


Children of Korr
For the past years it has not rained in Korr. There is no water, no electricity, no road in this desert village in the north of Kenya. Most people in Korr are Rendille by ethnicity, nomads who move around with their camels and goats looking for pasture and water. Boys look after the camels and girls herd the goats. Old people and small children stay around Korr. They live in traditional houses that look like iglo’s covered with mats and gunnysacks.
Rendille-land constitutes one of the harshest human habitats in all of East Africa in terms of heat, climatic aridity, and the scarcity of water points. Agriculture is impossible. Rendille belong tot he most marginalized and traditional ethnic groups of Kenya. The Kenyan government is strikingly absent in this area.
Schooling is not self-evident among Rendille: children are more useful herding camels and goats. The children of Korr have few prospects: de desert is expanding and so is poverty in the region.
Attending school can be the first step away from this disadvantaged position. This requires awareness of the importance of education which is growing slowly in the community. There are primary schools now and even the most traditional families send at least a few children there. Secundary school is a different matter. Girls are traditionally married at a young age and school can interfere with marriage arrangements. Boys are circumsized at that age and might prefer to become warriors instead of schoolboys. Furthermore, secundary school is not free and most families struggle to send a single child to school, let alone multiple children.
By supporting a child you can give them a future. You provide opportunities, choices, a better life. Don’t let their world end at the boundaries of the village and the wisdom of the elders. School can be the first step to a brighter future.
With your help, Ulezi Foundation will send the most vulnerable children to secondary school. If possible we provide additional support for professional training.