Figure 1: Pupils at Darusalam primary school wait to be served during lunch
Darusalam primary school is located at Girisa location in Rhamu town, 75 kilometres from Mandera town, north-east of Kenya. The school accommodates nearly 600 internally displaced children whose parents fled from Wajir, to escape inter-clan driven clashes between the Gurreh and Degodia communities.
Due to the influx of internally displaced persons in the area, the enrollment continued to increase each year and the school has 543 pupils (257 boys & 286 girls) now. The pupils come from extremely vulnerable households and are unable to access meals at their homes leaving the school as their only option to access food.
The school barely had enough facilities such as a kitchen and dining area and the meals were cooked in the open area. Children queue for food and eat under the scorching sun, this exposes them to periodic winds like whirlwind and rains too during the rainy season
The cooks also face numerous challenges which include the cooking pot being blown away by the wind, cooking under the scorching sun and guarding the food from animals.
Figure 2: A makeshift kitchen in Darussalam primary before World Vision intervention
Mrs Abdia Issack, a cook at the school said that she couldn’t even take breaks to go to the toilet for fear of the children’s food being eaten by animals or of wind blowing into the food.
No more cooking in the open air
When World Vision visited the school and interviewed officials including the DRR committee members, about their challenges, a top priority was the need for a kitchen and a stove.
World Vision with funding from EUTF through the BORESHA initiative, provided the community with an energy efficient stove for quick operationalization of the kitchen.
The school’s cooks- Mrs. Abdia Issack aged 42, couldn’t conceal her gratitude & happiness upon the completion of the construction of the kitchen and installation of the stove.
Thanks to the support of European Union through World Vision, Mrs. Abdia says now the children’s food is protected from the dust and also the animals.
“Cooking has become enjoyable and a lot easier. I have also noted that the stove cooks food faster than before, and I don’t need to start cooking early in the morning like before.” She said
Mrs. Abdia also pointed out that firewood consumption reduced and was cut by almost half and this reduced the cost incurred by the school.
“We see remarkable positive changes in our school and these changes will transform children’s lives and contribute to continued school’s enrollment so we expect other schools to also embrace this approach, so that collectively as a community we can reduce the pressure on our environment.” The School’s headmaster said.
Figure 3: Mama Abdia Issak, a cook at Darusalam primary school where World Vision supported with construction of a new kitchen