Excited cheers from students marked the official handing-over of soccer uniforms and balls to Sweetwaters Secondary School students recently. The soccer equipment was a donation from the Soccer Uniforms Project, undertaken jointly by Brevard Zoo of Florida, USA, the US Fish & Wildlife Services and the Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance (PASA) through the Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

The small ceremony, which was held at the school’s grounds, was presided over by the Sanctuary Manager, Martin Mulama who presented the uniforms to both the boys’ and girls’ teams at the school. The uniforms project aims at improving awareness on the problems faced by chimpanzees in the wild. The ceremony was attended by students, teachers, members of the school’s board and parents’ representatives.

Sweetwaters Secondary School is located near Ol Pejeta and is among neighbouring schools that benefit from the Conservancy’s Community Development Programme’s education projects. Through the help of donors, Ol Pejeta has built a science laboratory at the school, and contributed towards construction of an administration block. The programme has also facilitated donation of computers and books to the school, and is currently doing some renovation work on classrooms and other infrastructure, as well as supporting needy students through a bursary programme.

Ol Pejeta’s Community Development Programme focuses on 6 development areas in neighbouring communities: water and road infrastructure, health and education facilities, ecotourism and agricultural extension with an emphasis on livestock development and the sustainable use of water resources.

The handing-over ceremony culminated in a friendly soccer match between the school’s boys’ team and a community youth team from the neighbourhood.