Breaking barriers, building more than walls: The story of Sheril Atieno, a mason from Siaya County
September 4, 2026
On Thursday, 10 September 2026, KCDF, in partnership with TotalEnergies, handed over newly acquired equipment for their kitchen, dining hall and store to Majoreni Secondary School in Lunga Lunga Sub-County, Kwale County, marking an important milestone in an initiative aimed at creating a safer and more dignified learning environment for students.
Majoreni Secondary School is a public mixed-day school established in 2011 through a grassroots, community-led initiative to expand access to secondary education for children in Majoreni Sub-location and surrounding areas. Today, the school serves more than 343 students.
For years, meals at the school were prepared in a mud-walled, structurally unsound, poorly ventilated kitchen that failed to meet basic hygiene and safety standards. The situation presented risks to the health and well-being of students and staff while also affecting the school’s feeding programme, an important component of learning and retention.
When the school’s Board of Management approached TotalEnergies seeking support for its infrastructure needs, the company connected the school to KCDF, whose donor network helped mobilise a private individual donor who committed KES 15.9 million towards the project.
The investment was structured in two phases. The first phase, now complete, delivered a new kitchen, dining hall and store, together with a 10-stall ablution block. The second phase, currently ongoing, involves the construction of three additional classrooms and a library.
The latest support from TotalEnergies completes another critical part of that journey. The company committed KES 1.84 million to equip the kitchen, dining hall and store with cooking equipment, dining furniture and storage fittings. The school community also contributed KES 350,000, demonstrating continued local ownership of the project. In keeping with KCDF’s commitment to community ownership and matching approaches, KCDF had committed a further KES 350,000 to match the community giving.
For KCDF, this approach reflects an important principle of community-led development: sustainable solutions are stronger when communities are not passive recipients, but active contributors to the development process.
A partnership that goes beyond infrastructure
The Majoreni intervention is part of a broader and evolving relationship between KCDF and TotalEnergies that has previously addressed community issues in education and livelihoods. Previously, in Kitui County, KCDF and TotalEnergies Marketing PLC supported Raising Futures in developing a new kitchen at the Seed of Hope Centre in the Kangweni Community. The facility supports skills development in areas including catering, hospitality and other employability skills for vulnerable young people.
The partnership between KCDF and TotalEnergies demonstrates that meaningful development is rarely about a single intervention. It is about staying engaged with communities, responding to identified needs and combining different forms of support to create lasting impact.
At Majoreni Secondary School, this has meant moving from an unsafe and inadequate kitchen to a modern facility that can support the school feeding programme with greater safety and dignity. The investment will benefit more than 343 learners by creating a better environment in which they can access meals and continue their education.
It also demonstrates the value of collaboration: a school community identifying its priorities and contributing its own resources; TotalEnergies using its networks and resources to help unlock solutions; a private individual donor responding through KCDF’s network; and KCDF bringing together resources, partnerships and a community-led approach to development.
As Phase 2 of the Majoreni project progresses towards completion, the partnership is already looking beyond the kitchen and dining facilities. The additional classrooms and library will further strengthen the school’s learning infrastructure, while KCDF’s redirected matching contribution will support the equipping of the library.
KCDF appreciates TotalEnergies for the continued partnership and shared commitment to investing in people and communities. From mentoring young people and supporting environmental action to strengthening livelihoods and improving school infrastructure, the partnership continues to demonstrate what can be achieved when the private sector and community development actors work together around locally identified priorities.
For KCDF, partnerships such as this are central to our vision of flourishing and resilient communities—communities that have the opportunity, resources and agency to shape better futures for themselves.
