Baringo: 83-Year-Old Granny Donates Land For School Construction To Tackle Teen Pregnancies

• Talaa Chelagat gave her land in Baringo South to have a school built on it to solve the question of distant institutions that learners give up visiting
• The 83-year-old, after her charitable act, joined the Emarich Primary School where she learns with others
• Her objective was to curb cases of pregnancies among female teenagers who drop out of school

An elderly woman from Baringo South has won hearts after choosing to give up part of her vast tract for the purpose of putting up a school.

Talaa Chelagat enrolled at the Emarich Primary School built on her land in Baringio South.

The 86-year-old who spends time with the youngsters in her locality noted the significance of education in the community, besides the need to curb early pregnancies among teenagers who cannot access education due to the distance of the available learning institutions.

"It came a time when I saw the need for education. I decided to give part of my land for school construction after learning many children were not going to schools due to them being far away. I want those who can't walk to distant places to access education at their doorsteps," she said.

Her teachers while hailing Chelagat's noble act called on the local leadership to compliment her effort by building more classes and also bringing in more learning facilities.

Separately, a 98-year-old woman from Nandi county recently went back to school to motivate her younger 'colleagues'.

98-year-old Nandi granny in school

Priscilla Sitienei wanted to actualise her dream to become a medical doctor, as well as set a good example for her grandchildren.

The elderly woman returned to school after the late Mwai Kibaki government-sanctioned free primary education.

The programme had allowed senior Kenyans of Sitieni's ilk who had missed out on education in their younger days to revive their dreams.

In 2022, she was in her 12th year of primary school at Leaders Vision Preparatory School in Ndalat village of Nandi county.

The nonagenarian was always committed to her education despite age catching up with her.

She would partake in various activities in the school alongside her younger classmates.

The pupils, who were in essence her grandchildren, had greatly embraced her as one of their own.

She got the opportunity to be hosted in Paris, France, and the United States where she launched a film about her journey titled 'Gogo'.