Battling against the odds

Kenya faces a huge challenge of providing education for every child. Corruption at high levels is frequently cited as the main reason for the growth of the slums, with more and more children facing a life in poverty.

The school "Overseers' Education Center" is housed in three tin huts in bad need of repair. Rain comes in through the many holes in the roof and walls. There is only one toilet which is broken and cannot be used at the moment. The school is located in the Kangemi slum on the outskirts of Nairobi. Poverty, crime and disease are the main problems.

Normally parents in the slums cannot afford the expense of sending their children to school. They cannot pay for uniforms or any kind of equipment. Many also say they need their children to work and earn some money to help the families survive. At the Overseers’ Education Center, people pay only what they can afford.

All the pupils live in the Kangemi slum. Classes are held every day except Sunday. Teachers want the children to have the feeling that everything is possible and they can shape their own future.

The schoolyard is full of happy children, laughing and playing together. Just a few seconds after the bell rings, they'll be sitting quietly and attentively, their eyes fixed on the teacher.

School founder Dan Ndula arrives at 6 a.m. every day and works until 5 p.m. without any pay. Then he goes to his second job as a night watchman at a hostel in Nairobi. He gets very little sleep but he says it’s worth it. "If I don’t do it, who would?" he asks before jumping on the bus to go to his night job.

Dan Ndula founded the Overseers' Education Center in 2005. At the start there were 10 pupils, no desks and just one table. With help from volunteers and some parents the center now provides education for almost 200 children. Dan Ndula says the aim is to keep growing and to show the children of the Kangemi slum that the school team are determined to make things better for them.

One of the main problems for the school is the lack of clean water. Many pupils drink from a contaminated river nearby and become ill. School founder Dan Ndula says they are trying to get help from the government but it is taking a long time.

Nairobi has a rich and beautiful downtown area with strong economic growth. But it also has slums on the outskirts. 2.5 million people live in the slums, that’s around 50 percent of Nairobi’s population. The Kibera slum is the largest in Africa.

"Education is the only way for children to leave the slums and not end up in crime or poverty," says school founder Dan Ndula. He says it is hard to get competent teachers as the center cannot pay a reasonable salary. Many teachers work for next to nothing.