My name is Abel Siro.
I am the Director of Brosts School.
Brosts School is a school that is bringing together children
from vulnerable communities around.
These are families that are not able to afford enough money
to take their children to better schools.
So we collected them and began teaching them in our neighbourhood,
that was in 2006.
We began with small children.
We are now up to secondary school.
So this school is on rented premises
whereby we pay rent every month
and we were not able to sustain that.
We struggled with it
and we were not able to sustain it for a while.
So it was around last year when the situation got worse
and so we couldn't be able to sustain it.
This year in March the landlord gave us one week notice
and told us to leave the school and close down everything
because there was a new person who was buying the land
and so we were left without a place for the children to learn.
Around our place there is no public school.
The public schools are far away.
So you find the children will always get to find a place to learn from.
So the children were so stranded.
So we had to move to another space
and we were able to find space for them
and now we are settled in that new space.
But the challenge of paying rent has persisted
and it's a challenge that we now face
and feel really unable to go about it.
- Can you describe how much is the rent
and how much you get per kid,
the financials?
Initially we used to have high number of children
who were giving 500 Shillings a month.
So, as the number was high
we could be able to collect quite good money
that we could pay as rent for the children in school,
but as we faced those challenges,
of course now the number of children coming to school reduced
and thus was not able to collect enough money
to be able to pay the landlord.
So the children pay up to 500 Shillings a month
and this money is collected,
part of the money is paid to the teachers
and also part of the money is paid as rent for sustainability.
So if a child–if you have–
Our rent is 16,500 Shillings,
because we have one room where the children stay,
they sleep there
especially those who are coming from far away from Nairobi,
they sleep there,
and we also have 10 rooms where we have them as classes.
So each of those rooms
because it is small and it is made of temporary iron sheet
goes for 1500 Shillings a month.
So you find in a month we spend up to 16,500 Shillings as rent only.
- How many kids–can you tell me, like if you had–
how many kids you could take at the school to fit
and if you would have those what would be possible?
A class takes 25–
a standard class takes 25 children in a class
and so now that we have 10 rooms for classes
that is a maximum of up to 250 children.
So if 250 children
all of them pay 500 Shillings a month
that is enough to pay the rent,
that is enough to pay the teachers
and they can continuously support their learning in school.
- Why can't you have 250 kids now?
We are not able to have those 250 kids as of now
because the situation is not appealing to the parents.
So the parents choose to have their children at home
instead of maybe sending them to school
and they find the school gate is locked,
so they cannot access the school.
So they also feel intimidated by the situation.
But once all of them are in school and they are contained in school
so there is that goodwill from the parents
and they are able now to sustain and support the learning.
- What is important to get the kids to school?
What is important to get the kids to school now is actually the food.
The food situation in Kenya as of now is worse.
So once we have those children in school
they know that when I get to school I will have food.
So they wake up very early in the morning,
they go to class knowing there is something to eat during lunchtime
and play in the afternoon.
So once we have food in school
then it means that is one way
that many of those children who are at home
can be attracted to come to school.
Also, once the children are in school
and we are able to have the teachers in school,
so teachers will be in school
because they have faith that now rent is paid in school,
we are not going to find the classes locked.
So they will have faith in the work they are doing.
So they will be in school.
So once we have teachers in school
and we have food in school
then all the children who are not going to school will always get to school.
- How much does the food cost for a kid for a month?
If they pay for example 100 Shillings each one of them in a month
you are able to buy food in bulk
and they can use the food for a whole month.
Because like it is very practical,
if you have 100 children
giving 100 Shillings
that is 10,000 Shillings.
If you have 10,000 Shillings
you buy a sack of maize, a sack of beans, rice for that much
and you are ready to go for a whole month,
that is for four weeks.
- So we calculated that you are missing approximately 120,000 Shillings.
Yes.
- So if you would get 120,000 Shillings what would be possible?
With 120,000 Shillings
that means we will be able to pay rent for a period of six months,
we will be able to buy food for a period of those six months
and that sustains the school from the start.
Then that will have attracted a number of children back to school
and the goodwill from the parents.
Now from then the ball will begin rolling as before.
- So then you will become self-sustainable?
Yes.
- You even talked that if you would have money
would have possibility to set like the water,
you could buy them, can you describe that?
Yeah, actually there is a bore hole just next to the school
and they are selling water to the community.
The community members have to travel a long distance to go and access it.
So if we pipe that water to the school
it can be used in the school for preparing food and cleaning.
So the school buys from itself
and it can also be sold to the community.
So you will find
whenever you buy it at three Shillings and you sell it at four Shillings
you are getting one Shilling from each of the jerry can that you sell.
So that money can go back to sustain the program for the children.
- But you need the starting capital?
Yes, we need the starting capital for that.
- Is there something–
because I am going to show this to people
and they are going to probably support the money.
So what would you like to say to them?
Wow!
They will have touched the hearts of those brothers and sisters
who call themselves Brosts' children.
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