Will Snell spent a gap year teaching English in Kenya and went on to co-found a UK charity, Harambee Schools Kenya (HSK), while at university. Since then he has worked in a variety of roles across the voluntary sector and now works for the UK Department for International Development, co-ordinating policy work on reconstruction in Iraq. He plans to set up a social business pairing up large companies in the UK with small businesses in Kenya to develop commercial skills in both countries.

The Harambee Schools Kenya website can be found here: www.hsk.org.uk

From a student in your gap year to chairman of a charity organisation working in Africa: describe your journey.

Like many people, I returned from my gap year full of the sights, sounds and people that I had interacted with over the past few months and found adjusting back to life in the UK extremely difficult. No one seemed very interested, and nothing seemed very real or meaningful! So I think that setting up HSK was in part a response to a psychological need to retain some kind of link to that experience. The friend that I set it up with had also been teaching at a school in the same part of Kenya, with the same gap year organization (VAE Kenya), and luckily we were both at the same university. We are both still heavily involved in the charity, but much of the day to day work is carried out by others these days, since we have both had full time jobs for the past few years, and there are far fewer hours in the day than there were at university!

When HSK was established what were its initial objectives and in the intervening years have these objectives changed as perhaps government focus on education in Kenya has changed?

Initially, we set up HSK to deal with the fact that volunteer teachers at the schools in Kenya were raising small amounts of money here and there for their schools, often via their parents or friends back in the UK, and we needed to formalize this into a more efficient arrangement. Registering a UK charity gave their fundraising efforts added credibility, and it also allowed us to reclaim tax via Gift Aid, adding almost 30% of the value of each donation. However, as HSK grew over the following years, we broadened our scope to include fundraising from the general public, both in the UK and the US, as well as people with connections to the area through the VAE gap year scheme. Certainly, the changing attitude of the Kenyan government to education has helped; since 2002 we have enjoyed a much closer relationship, which has helped us a great deal.


HSK works in conjunction with the Kenyan government to quote “ensure that our work is aligned to the strategic direction of education policy in Kenya” How have you found the bureaucracy working at this level and has it been a hindrance to your activities?

Clearly, bureaucracy will always be an issue. But we have found that the speed with which we can make progress depends to a great extent on the individuals we are dealing with. In most cases we have been lucky to work with some vary committed and talented people who have done a great deal to help. This includes Members of Parliament, district education officials, and in particular officials within the local communities where the schools are based. Our key contacts at community level are the School Chairmen, who play a crucial role in getting the local population involved in the construction, and most importantly the maintenance and management, of the school. Being plugged into these networks is key, since it is the parents who have their children’s education at heart and will put the pressure on others to ensure that they are delivering the goods.

In January 2003 primary schooling became free for all in Kenya. Although the fees were dropped what is the general state of the primary school infrastructure, in terms of actual facilities and quality of teaching?

The abolition of school fees was a big step forward. However, it has not solved all of the problems, and it has generated some of its own. The big change has been that many more children are now going to school. This is a good thing, of course, but in the short term it does mean that increasing pressure is being placed upon already overcrowded classrooms, and that teacher:pupil ratios are continuing to decrease, from a low base. In addition, communities in poor rural areas are still responsible for the provision of school buildings and other infrastructure; the Government only provides teachers. And if the school infrastructure is poor, teachers will generally try to avoid being posted to the school, or will lose motivation quickly if they do go there. So there is a real argument for improving infrastructure in terms of ensuring that there are enough motivated teachers.

Secondary education in Kenya is not free and the cost to attend school is therefore prohibitive, especially for those from less privileged backgrounds: how does this affect a child’s educational development and future prospects for entering employment?

This is a serious issue, and one that the Kenyan Government has really focused on recently. The majority of secondary schools charge more or less prohibitive rates, as far as most rural families are concerned. The Millennium Development Goals focus on primary education, and this is really important for all sorts of reasons, such as family planning and AIDS awareness, but looking at job prospects and economic growth, you need to have gone through secondary schooling to really see benefits on a large scale. There are lots of children who have got through primary school but are still barely literate, and have limited prospects in the job market. That is why we are building Ngecho Secondary School, to offer affordable day secondary education to local children.

