Paignton teachers build school for slum children in Kenya

Two Paignton teachers have  bought a new school for 200 street children, orphans and children with additional needs in Nairobi, Kenya.

Seven years ago, Dawn Harris was so moved by an encounter with a woman struggling to run a school from a tin shack in Nairobi’s Kawangware slum that she decided to do something to help.

Together with her husband, Martin Harris, she launched a charity that raised over £150,000, with £100,000 going towards a new school and £50,000 to other ongoing support.

They said: “We have raised enough money to maintain the school, money to help pay for six voluntary teachers each month, put in a water tank, put in electricity, provide security and send money out each month for food and resources.”

A teacher at Mayfield School in Torbay, Dawn first visited the school in Kenya on an insight trip with Compassion, a charity that sponsors children’s education.

There, she met Roseanne Ncbere, a woman rescuing street children and doing her best to educate them with extremely basic resources. Roseanne had been given permission by a compassionate bishop to build a school on wasteland behind a church, but it was positioned over a sewer and was not a long-term structure.

Martin, who is also artistic director of Unleashed Theatre Company, said: “When Dawn asked, 'How can I help?’ Roseanne said, ‘Well, we don’t even have water.’”

Shocked and tearful, Dawn returned to Torbay and organised a 10-mile sponsored cycle ride with the children at Mayfield School, raising the £400 needed for a new water tank.

Martin said: “Some of our friends thought Dawn was crazy, sending money to a woman she’d only just met, but Roseanne sent back pictures of the water tank straight away.

“This successful project has led to an amazing friendship and bond with the school that had no one sponsoring them and no money to support the work of this incredible woman.”

Dawn soon returned to Nairobi with Martin, their son, and their daughter-in-law to help with art and music workshops.

They got to know Roseanne by working alongside her to run this school in the heart of the slum with nothing.

The couple came back and set up a charity to support the school and have worked closely with the community every year for the past seven.

They pay money towards six of the school's eight teachers, food and resources.

Five years ago, they started a fund to buy land to build a fit-for-purpose school. When a quarter-acre plot with a derelict school became available, they made an offer that was accepted.

The new school includes a large hall, multiple classrooms and space for the children to play in.

Martin said: “The response from our sponsors in Torbay has been amazing. Our friends, local people and churches have all supported us.”

Much of the fundraising has taken place at Torquay’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, where Martin works to support people facing homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges.

When asked how he and Dawn became so involved in charitable work, Martin explained that it's just something they’ve always done.

“Both of us have a heart for people who have been dealt a tough hand in life. People don’t choose to be drug addicts or have special needs; that’s just the lot they’ve been given. We’ve always stuck up for the underdogs.”

Reflecting on the school purchase, Dawn said: “This will completely transform the ministry of the school, and the purchase has elevated the work of this amazing woman in the community, who is educating children with additional needs and street children who would not get an education at all in Kenya. We are incredibly grateful to all our supporters who have given so generously to enable this purchase to take place. 

“It has been the concerts, quiz nights and Christmas family days that have been supported by so many in our community that have enabled us to buy the school, and we are so grateful.”

Dawn and Martin will host a quiz night at St Paul’s Church, Preston, on Saturday, April 5. The event will feature a Kenyan meal, a Maasai craft stall and a presentation on the charity’s work.

Teams of six to eight can participate, with tickets priced at £10 per person. Organisers say that pre-booking is required by emailing dawnharris63@hotmail.co.uk