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My name is Isaac Agalo. Kenyan. I was raised and bred in Kibra slums, the largest urban slum in Nairobi, Kenya, and Africa at large. “Kibra” is a Nubian word, meaning a jungle or a forest. It’s approximately 4½miles from Nairobi’s Central Business District. The slum hosts an estimated two million residents who live under extreme poverty, earning less than two dollars a day. Kibra has remained the home for many families for decades.
I was schooled in Kibra from an early age, going through major setbacks, including a lack of school fees for basic education. Basic needs like food and clothing were a problem. I grew up with a single mom, a casual laborer. Despite all these factors, I enrolled in a primary school, excelled in the final examination, and joined a secondary school where I excelled too, after which I enrolled in various colleges and finally a university to pursue my dream.
I was much inspired by the setbacks I underwent throughout my educational life. I had a dream to bring change in my family and the community through education, and that’s how I began Shammah Splendid Centre School. A primary school that runs up to date with more than 400 pupils. Kibra is a large space that needs a lot of transformation, not by a single man’s effort, but collective responsibility.
I was born in a normal family setup with both parents alive and living together. After birth life began normally until the time he decided to change. During my childhood, I underwent through a lot of challenges. My mother was jobless with no stable income to carter for our basic needs. My siblings and I could go without food and suitable clothing in several occasions since the little my poor mother was getting could not sustain our full basic needs. During this trying times, thunder fell upon us. My parents divorced! My father then found for himself a second wife and left us desperate at the peak of our needs as he wished. In my view, she was his happiness or maybe he followed his heart.
Generally, the poverty ratio in my family was high, flickering to difficult moments where we could sleep while standing due to the leaking roof of the structure that my mother rented in the slum of Kibra as the family’s shelter. This structure could be locked up by the landlord due to delayed rent payment.
My mum introduced me to religion at an early stage in life since she was the staunchest believer in Christianity whom I knew. I was therefore dedicated, baptized, and given the name “Isaac,” meaning “One who laughs and rejoices,” and for that, I am humble and rejoice at all times. I therefore upheld Christian virtues and values at my younger age and followed the religious footsteps of my single mother. Later on, I was initiated as per my tribe and clan customs to transform from childhood to adulthood. Through this, I was introduced to masculine roles in society, which I have held on strongly to date as the man of the house for my family. I interacted with my peers in my age group, and we could also perform roles assigned to us by our elders.
I was once a child with limited opportunities but unlimited hope. Today, I stand as a reminder that where you come from does not define where you can go. Through faith, perseverance, and a heart to serve, we can rise—and as we rise, we lift others with us.
Yes, despite the difficulties I could experience at that tender age, I began my academic journey after I joined and enrolled in a primary school in the slum. However, this journey was met with obstacles and hardship. My concentration was poor as I could attend classes on an empty stomach. Many times, I could miss lessons and classes due to high school fees. I could stay at home for days before going back to school so as to catch up with my classmates. I could find my classmates ahead of me in terms of syllabus coverage.
Shammah Splendid Centre & Schools is a community-based organization dedicated to providing quality, holistic education to underprivileged children in Kibera and its surroundings.
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