How do school facilities compare between urban areas and rural areas?

As with most other facilities, schools in urban areas are both more numerous and of a higher standard than those in rural areas. The nearest town, Gilgil, is small by most standards, but still has a clutch of primary and secondary schools, of reasonable (if variable) quality. By contrast, schools in rural areas often serve catchment areas of tens of square miles. Because of the hilly terrain and the lack of transport, this means that we have got teachers and pupils walking up to 3 hours a day in each direction to get to school. That’s commitment! And of course the facilities in rural schools will generally be more basic. But they don’t have to be. We have just built and equipped a science lab at Ngecho Secondary School that rivals anything in the country, and at a fraction of the cost of building in the UK.


What are children actually taught in school and does it bear any relevance to their later life, especially within the more rural communities?

The Kenyan curriculum is based loosely on a 1960s British syllabus, although it has been extensively revised in recent years. This does mean that you get some rather incongruous topics to learn – I remember teaching the history of early Greek urbanization, and I’m not sure how much my class gained from the experience! But I think that in general, much of the syllabus is well suited to local needs. The primary syllabus includes agriculture, home economics, AIDS awareness, and so on as well as the traditional academic subjects. We are increasingly looking at vocational education as an alternative to a ‘traditional’ secondary education for some pupils. For example, Samuel produces all of our desks and other furniture. He left primary school with no qualifications. We paid for him to attend a vocational college to learn carpentry. As a result he has gone from having nothing to being quite well off, by local standards. For some people, this kind of vocational training will be more appropriate than a secondary education in Maths, English and so on.

How has AIDS affected school attendances and the ability of families to afford tuition fees?

Significantly. Teacher numbers are down. Many children are orphaned by AIDS, and drop out of school – witness the number of street children in local towns. We try to put them back into school where possible, but it’s not easy. And in an area where people are subsistence farmers anyway, with little if anything in the way of disposal income, losing the principle breadwinner can easily mean destitution. People are often reliant on their extended families, which are fortunately much more closely knit in Kenyan than they are in the UK.

What is the most important task you currently undertake?

That’s a difficult one to answer! We have always tried to get the balance right between providing infrastructure and providing learning materials. But ultimately, you need both.


Please give a break down of costs for you projects: for example:

• To supply a classroom with books
• To supply a classroom with replacement furniture
• To construct an extra classroom
• To build an actual school building

As per the website here is a break down:

Textbooks to teach one subject to 40 children £50
Furniture for one classroom £450
A stone classroom with screed floor and glazed windows £1,600
A four-classroom block £6,000
A stone water tank £7,000
An entire school for 500 pupils £55,000

You are currently working with 9 schools (www.hsk.org.uk/schools.htm): how do you divide time, finances, and resources between them?

That depends on the needs of each school, and where the money comes from. Sometimes people will raise funds and earmark them for a particular school – in particular, when they have taught at a school and would like their money to go towards it. We pride ourselves on being able to demonstrate to donors exactly where their money has gone, whether or not they asked us to put it towards a particular project. At any one time we will probably have two or three priorities. So at the moment, we are concentrating on finishing Ngecho Secondary School (more classroom blocks, an admin block and a dining hall), installing PCs at Leleshwa Secondary School, and some final touches at Kekopey Primary School.

Once a school has been completed, for example Karuri Primary School (www.hsk.org.uk/karuri.htm) what is your future involvement with it?

Again, that depends. At Karuri we have a very active Chairman, who is making sure that the school buildings are well maintained and that maximum use is made of the new facilities. So I think that over time, our involvement will drop off. In other cases, perhaps where the school is less well managed, we break off all ties in the short term and use that as a way of encouraging the standards of management to improve. Above all, we want to ensure that the community and the school are not dependent on aid money coming in. We try to avoid this from the start by bringing in the community at all stages.


