Ray of Hope as Koinonia Sends Dropout Back to School

By Lilian Tabu

Kibera slums, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest slums, is home to our very own, Kelvin Mbugua, a beneficiary of Tone la Maji project, who has since been re-united with his family after a five-year stint at Tone la Maji centre.  Currently he lives in a separate small room in Kibera, a few metres from his uncle who took him in two years ago. Kelvin, a young man described by many as intelligent, has been out of school for a whole year.

“I left school after sitting my first term examinations in Form Two. I now want to go back to school as I see no future for me in this place,” he says.

Despite being bright, Mbugua has had issues with discipline which has seen him being expelled from three different schools; Domus Marie, Kiambu West and Tala Academy in that order.(this rebellious nature is common in children from the streets). At first he had proposed to Herbert, Koinonia’s Programmes Officer, his interest in doing business, after he lost hope in school .Later he reconsidered his decision and told Herbert that he has come to a realization that ‘ business without knowledge is nothing, some say business is talent, but I say it is knowledge.’

After intense consultations with top officials of Koinonia concerning the matter, a conclusion was arrived at; of giving Kelvin the final chance of going back to school, after signing a code of conduct, to abide by the rules of the institution. Kelvin readily agreed to that, confidently promising not to lose this chance, but quickly setting his own conditions of wanting to go to a boarding school, out of Nairobi and which he would not share with any other student from the centre.

William Omondi, a counsellor from Koinonia, asked him why he did not want to learn with the others and he quickly answered that he wanted to avoid being influenced by them since they had already formed a bond, unlike the students he would meet from his new school. The two officials told him that they found a school in Western province, in Maseno town, which happens to be near his rural area, where his grandfather and younger sister live.

While he says he has no problem learning away from Nairobi, he requests to be allowed to come to Nairobi during some of the holidays. The Koinonia representatives have agreed to this but insist on the importance of maintaining contacts with the family.

Since he dropped out of school, Kelvin has been working as a broker in a garment shop at Adams Arcade. He is not happy with the job but at least it helps him put food on the table, besides keeping him busy and away from the criminal life that lurks within the vicinity. The cheerful boy could only thank the Koinonia for believing and giving him another chance to pursue education.