Written by Dr. Steve Arnold, Education Activist and CFK Africa Board Member
Slums like Kibera are places where people lack most of the things so many of us take for granted – schools, clean water, toilets or sewage, safety, or enough food – to name a few. Despite this very difficult environment, people work hard to survive and to get what they need. Some are on the edge of survival, others have found enough work to get by, and others have found work steady enough for them to be comfortable, by slum standards.
What do you do when there are more than 100,000 children in your community, but room for only 10% of them in government schools? Faced with such a challenge, committed Kibera resident David started a school himself, with no help from the government or outside donors. His school now serves 800 students who otherwise wouldn’t be in a classroom, and there are many others like him in slums who have started their own schools to meet the great need. For the rent and teachers to be paid, he has to charge parents school fees to cover the school’s operating costs.
But what do parents do when they don’t have enough money to pay the $5 a month for a child to attend? What do they do when they have to choose between eating, paying rent for their 10’ by 10’ shack, getting necessary medicine, or sending their children to school? They do the best they can. They still send their kids to school, hoping and promising to pay the fees later, if and when they can get them. Then what does the school head do when he or she is not getting enough fees to pay the teachers or the rent? Usually, after a couple of weeks of not receiving tuition, the school head sends the kids home until they can pay. But kids don’t learn well when they come irregularly.
David, the founder and head of Ushurika School, wanted to find a better way. He called together the parents of each of his classes. He explained to them how he simply can’t keep the school open unless they all pay their fees. He invited them to take responsibility for the survival of the school, not just their own survival. With David’s ability to create an atmosphere of connection, and as the small groups of parents encouraged each other, they found ways to help each other pay, some paying more than others, and the school began flourishing. The power of sharing kept the school alive, and hundreds of kids learning that otherwise would have been left on their own while their parents went to work each day.
In one of these meetings, one of the parents, Lilian*, sat very quietly, not responding. When David noticed this, he asked her if anything was wrong. She began sobbing, “I want my daughter to go to school, but I have no money at all. We don’t always even eat once a day.” The other parents in the small room were compassionate. Though none of them had much, they agreed to pitch in what little they had to pay for the girl to go to school. Some gave pennies, some gave more. Some gave just once, others promised to give whenever there was a need. The power of sharing allowed this one girl to learn how to read and write.
But the parents did not stop at just sharing their little bits of money for the school fees. They talked about how Lilian could start earning her own income by making and selling charcoal for the small cooking pots everyone uses. Lilian took their advice and their loan to get started. Over a few months, Lilian’s charcoal business grew, and she had enough money to begin paying the school fees herself, and eventually even paid back the parents all they had given her initially. The power of sharing.
Lilian’s small business was doing so well that she was ultimately able to leave her abusive husband, who had been withholding money, not just for school fees, but also for food – a violence many women endure in slums. Now that Lilian could feed her children and pay to keep them in school herself, she gained new confidence and independence. The power of sharing changed the whole family.
The power of sharing deepens connection. This joining together of parents with students in the same class, and Lilian’s success as a model, evolved into them creating their own small savings and loan association. Each parent contributes what they can each month, and in addition to emergency loans, all parents are now able to get a loan to start small businesses.
Throughout the entire neighborhood around David’s school, people are sharing with each other and improving their incomes. The ripple effects are vast – families are eating more often, keeping their kids in school, and staying healthier and happier. David’s school is now one of the largest and best in Kibera. The power of sharing…
*Lilian (not her real name) agreed to share her experience. To protect her privacy, her name has been changed.
***In honor of our 25th anniversary in 2026, this story is #9 of 25 Stories of Change, shared throughout the year and featuring youth and communities whose lives have been transformed by CFK Africa.