Sylvia Kanaiza sat pensively at the far end of a sofa in her grandmother’s living room.
Though she performed to her expectations in the KCPE exam and scored 297 marks, she wishes she could go back to school. But she can't concentrate on an empty stomach.
At school, the 15-year-old said, breakfast and lunch are guaranteed every day, including Saturdays, unlike at home.
“Since I woke up six hours ago, I have had nothing to eat. The choice was between sugarless black tea or nothing, but I see no difference,” Sylvia said.
At Kawangware Primary School where Sylvia was a pupil, all learners would be given a cup of uji in the morning before classes began. For lunch, they had rice and beans, at no cost.
Judith Javagara said her 12-year-old son is never late for school any more and doesn't need to be told to hurry up.
"I could not understand why he would leave my black tea behind every morning until I found out about the cup of uji. Because it is served before classes, he is never late for school," Javagara said.
We met Sylvia's grandmother, Beatrice Iminza, who had just returned from a nearby school to pick the day's vegetables.
“These are leaves from bean plants. When the cooks are preparing meals, they throw out bad beans which have now sprouted due to the rains,” she explained, showing us a small basin of greens.
“This is not enough for all nine of us, so I shall add a bit of sukuma wiki. I also have leaves from pepper plants that I will add to supplement this,” she added.
Iminza takes care of her five children and three grandchildren. She told the Star her irregular jobs cannot comfortably feed her dependents. She can only afford to serve dinner in her house.
The 51-year-old picked up Sh140 for the greens, which she said was all that stood between her and abject poverty.
“With this, I plan to buy two kilos of maize flour at Sh102, sukuma wiki at Sh10 and whatever is left will go to buy kerosene,” she said.
Iminza ekes out a living from housecleaning, babysitting and laundry that pay Sh500 to Sh2,000 a day.
She only gets these jobs once in a while and the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced demand for her services.
Iminza can’t wait for school to reopen as two of her grandchildren attend Kawangware Primary.
“Sylvia used to carry home part of her lunch and share it with her younger cousins. That was very helpful as it meant the family would consume less," she said.
In previous years, Iminza said they were required to pay Sh1,600 every term for lunch per student. Part of it paid cooks and support staff.
In 2020, Cup of Uji, an organisation providing free breakfast and lunch for select primary schools countrywide, picked Kawangware Primary School as a beneficiary.
“Cup of Uji saved me Sh6,400 that I was paying for my child and grandchildren per term,” Iminza said.
Cup of Uji started in 2011 to fight hunger among disadvantaged primary schools in Kenya by providing one cup of uji for every pupil every day.
The organisation depends entirely on well-wishers and corporate donations.
For each pupil, it spends Sh28 for both breakfast and lunch every day.
Founder Francis Amonde, 29, told the Star the initiative started with a cup of uji in one school in Homa Bay before the programme expanded.
“In the beginning, we were only providing uji, but we realised that to have significant impact, it was important to provide lunch as well," Amone said.
Today, the initiative supports six schools countrywide with a total enrollment of 5,925, most from underprivileged families.
The six schools are Nyatwere and Kasimba in Homa Bay; Tandia in Kilifi, Kumpa Holy Mothers in Kajiado, Kositot in West Pokot and Kawangware in Nairobi counties.
The organisation provides sorghum porridge in the morning before class and rice with yellow beans for lunch.
“We count the number of students and provide a supply for all of them every month,” Amonde said.
The supply usually includes rice, beans, uji flour, sugar and oil. The schools pay for the cooks and firewood.
“We have other programmes, each tailored specifically for boys wellness and another for girls’ menstrual health. We also pay school fees for brilliant but very needy children,” he added.
For the boys, Amonde explained, that the organisation provides a mentorship programme in which they can speak freely about their mental health and other challenges.
Cup of Uji also gives the boys three pairs of boxers to ensure their comfort while in school.
Girls get sanitary pads as well as mental health talks.
"Some of these children go through so much and really need someone to talk to in confidence," he Amonde said.
Cup of Uji is currently paying fees for four students who have just concluded their KCSE exams, three students in the university, two in technical colleges and three in high school.
Cup of Uji, Amonde said, identifies and selects schools after a needs assessment, which includes visiting homes of some students, noting school attendance, number of students and other issues.
“We check the trends over a period of time. We look at school attendance against performance, for instance. Then we find out the reasons for absence. Mostly it has to do with lack of food.
Amonde says his ultimate goal is to help eradicate by promoting education.
In 2011, Amonde, had gone to visit his mother, ac public primary school teacher at Nyatwere Primary School in Oyugis, Homa Bay county.
He said some children appeared malnourished. He learned that many of the children arrived at school without having had breakfast or even dinner the previous night.
“I was deeply touched, especially since my mother said lack of food translated into Amonde said.
At that time, he was a college student and couldn't do much but he wanted to do something. He considered lunch of rice and beans but it was too expensive.
It was then he started an initiative to serve affordable and substantial porridge, to children before their school day.
“I wanted to fight hunger among these children, which in turn would drive education for them and ultimately lift their families out of poverty,” he said.
Amonde said some children would drop out of school to help their parents during school holidays.
“I started another programme that we labelled ‘Be Nice’. We provide food supplies worth Sh2,500 to parents of the students whom we support during the holiday,” he said.
The programme allows the children time to study and even play at home and return to school when it reopens.
Amonde, who studied journalism at Mt Kenya University, said the pandemic has hurt the initiative and they were unable to supply parents at home during the year.
The impact was great as many children, especially girls dropped out of school and their performance dropped in 2020 compared to 2019.
“A school that had a mean score of 265 in 2019 dropped to 241 in the 2020 KCPE exams. Another that had a mean score of 267 got 251,” he said.
To donate to Cup of Uji, dial *483*57*32709# or pay via M-Pesa Paybill: 891300, account: HOPE.
(Edited by V. Graham)
