Mara Rianda Primary School

Providing access to quality primary school education in the Masai Mara

Kenya

The Masai Mara

Two decades ago, a group of Maasai parents came together and sold a few cattle in order to raise the funds necessary to build a small primary school to educate their children. Soon after, Governors’ Camp Collection together with the BBC team from Big Cat Diary got involved to provide further funding. Back then the school had less than 250 pupils 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.

In 2004, whilst on safari with Governors’, one of our guests (Richard Long) visited the school and 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 back home in the UK. Soon after this, Richard and his wife Pola, along with their friends Nigel Hollingsworth and Collin Bird, set up a highly effective UK registered charity called The Mara Rianda Charitable Trust (MRCT) in order to significantly improve the facilities at the school and the lives of the children and staff.

On projects where we collaborate with the Trust, it is normal that the Trust provides funding for construction and development work which we then facilitate on the ground. 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!

Thank you to our friends at MRCT for their tremendous support. You can learn more about the school in this short VIDEO.

Together with the MRCT 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
  • The creation of a Wildlife Club in collaboration with The Mara Predator Conservation Programme x Wildlife Clubs of Kenya
  • 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

Interested guests are welcome to visit the school during term time. Please arrange this through the Camp Manager or your guide. In-kind donations are gratefully received, please visit the Packing for a Difference section of our website for ideas of what items are most useful. We are able to purchase supplies in advance of your arrival and have them ready for you to distribute during your stay with us to save you having to carry supplies as part of your limited luggage allowance. Donations for supplies can be made via our secure online payment platform.

If you would like to sponsor a child through secondary school or help to pay towards a teachers salary, please do get in touch with us info@governorscamp.com