A Child is a Child

“A child is any human being under the age of eighteen years, there is nothing like a ‘small’ or ‘big’ child, as long as one is below 18 years, they are children according to the Kenyan law,” proclaimed Isaac Tobiko, our new Child Counsellor at The Maa Trust.

We are delighted to welcome Isaac to The Maa Trust’s team as part of our Child Rights Programme funded by a new partnership with Austrian organisation, Crossing Borders.

During the ongoing August 2020 Conservation Holiday Clubs funded by Great Plains Conservation Foundation, we are training the 50 children in our scholarship programme about their rights. Isaac started the training by telling the children the difference between a need, want, and a right. He also provided them an opportunity to explain what they know about their rights. He explained: “It is every parents’ responsibility to buy their children clothes, but we should note that it is every child’s responsibility to put on and clean these clothes”.

To help the children understand more about their rights, Isaac played the children a video of Maasai women demonstrating to the government, demanding them to allow their children to have the right for their daughters to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM). The children were then asked how they felt and what they thought about the video.

“I think it is wrong that the women are saying FGM is our right, yet it is bad for our health,” shared Magdalene Tinka, scholarship beneficiary.

Today’s lessons included discussions about their right to education, health, and shelter. It was evident, from Magdalene’s statement, that the students understood their rights clearly from today’s session.

The staff continued to encourage the children to attend education and reminded them of how lucky they are to be in school with the help of sponsors that pay for their school fees and provide them support in many ways. To express their gratitude, the children spent the afternoon writing letters and having their photos taken to be shared with their sponsors.

We want to say thank you very much to those supporting these vulnerable Maasai children, especially Crossing Borders, Great Plains Conservation Foundation, the Tykeson family, and all of the individuals and families sponsoring children. This support is essential to help The Maa Trust to achieve its goal of seeing every child’s rights protected. Without your support, this would not be possible - thank you very much.

To support our work with children or any other programmes, please follow the links below to donate.

For UK Gift Aid donations

The Maa Trust Charitable Foundation: justgiving.com/maatrust

For USA 501(c)3 and international donations

Sidekick Foundation: sidekickfoundation.org/donate/

Please select The Maa Trust from the dropdown menu