Yesterday evening I visited an informal school in a slum community near my home. The Director was able to acquired a small area in the sea of rusted tin shacks. I peaked into the unlit "classrooms", dim with the the late day's sun casting long shadows across the homemade desks. Kim, the Director, talked about the 160 students that squeezed into the seats & their chance at a primary education. He charges KSH 400 ($5 USD) a month for students to attend. Despite the lowest price I've seen yet in Nairobi, only 30% of his students are able to pay. This leaves the school unable to provide a mid-day meal, teachers without consistent pay, and the future of the school & the students in jeopardy.
Kim's hope now lies in an alternative revenue source for the school. The disadvantage of his slum-setting also provides the potential for his success. There are no water sources in the immediate vicinity of his school or the families that share his tin walls. He is completing a business plan/proposal that would have the school purchase a large water tank that could be filled daily by the Nairobi Water Company. The school could then sell the water (for about 1 shilling a gallon). Considering other sources, community size, and operating expenses, the water sales would be able to generate 30% of the needed revenue annually.
Selling water would be a service to this community, an empowering business for the school, and a gift to the disenfranchised children in the area.
I walked home in the dark, energized by the buzz of this community. The muddy path out was lined with families selling fresh fruit, fried tilapia, brass padlocks, pencils... ...life was happening all around me. Yet despite the worst of conditions everyone's smiles seemed to glow as brightly as the kerosene lanterns that marked the way.
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