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‘He told me he was too weak to go to school yesterday’, this mother’s explained when we asked why her son had not gone to school. The boy, let’s call him Ekiru, is one of the star learners. He is definitely overage – we estimate possibly in his late teens. He is the first of seven children. He spent his early years herding. In 2018, an enrollment drive allowed him to access school, and the Accelerated Learning Program is supporting to retain him in school, by improving his reading skills.
But a big impediment looms by, currently clothed by the pangs of hunger. Normally, the children survive on the lunch meal provided by the school. The school has run out of reserves, so no food was served on Monday or Tuesday, and by Wednesday, Ekiru had no energy to go to school. This act of absenteeism prompted us to visit his home on a Thursday.
Unlike many children who start school before they are old enough to understand their actions, Ekiru made the choice for himself. He has resolved, which his mother reiterates when she explains ‘I cannot stop him from going to school because he is the one who decided for himself’. But determination cannot win when the basic need of food is not met. A hungry child cannot learn, and it is this fact that has made school feeding programs essential.
The school administration does its part as it awaits allocation of food from the authorities who explain that due to ‘some delays’ the food is yet to reach the schools. On this day in March 2019, an organization has come to distribute food to the neighboring village, and the deputy head teacher trudges the distance to negotiate for at least ‘three bags of maize’ for her school. Naturally, she should be in class teaching, but for now she needs to wear a different role.
Turkana County is beginning to rise after years of marginalization compounded by harsh weather conditions and incidents of insecurity. Lodwar town is a bubbling urban centre. The county has about two million inhabitants and receives the second highest allocations of devolved funds from the national government. In addition, the county received 11 billion shillings from the equalization fund in the current financial year. The needs for this vast county are big. Yet, the seasonality of famine and drought is expected and can be planned for. That is why an expected bare minimum is that Ekiru should not go hungry. Ekiru needs to be supported to get his due promise to formal education because it is his right.
As the government mulls over its responsibilities, we too must ask hard questions on what the right approach is for supporting children from vulnerable communities to get their footing in life. These are not new dilemmas, especially for small organizations who continually make choices over singular focus in program design against whole child or indeed whole school approaches. This notwithstanding, the decision we take needs to be fair, respectful and sustainable.
This is the age of renewed promises. The pledge world leaders have offered in the sustainable development goals surrounds around the people and the planet. There is a strong social justice thread as well, that we must not only focus on those left behind, but seek to reach the furthest behind first. But it seems we are failing for Ekiru cannot quench his quest for learning because of pangs of hunger.