Nigerian charity tries to salvage a slum’s schooling amid pandemic
Outside her home in the Lagos slum of Makoko, Esther Ikechukwu stacks two upturned buckets, places a handbag on top and rests a tablet against it. Her balancing act finished, the desk and the 17-year-old are ready for school.
Outside her home in the Lagos slum of Makoko, Esther Ikechukwu stacks two upturned buckets, places a handbag on top and rests a tablet against it. Her balancing act finished, the desk and the 17-year-old are ready for school.
“I am not really missing (out),” she said, adding that she was now in a better position than some other youngsters.
With 30 teachers, Slum2School educated almost 1,000 children. It is targeting 10,000 students by year-end.
But the slum’s lack of power means difficulty charging electronics. Esther’s outdoor desk is a solution for the weak mobile signal indoors – she juggles between video and audio as the network drops.
Slum2School tries to combat the electricity problems by providing power banks and solar charging kiosks.
Long school breaks can cut children out of education as they are pushed to support poor families with menial work, said Otto Orondaam, the charity’s founder.
“This is just another way to keep them learning,” he said.