With the arrival of a new Venezuelan Ambassador to Nairobi
in July 2013, the embassy and the Kenyan government resumed activities related
to “Sponsor a School in Africa” program
in the country.
The Embassy requested collaboration of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade
of the Republic of Kenya for the purpose of assessing mechanisms to reactivate
the program.
On March 07, 2014, the then Education CS Prof. Jacob
Kaimenyi and the Venezuelan Embassy agreed to make a joint evaluation for the implementation
of the Venezuelan cooperation program in
three counties.
Kajiado, Meru, and
Garissa counties were picked owing to
their locations and poor performance in nation examinations.
The proposed project, with an estimated execution period of
nine weeks, consisted of the construction of an additional block of five
classrooms, which would make it possible to expand the total capacity of the
school and reduce the number of students per classroom.
Recently, the Venezuela's Ambassador to Kenya, Johnny Balze Arismendi, officially opened five classes at Ilbissil Township Primary.
The construction of the
classrooms was funded by the Republic of Venezuela at the cost of Sh10.3 million. Ilbissil was picked by the Ministry of Education,
and a proposal was made to the embassy
which took over the work immediately.
The town of Ilbissil was established during the 1890s,
becoming the center for trade in
livestock for all of the Maasai territories that then stretched from the South
of Nairobi to Dodoma, Tanzania.
To date, cattle and
herding animals remain the main economic activities of this fast-growing town,
its cattle market being one of the largest in Kenya, with daily sales of 3,000
heads of cattle and 10,000 goats and sheep.
From the geographical and socio-economic point of view, the biggest problem of Ilbissil is the lack of
water.
The town developed around a seasonal river, but during
periods of drought the flow dries and the area is affected by the absence of
water resources, primarily because the local company providing water (Tanathi
Water Company) went into bankruptcy.
One of the main social problems of Ilbissil Township is
related to number issues that have to do with primary education in the area.
It concerns both, the number and conditions of the existing educational
units and some traditional customs of the population of this region.
First, there is a problem involving the insufficiency of teaching units, considering the number of
inhabitants of this town in full growth and its surrounding areas.
There are only four primary schools in Ilbissil and its
surrounding.
Major challenges in
promoting education there include traditions and cultural conditions among the
Maasai that don’t place much value on educating girls instead opting to marry
them off.
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