When HSK becomes involved with a school what affect does it have on the local community?

As stated above, we make sure that the community are fully involved in the project from the word go. If they don’t have a say in what we are doing, the project won’t be sustainable in the long term. We try to go further and get the community involved in the actual building of the school where possible. They are usually keen; this helps to engender a real feeling of ownership, and also keeps costs down!

Through your activities are you able to employ local people to assist or do you rely solely on volunteer labour? And with regard to this point, can you offer training to local people so as they can become skilled active participants in your activities?

We do employ local labour, both skilled and unskilled. We haven’t attempted to quantify the amount of local employment that we have generated over the last eight years, but it has been a lot. We have a project manager on the ground who is not a full time employee, but in practice most of his time is spent on HSK projects. And we train people where needed, as with the example of Samuel, who as I mentioned is now our carpenter.


What has been HSK’s greatest success story thus far?

Karuri Primary School, which was the first school that we built from scratch. It’s a fantastic building. But I think that even that will be eclipsed over the next few months by Ngecho Secondary School. I visited it in April, and even though it’s only half finished, it looks incredible. It will be a real beacon in the area and a demonstration of what is possible.

Educational needs are advancing to match the ever changing environment. How do you intend that the schools with which you work keep pace of such developments? For instance, with the internet penetrating further into Africa and the importance of computer literacy what is your strategy for providing IT facilities in the near future?

Computers are one area where we have been keen to engage for a while now, but have hesitated because none of our schools have had access to mains power. However, a major rural electrification project is underway in our area right now, so suddenly this is opening up. We are going to run a trial by installing some PCs in two of our secondary schools, and then expand the project over the next year or so. This is a really exciting area, since computer literacy is of such obvious benefit in the job market. One thing we are noticing is that the availability of good quality new PCs in Kenya (sourced from Dubai) is really on the increase, and that it is often cheaper to buy them new in Kenya than to bring old PCs out from the UK, once you take into account the costs of transport and customs. So we are fundraising actively to do this! No doubt wireless internet will follow shortly…

Until now what has been your major source of donor funding and how do you intend to appeal to a wider audience in the future thereby attracting further donations?

Most of our funding so far has come from a relatively small number of major donations from charitable trusts in the UK, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of one of our trustees, for which we are extremely grateful. I am hoping that this will continue into the future, but of course it is always best to diversify the fundraising base, and so I am looking to build a network of regular small donors. If we can get even 100 people each giving us £5 a month, that will give us a significant and reliable source of income that will enable us to continue our work for years to come. It’s difficult without the huge marketing budgets that Oxfam et al have access to, but I hope that we can grow this over the coming months. The positive side of our small size is that we are extremely efficient; we have almost no overheads, and we know exactly where the money goes!

If someone wishes to help HSK as a volunteer, what opportunities exist in this area for them?

We can’t offer voluntary positions in Kenya, but we are always looking for people to help us fundraise. This could be by making a donation themselves, or by encouraging others to donate, perhaps by organizing a fundraising event or putting up a poster in their workplace. We are more than happy to provide fundraising materials, of course…

An often asked question is what difference have you made: but what difference has working in Africa made to you?

It sounds clichéd, but I think it has changed me for ever! I have known ever since coming back from Kenya that I wanted to work with, or in, Africa in some way or another. It is a very powerful place that leaves a very deep impression. Often it’s the landscape or the animals that are talked about, but for me it’s the people, who are the friendliest, kindest and most genuine that I have ever come across.

What is the future for HSK and yourself?

HSK will continue to grow! Of course, every charity should be aiming to do itself out of a job in the long term. In an ideal world, there shouldn’t be a voluntary sector. Right now it’s doing a vital job, needless to say. But that is why we are looking into setting up a new venture that will engage with Africa in a commercial way, by using the business skills of UK professionals to help African businesses to grow, create jobs and thereby reduce poverty. There are ways to help Africa to help itself that don’t involve charitable handouts; it’s just a question of finding them and making them happen.