"A child should not have to be a grown up until he is a grown up" - Henry Winkler, A Gift of Song - Music for UNICEF 1979

Lodged in between very affluent areas, Kangemi is a slum of over 100,000 residents on the outskirts of Nairobi; Kangemi has no sewerage, poor sanitary conditions, lacks electricity and running water in most areas. The toilets are often long-drop holes-in-the-ground. Personal safety is not a given, especially at rent collection time. Children in particular have a hard time surviving, are often malnourished, and forced to grow up well before their time.

In the southwest corner amidst the hopelessness and daily strife is a haven for the children of the slum - Kangemi Primary School.

Established in 1927 when the area was still a village, it now tries to cope with the increasing numbers of children in Kangemi. Teachers’ salaries are paid by the government and depend on the number of children in attendance, which varies from term to term depending on whether the child is needed to look after a younger sibling or an ill parent or to help with the family stall. There are currently 1500 pupils and 29 teachers.

The monies received no longer extend to paying the electricity or water bills, or the maintenance of the classrooms and furniture.

The more children the school can keep in school daily, the higher the child's opportunities in the future. Each day the school can provide each child lunch, the higher the capacity of each child to learn daily. The longer the school can keep each child in school, the less likely that they will end up on the streets.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela