How we designed our schools to suit the indigenous, nomadic Samburu.

Education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world, and conserve our wildlife and natural spaces.

Today, Monday the 24th of January 2022, is the International Day of Education. This year, #EducationDay aims showcase important transformations that are needed to realise everyone’s fundamental right to education - a theme so close to home for us here at Sarara!

Creating a school for indigenous, nomadic community requires its own set of rules. Our vision has always been to create a school system that celebrates the Samburu's indigenous culture, heritage and nomadic lifestyles.

So, for International Day of Education, we would like to share two important transformations that our school system had to go through, to be able to bring world class education to the indigenous Samburu in Northern Kenya.

The world’s first Nomadic Montessori Schools

Our first consideration

The fist transformation point in setting up a school, was that the Samburu don't have ages, but age sets.

So, a school system with grades would be in conflict with their cultural framework, and rather confusing for a 5-year old child.

The age sets encourage camaraderie, community and unity; characteristics that have helped the indigenous Samburu people survive.

Our second consideration

The second consideration in designing a school system was to respect the Samburu's nomadic lifestyle, while also conserving their land.

Building permanent structures would go against this premise and so, the schools had to be mobile with the ability to be collapsed and moved to where the Samburu move.

To accommodate the above considerations, we became the first Nomadic Montesorri schools in the world!

• The Montessori pedagogy perfectly suits the "age sets" of the Samburu.

• Furthermore, Sirus, the resident seamster / tailor at Sarara Camp, made the school tents which are collapsed at the end of each semester.

As a society at large, we have a tremendous obligation to the future generations to ensure their world is one of human rights and abundance.

Not scarcity.

Since inception, we are proud to have had 560 children enrol and flourish in our three Nomadic Montessori Schools.

If you would like to support our Nomadic Montessori School Program, please click the button below.
Every donation we receive plays a vital role in the growth and development of our programs.