Medical Camp in Awasi
The reception was warm, and the opening ceremony for the spacious new community center and the beneficial deep well was festive and captivating in an authentically African way.
In the Kajiado region, we support the Eroret Preparatory School, a school for Maasai children. The children there not only receive an education, but also a hot free lunch – for many of them the only meal of the day. They are also taught about and strengthened in their Maasai culture. Thanks to the newly built boarding school, girls from distant areas can now also attend classes regularly.
The construction of a well in 2023 by Austrian Doctors was a major step forward. This made it possible to start an agricultural project in 2024: the fields around the school are now used to grow their own vegetables – an important contribution to the school’s food security. At the same time, the pupils receive practical training in modern agricultural methods.
We are also countering the dramatic consequences of climate change, which are particularly serious in Kenya, with sustainable measures: in 2024, Austrian Doctors launched a reforestation program to counteract the increasing drought and soil erosion and secure livelihoods in the long term.
In another rural, disadvantaged region – Kisumu – we support a preschool and a community hall. Regular workshops are held there on important topics such as family planning, sexual health, women’s rights and climate change. The programs give the local people important impetus to improve their living conditions independently.
Kenya is located in East Africa and has a population of around 48 million. Many of the large companies are owned by foreign investors, while the local population usually only finds poorly paid jobs. As a result, the gap between rich and poor is widening. Especially in rural areas, people have few job opportunities and the situation has deteriorated even further due to long periods of drought. The largest economic sector is agriculture.
Climate change is a major problem for the many small farmers, as rainfall is no longer regular and has become unpredictable. Many children have to leave school at a young age in order to go to work. Particularly in the very remote regions, it is often the case that children do not have the opportunity to receive an education at all, despite being required to attend school.
By supporting the Eroret Preparatory School and the Mary Hill Nursery School, we are helping to ensure that children in the region have the right to an education. Accompanying workshops at the Mary Hill Community Center, which are held jointly with other local NGOs, enable the adult population to learn new methods in agriculture, for example, so that they can better provide for their families themselves.
The reception was warm, and the opening ceremony for the spacious new community center and the beneficial deep well was festive and captivating in an authentically African way.
In spring, several important workshops and training sessions were held in Awasi, Kenya, dealing with key issues of health education, personal development and career prospects.