SYEF and Day 1 Kenya - JJJ

If you don’t know Brett Bruyere, you should. He’s been a friend of mine for what seems like forever. Initially we met on a trail near CSU’s Mountain Campus at about 1am on a “five summits hike” led by Pat Rastall. I overheard a conversation he was having with another friend where he shared that his dad lived on “Big Birch Lake” in Minnesota. I was shocked to hear this because Grey Eagle, MN, (where Big Birch Lake is located) is VERY small, and is the SAME LAKE on which my great grandfather (and grandparents) lived.  My dad spent most of his summers there.  We immediately bonded over this wild connection.

Brett is an exceptional human being.  He’s talented in so many arenas—he’s a fabulous Professor (Natural Resources), an unbelievable athlete, and personality-wise is the best combination of pragmatism, work ethic, and humor. He also happens to run a nonprofit in Kenya called the Samburu Youth Education Fund and I’ve been fortunate to be on the board for over a decade.

Brett, along with our friend, Adam Beh, have been doing research in Northern Kenya (Samburu Region) since 2005. Over the years, they formed relationships with several kids in the community. While in camp, the kids would help Brett and Adam with errands or finding things that he didn’t know how to get. Sometimes in the evenings the kids would come by, asking for help with their homework. Brett was struck by how motivated these kids were to succeed. Brett and Adam would make up homemade worksheets with math problems 😊. The kids couldn’t get enough of them and would ask for more and more! It was clear to Brett and Adam that these kids saw learning as an opportunity as opposed to a social norm of what they were supposed to do. This was surprising because in Samburu, they could easily drop out without many social consequences.

Later, Adam led a photo project where people in the community were instructed to take photos answering the question “What are the conservation priorities in your community?” When the photos came back, Brett and Adam were surprised that many of the photos were of children. How are youth a “conservation issue?” After discussion with community members, the basic sentiment was that everyone, including the elders, recognized that management of rangelands, wildlife, and livestock was becoming increasingly complex with changes in property tenure, climate change impacts, more rights for women, and more exposure to the world for everyone. The skills needed to know how to guide a community, in terms of rangeland management, were outpacing with elders felt they were able to do. There was an elder who spoke with tears in his eyes at this discussion, acknowledging that the era of elders having the answers was maybe winding down, while also expressing his optimism about the opportunities his kids and grandkids could have via formal education.

 

So, through a combination of Brett and Adam’s direct exposure to youth at their camp who were so motivated to learn, and the research findings around the need for investment in youth for formal education, Brett and Adam launched the Samburu Youth Education Fund, a nonprofit organization whose mission and principles were guided in part by members of the Samburu community: figure out a way for more kids in Samburu to obtain a formal education. Primary school in Kenya is free, but secondary school is not, so SYEF was started as a scholarship program for secondary school, with 10 students receiving the SYEF scholarship in January 2011. Today SYEF provides scholarships to about 50 kids annually. Additionally, the nonprofit has grown to not only provide scholarships for kids, but also provide support for women entrepreneurs who are starting businesses in Samburu, and programming for scholarship recipients during school breaks.

A few years prior to the formal creation of the nonprofit, Brett and I had worked together to put together annual trips for college students from CSU to travel to Samburu each January during winter break. The CSU students who participated always came back transformed by what they saw and learned. Over time, many of them find involvement and contributing to SYEF as a positive way to stay connected with the Samburu community.

I have had the chance to work as a board member for the nonprofit for many years, mostly helping out with fundraising events in Fort Collins (i.e. selling beaded items and handicrafts at various markets/events), but I have never traveled to Kenya myself (until now). Prior to our arrival in Mombasa via Semester at Sea, Brett was able to connect me with two Kenyan SYEF board members, Apin (one of the two paid SYEF employees in Kenya) and Christine (co-chair of the Kenyan SYEF board).  I met Apin in 2017 when he traveled to Fort Collins. I had never met Christine in person. Apin and Christine traveled 12 HOURS ONE WAY to meet with us in Mombasa. As soon as we departed the ship, we took a shuttle into town and the two of them met us at a local hotel. I was so touched by their generosity and kindness. They traveled so far just to welcome us! We talked for a long time about how everything is going in Samburu while we all sipped on cold Fantas 😊. Despite many challenges facing Samburu (pandemic, draught, climate change), the people continue to persist. Before departing, they left me with an entire suitcase of bead work and wooden crafts to bring back to the U.S. for sale. All of the proceeds go back into the Samburu community. I got a head start on selling today – I did a presentation on SYEF for our “life long learners” on the voyage and set up a little shipboard shop for them to buy things. Maybe I’ll be delivering an empty suitcase and some cash for Kenyan school fees by the time this voyage is over!

Needless to say, the meeting with Apin and Christine was a  wonderful start to our port in Kenya!

If you want to learn more about SYEF or make a donation, feel free to check out the website here:

About - Samburu Youth Education Fund Samburu Youth Education Fund