Mara Rianda Primary School

Bordering the Masai Mara game reserve is a Maasai community called Mara Rianda. The community has one primary school; the Mara Rianda Primary School. It was started by Maasai parents who sold a few cattle to raise the necessary funds to build some mud and wattle huts to educate their children.

At the request of the local community, Governors’ Camp Collection together with the BBC team from Big Cat Diary then got involved to help, and in 2004 clients of Governors’ Camp set up the Mara Rianda Charitable Trust, in order to raise funds for the school. The Mara Rianda Charitable Trust is a highly effective UK registered charity run by our good friends Richard and Pola Long, and Nigel Hollingsworth – we feel privileged to work with them.

During his first visit to the school, Richard Long was proudly shown around by head teacher Lawrence. The school had less than 250 pupils at that time and the facilities were very basic. In some rooms there were four pupils at a desk. All the textbooks were falling apart but were cherished by those using them. Richard kindly asked the head teacher what they needed, to which he answered ‘chalk would be a miracle!’ His simple request shocked Richard, who shared those words with many friends and colleagues and they became a by-line for fundraising to support the school.

On projects where we (Governors’ Camp Collection) collaborate with the Trust, it is normal that the Trust provides funding for construction and development work which we undertake and oversee on the ground, on their behalf. Directly and together with our development partners we now have over 3,000 children in Primary Schools, learning in classrooms constructed as a result of the programmes run by ourselves – a record of which we are very proud!

Together with the Mara Rianda Charitable Trust our support of the school to date has included:

Constructing:

• Four classroom blocks (with 17 classes)
• A library
• A girl’s dormitory providing accommodation for 160 girls
• Teacher accommodation for six teachers.
• A dining hall (for 500 students)
• Pit latrines

Installing:

• A borehole, water tower, water tanks and solar pump to supply fresh water
• Water purification and washing facilities
• Rainwater collection and storage systems
• Spring water collection systems
• A windmill pump
• Installation of solar lighting

Supporting:

• Four teachers salaries (half the teaching staff)
• Scholarships for exceptional students through secondary education whose families would otherwise not be able to afford for them to complete their schooling.
• Large quantities of books, stationery, desks, cupboards and teaching materials
• Logistical support to transport papers during exam times.
• Sanitary protection for the girls to ensure that they don’t miss out on their education.
• Continual repairs and maintenance to the classrooms and dormitories

Thank you to our friends at MRCT for their support and thank you to Luke Koch de Gooreynd for putting together the VIDEO.