1. MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH IN THE MAASAI COMMUNITY Maasai Women and their children waiting for a community meeting.

2. INTRODUCTION Name: SANE MOSIANY School: Ilmotiok Primary School Grade: Class 7 Age: 11 years Siblings: 1 brother and 1 sister Residence: Ilmotiok village Bissil division Kajiado district, Kenya Maasai children outside their house

3. The situation at home I am orphaned living with my grandmother, in a single roomed Manyatta. In a house hold of 6 children - Children playing outside their Manyatta A mother and her children outside their manyatta

4. I look after cattle when I am not in school A herd of cattle herding A herd of cattle at the watering point

5. Our manyatta is poorly ventilated and lit. It is infested by bedbugs among other pests A family outside their Manyatta

6. We take lunch at school through the government school feeding programme. Rarely do we have vegetables or fruits in our diet Children waiting for their lunch time meals in a school

7. Our nearest sources of water are seasonal shallow well and water pan which are 3 hours walking distance. My grandmother draws the water for us using donkeys Our source of waterOur drying water pan Donkeys drinking water from a water pan awaiting to transport water home

8. Key Problems Not enough food in poor households Health centers are far, the nearest is 45 kms away The Maasai being nomadic pastoralists defaulting to the immunization schedules when the mothers move with their children under the immunization age poorly ventilated manyatta- leading to spreading of infectious diseases such as common flu and TB Poor health seeking behavior: rituals are performed on a patient before they are taken to hospital delaying medical attention traditional herbal medicine ignoring the convectional medical services

9. Inadequate clean and potable water Poor sanitation and hygiene Our common source of water: for livestock, bathing and for domestic use a swarm of flies on a drinking cup A poorly built pit latrine at a school

10. Gender issues Challenges to the girl child that lead to poor health ◦ Early forced marriages to older men leading to early deliveries ◦ Female genital mutilation ◦ Household chores at the expense of education and studies Challenges to the boy child that lead to poor health ◦ Child labour- herding cattle at the expense of education ◦ Thrown out of the manyatta in the presence of parents to sleep outside

11. WORLD VISION rescued the girls in the front row from early forced marriages

12. Two crowded classes With inadequate facilities

13. MY HEALTH CLUB I am a leader of a health club at school. 18 member pupils from class 5-8 patron is a teacher Mr. Sekento. Our activities include:  Cleaning up the environment in the our local shopping centre  HIV/ AIDS awareness in the community  Hygiene education to fellow pupils such as washing hands  Environment conservation by planting trees to mitigate global warming

14. Thank you One of the trees planted by the club members