Project Launch:

Orinie is a Maasai community, home to 2,700 men, women and children. Traditionally, the Maasai have been a nomadic people, but those who live in Orinie chose instead to settle permanently in the village. Youth raised in Orinie face a myriad of challenges as they struggle to grow into healthy and productive people. Selling livestock, operating motorbike taxis, and shoveling sand for local cement companies are the only employment opportunities available to young people in Orinie. Many of the folks in Orinie who have been educated are forced to seek work in bigger cities and towns. As Orinie loses its young people, development stagnates. Residents must make trips to nearby Kajiado town to buy most things, including fresh vegetables, and to access computers, photocopiers, and television. The transience of young people has translated into high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as increased rates in STIs and HIV, prostitution, and child marriage. Electricity will soon arrive in Orinie but many residents are worried that the first businesses to follow will be pubs and bars.

Youth in Orinie are looking for a safe, drug-free, space to meet, socialize and broaden their view of the world. The Osiligi Youth Resource Center project will upgrade the Osiligi community library into a youth center, which will include an improved library, a computer lab, and on-site garden where youth will be trained in sustainable agricultural practices. The center will be a regular site for health and technology workshops focused on young people. It will generate income to be sustainable in a number of ways: from charging for access to the computer lab, to selling excess harvest from the garden and providing low-cost health services such as HIV, STI and pregnancy tests for young people. Not only will the center serve these many practical purposes, but it will stand as a symbol of the development and potential of Maasai youth, who are often discriminated against in Kenya.

 

Project Update

The center is complete and has held several income generation and vocational trainings. Through agricultural trainings, the local mother-mother support group learned about planting trees, drought resistant crops, and the basics of sack gardening, a technique used to grow vegetables in areas where there is a scarcity of water. The women started a small tree nursery, which is thriving with over 400 moringa trees. The women were educated on the vast nutritional benefits of the trees' leaves and seeds and were taught how to prepare them. They are using the moringa to supplement their families' nutrition and also aim to sell moringa to generate an income. In addition to the agricultural trainings, 30 at risk mothers were trained on how to make yogurt and liquid soap, and local students participated in reproductive health trainings, which focused on human anatomy, pregnancy prevention, and STI/HIV prevention. Local schools have been informed about the new resources available and are excited to visit the library and use the computers. With support from community fundraisers, the center has electricity and is fully stocked with books.

 

Testimonials

"I have completed secondary school and now am waiting to save money to be able to fund my future education. The resource center will help with the development of the community and also will give youth like me a chance to keep busy and continue learning while we are not in school." - Mary, Project Participant 

 

"Osiligi Youth Resource Center is a center of hope not only for the youths in Orinie Community but also to the whole community in general." - Timothy, Project Leader