Low school enrollment has become a growing concern in Kenya in the recent years, while governments play politics with subsidizing the cost of living, just to get their feet in the hall of power and immediately afterwards forget even mentioning easing the burden in the first place.
‘Subsidized primary school education costs’ was quite a statement, first heard in the year 2002 after a long wait and when it was thereafter implemented, Kenya registered the highest number of children enrolled into public run schools in her history.
However, this was short-lived when other factors came into play and either partially or totally impeded learning thereby forcing many learners to dropout of schools in order to help their parents/guardians curb them to survive.
The two main factors were insufficient water and food that were in meager supply due to children’s resort to be in school and the task of fending for daily bread and water left for a few to perform.
For Nixon Eshiundu, life has never stayed the same after his father’s death from asthma in 2014. His mother and his five siblings had to figure out how to redraw the vectors of their new life without their sole breadwinner.
As Gladys (Nixon’s mother) narrates, it is never enough to feed, clothe, and keep her six children in school from the uncertain $1.5 she makes a day from working in people’s farms and homes. Therefore, to increase their income, her children worked out a school skipping schedule in order to help their mother fend for their daily needs as well as ensuring water is fetched for their daily domestic consumption.
Further as we came to discover during this piece, Nixon, 9 and a 3rd grader, has been added to the schedule and skips school at least twice a week to help in the income generation activities and to this, he has no choice but to, because to them, it is either food or school or, as they worked it out, both.
‘Today is a weekend and only Nixon and his mother have been left behind; the rest have already left in search of menial work and with the pot of boiling mixture of corn grains and beans, the family of seven is certain of at least a munch today.’
With sky rocketing costs of living in the Kenyan economy such a reality, hopes of staying in school for Nixon are fast fading and only the assurance of the morning sun keeps him and his family moving on in the dissents and assents that come with it.
Finally as we prepare to leave, we notice a blanket on a rugged mattress on their living room floor and this he confirms as his sleeping place.
‘We all nod to the fact that education is the key to a brighter future, but with challenges such as these, there is very little to look forward to for Nixon and many othersalike; and this is where we come in!’
