10 months out of school for Kenyan children, we resume school in January 2021, reason protecting them from the deadly Covid 19.
I pen this down as a woman from the slums where millions of Kenyan children live, where schools act as a safe space for vulnerable children, a place where children who come from very poor families can afford to have atleast a meal in a day, a space where children who have no toilets and even water at home can access them, where children from hostile families can get comfort and love, and much much more.
What options are there for them in the next 10 months? Poor kids, who represented the grassroots communities or the kids in the task force? Someone who would share REALITY and not RESEARCH? I know of more than 40 school going kids dead since the schools closed down not from Covid at all, some are in jail, remember the 14 year old from Kibera? "We may not have kids to take back to school come January", a parent spoke to me while in tears yesterday. Children at "home", no work, no studies, no food, no parents, no space to play, no water, no Church for moral guidance, no sports, noone to talk to, NO LIFE.
Polycom is already overwhelmed by the number of girls running to our offices to access safe space but where are the resources? How about those who cannot access our space. Let's think Kenya, let's look around for options lest we loose a good % of our kids in the name of protecting them.