sedentary.

Illeret is extremely remote, with few schools often under-resourced with lack of trained teachers and learning materials. Long distances between settlements and schools is a contributing factor leading to many children either never enrolling in school or drop out early. Families mostly migrate in search of pasture and water with children expected to move with livestock and family. This creates a structural mismatch between the education system and nomadic life. The entire community is also designed in such a way that male children are the primary custodians of herding livestock while the female kids assist in fetching water and household chores. This often makes parents hesitate taking their children to school for fear of losing essential labor at home. Among the Daasanach, education is sometimes viewed as less relevant to pastoral life and a pathway that may alienate children from tradition.

Economically, the Daasanach also emphasizes on livestock wealth rather than academic success. The girl-child among the Daasanach are particularly disadvantaged because of the challenge of FGM and Child Early and Forced Marriage(CEFM) tragedy, to enrich the family with dowry and handouts, something that despite significant efforts made, does not reduce. They are also expected to handle domestic roles other than academic responsibilities thus leading to very low enrollment and retention rates for girls.

These challenges include poverty, geographic isolation, and limited access to education and essential services. Girls are particularly vulnerable to harmful traditional practices that undermine their rights, health, and educational opportunities. These include Female Genital Mutilation, child marriage, and beading practice, all of which contribute to school dropout and reduced life opportunities for girls. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics through the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022, the prevalence of FGM in Samburu County remains high at 75.6% among women aged 15–49, significantly higher than the national average. In addition, child marriage continues to affect girls in the county, with an estimated 13.4% of girls aged 12–18 being married early.

These challenges highlight the urgent need for targeted community interventions that promote girls’ education, protection from harmful practices, and community awareness, while empowering families and local leaders to safeguard the rights and well-being of girls and children.