Learning Together:
Noonkodin Secondary School and UK schools
Grosper Mollel & Kephas Ndiamasi
Noonkodin Secondary School
Starting from the heart
We begin with a traditional
prayer, just as the Maasai
people do when they have
an important meeting.
 The Maasai call God
Engai.
 One person asks God to
bless the meeting and the
others answer ‘Naai’,
which means ‘Amen!’
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How many people live in your house?
You
 Your mum, your dad, or both?
 Step-mums and step-dads?
 Do you have brothers and sisters?
Stepbrothers and stepsisters? How many?
 Does anyone have more than seven
people living in their house?
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If you were a Maasai child in a village in Tanzania, you
might have as many as 14 people living in your house!
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You, your mum and dad, your grandma, 6 brothers, 4 sisters…
And all around it there are other houses, where your aunts, uncles
and cousins live…
That’s a lot of children!
What jobs does your family do together?
People in your family probably work
together to keep the house clean and
tidy…
 Cook meals and eat them…
 Make sure the dishes are washed and put
away…
 Help you get ready for school in the
mornings…
 Play and have fun together…
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Maasai families do all those things too!
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But they do them a bit differently…
They have no electricity and no machines to help them out…
So they REALLY have to work together, like one big family.
They eat, sleep and wash together too.
Imagine you could just go round to a neighbour’s house whenever
you wanted, eat your dinner there, and sleep there!
Do you have a pet at home?
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A dog or a cat?
A hamster, rabbit or guinea-pig?
Birds, fish, mice, rats, stick insects…?
Whatever kind of animal you’ve got, you have to
look after it properly.
Making sure it has food and water…
Keeping it clean, safe and healthy…
Does anyone here have a pet goat?
How about a cow?
The Maasai keep cattle, goats, sheep & donkeys.
They have to look after them too!
They have to walk a long way to find grass
for them to eat and water for them to drink.
(See how dry and dusty it is in the summer!)
Donkeys are very important to the Maasai
villagers. Can you think why?
(Clue: there are no cars!)
Do you have water taps in your house?
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You probably never thought about them before they’re just there.
Turn on the tap and water comes out. But what
if it didn’t?
Think about all the things you use water for.
Drinking, washing your face and body, washing
your clothes, washing the dishes…
The Maasai do all those things too, but they
have to fetch their own water.
A 10-year-old Maasai girl might have to carry 10
litres of water for two or three hours!
Maasai people often have to wait five or six months for
rain. Clouds like these make them VERY happy!
See how different the village looks after the
rain (which might come once or twice a year!)
After the rain, the cattle grow fat and
healthy and give lots of milk.
Where does your food come from?
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In England it’s easy to get a carton of milk, a tin
of corn, and a tin of beans from the
supermarket.
It takes 5 minutes to heat the corn and beans!
But what if you didn’t have a supermarket - or
any other kind of shop?
Think about how you’d get milk, corn and beans.
Does anyone grow things to eat in their garden
at home?
The Maasai grow most of their own food.
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What if you had to milk the cow yourself…
Your dad had to plough the field…
You, your mum and your aunts and uncles and
cousins had to plant the corn…
You had to pull up weeds so they didn’t kill the
baby corn plants…
You had to scare away monkeys and birds…
Pick the ears of corn and the bean pods, dry
them in the sun, hit them to get the corn and
beans out…
And then collect up all the corn and beans and
put them into sacks!
And then you’d have to…
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Find wood for the fire (remember, no gas or
electricity)
Carry the wood home and chop it into little bits
Light the fire
Chop and fry onions and tomatoes
Add the corn and beans
Boil it for two hours
And – at last – eat it!!
(Would you enjoy it more, after all that work?)
But Maasai life isn’t all work.
Sometimes they have BIG parties too!
So the Maasai really have to be one big family.
They call it ‘Enaboishu’
which means UNITY.
 Everyone works together
in building new houses,
looking after the animals
and growing food.
 Children are very special
to the villagers and
everyone loves them.
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Older people are very special to the Maasai too.
They tell stories and give wise advice.
Maasai and people from other countries
are working together to build this school.
Noonkodin Secondary School
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At Noonkodin, young Maasai learn English, Maths, Science and
the other subjects, but keep learning their culture and values too.
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They learn how to work together with people from different
tribes and even different countries!
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Years 8-9 have special classes where they talk about their
history, share songs and stories, and learn practical skills like
cooking and making jewellery.
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Year 10 students go out into the villages to talk to elderly people,
find out from them about how to make plant medicines, and put
the knowledge into books so that it can be kept for ever.
Noonkodin’s Motto:
“The pen is mightier than the spear”
TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More!
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Maasai families work very hard to send their children to
Noonkodin, but there are some who can’t find enough money.
We can work as a team to make sure that nobody at Noonkodin
ever has to leave school because they can’t afford it!
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We can join forces with Noonkodin School to improve its
buildings and get more books, computers, equipment, etc.
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In 2009-2010, through its partnerships with UK schools,
Noonkodin was able to build a new boys’ dormitory and a new
kitchen, equip the science lab, set up a library and install four
new computers.
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Our next goal is to buy a vehicle, so that pupils and staff can be
taken to hospital quickly if there is an emergency.
Some questions to think about
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How can we create ‘ENABOISHU’ or ‘UNITY’
in our families, villages and schools?
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How can we help children in Tanzania and
the UK to care about one another, and work
together with all different kinds of people –
no matter what they wear, what colour their
skins are, or where they come from?
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What can we learn from the Maasai about
living on our beautiful Earth without
destroying it?
Unity! Diversity!
We are children of many places,
Different looks and different ways,
But we share one common vision:
We are all one family.
We are flowers of one garden,
We are branches of one tree,
We are people of one planet,
Unity! Diversity!
www.serianuk.org.uk
G.L.Burford@brighton.ac.uk
With thanks to Bob Webzell ARPS, Trustee of Serian
UK, for most of the pictures in this slide show.