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n. Heritage; inheritance. "Robbing their children of the heritance
Their fathers handed down." - Southey

Our name conveys our mission; we hope to help protect one of our world's endangered resources -- diversity.

Open Museum Blog

Last Site Update:
12 Aug 2010

Project Profile: The National Museums of Kenya (NMK), East Africa

NMK Prehistory Club Teacher Workshops
Nairobi, Kenya
May 2007
[ click on selected images to view larger sizes! ]

O V E R V I E W

Kenya's prehistoric heritage is outstanding world-wide. The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) houses over 600,000 fossils and artifacts recovered over the last six decades, which is one of the largest collections in the world. Through the National Museums of Kenya, many scientists of diverse nationalities carry out research to help piece together the story on the origin and evolution of man as well as other fauna and floral species.

Although prehistory and evolutionary studies are included in the Kenyan secondary school biology and history subjects, lack of consistent up-dating of the syllabi and sheer ignorance by a very large cross-section of teachers has led to paucity of enthusiasm among students towards these subjects. Further, the educators do not have access to up-to-date information emanating from the recent prehistory research. The net effect of this is lack of knowledge and appreciation of prehistory among the youth.

Furthermore, Heritance observes, there has been an organized backlash by some Kenyans against prehistory research and teaching. In particular there has been an opposition movement spearheaded by a leader of a fundamentalist Christian coalition, to suppress some the NMK's premier fossil exhibitions, including "Turkana boy".

O B J E C T I V E S

To counter the trends impeding the Kenyan public's knowledge and appreciation for prehistory research, the Prehistory Club of Kenya based at the NMK, proposed to host a three-day workshop (August 5-7, 2007) for public school science teachers in Kenya and the surrounding countries. The goal was to teach up-to-date developments in research on the theory of evolution, impart the importance of Kenya's role in these developments and explore ways in which teachers could more effectively inform and motivate their students to value and learn prehistory.

H E R I T A N C E   A C T I O N S

Heritance awarded a seed grant of $U.S. 690.00 ($U.S. 740.00 with bank transfer fees) to cover supplementary cost associated with the workshop.

P R E H I S T O R Y   C L U B   A C T I O N S
Kitale Outreach
  • The Prehistory Club planned and hosted the workshops in Nairobi, Kenya August 5-7, 2007. 120 people, excluding the participants from within Nairobi who attended specific sessions, exceeded by 20% the anticipated number of workshop participants.
  • Important Stakeholders in the Kenyan education system participated in the workshops and agreed to continue to work with the Prehistory Club to realize their mission.
  • Noteworthy scientists form at least 10 different countries gave presentations on new finds and developments in prehistory research.
  • The participants learned of at least one successful program (in Malawi) which has involved the local community in education about prehistory and the conservation of prehistoric materials.
  • The participants saw important fossils from the NMK collections and visited the critical prehistoric site of Olorgesailie, which highlighted the unique and important role of Kenya in the study of prehistory.
  • Participants said that the workshop clarified their understanding of the theory of evolution and pacified the prevailing fear of some people towards evolution.
  • More approaches were identified for Kenyans to get involved in prehistory research.
  • Some ways were identified for using Kenya's prehistoric heritage to help provide jobs to Kenyans and to earn revenue for Kenya. People agreed that Kenya needs to protect its prehistoric material.
  • Participants participated in a plenary session, featuring 9 guest scientists, museum representatives, educators and representatives from the Ministry of Education. Through an open floor discussion, they arrived at the following resolutions:
    • H E R I T A N C E   O U T C O M E S
  • Heritance will assist PCK in the development of two key initiatives: to expand their school outreach plan to expose 35,000 young Kenyans in 2008 to Kenyan prehistory collections, sites and the theory of evolution; and to offer paid internships to Kenyan high school students and new unemployed graduate school graduates.
  • Heritance will work with the PCK to secure a funding-source for future teacher workshops.
  • Heritance will work with the PCK to create a "Handmeon" (www.handmeon.com) to generate public support and raise money for their projects.
  • Note: The previous goal of developing a technology plan to provide the Club with high speed Internet services has already been fulfilled.
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