Retired British couple falls in love with Kenya then gives slum children a better start

British national, Geof Fowler explains a point during an interview in Mombasa. He is the sponsor of Miche Bora Nursery and Primary School. [PHOTO OMONDI ONYANGO/STANDARD]

MOMBASA COUNTY: When a British couple visited Mombasa as tourists six years ago, husband and wife were awestruck by the scenic attractions, particularly the national parks, beaches and deep sea fishing.

Civil engineer Goeff Fowler and his wife, Rita, a teacher, had retired in 2005 and had come to relax as they planned what to do in their retirement. “We wanted to spend most of our retirement visiting various parts of the world because we had no time to do that during our active lives in our jobs,” says Rita.

She fondly remembers their first tour of the popular Amboseli National Park in 2008; they enjoyed watching the wild animals.

Later, they visited beaches and went deep sea fishing, but they say they soon realised they could spend their money more meaningfully after interacting with the local community.

 “I was shocked to learn children from poor families were not getting quality education because of lack of good teachers, learning materials and good classrooms,” Rita recalls.

Seeing the condition of some local schools marked a turning point in the Fowlers‘ plans for their post-retirement years. They asked themselves why they should spend huge amounts of money on luxury and yet there were many needy cases.

“My wife was very passionate about the idea of starting a school, and I bought the idea,” Geoff explains.

Rita says the condition of the learning facilities moved her to tears: “We could not walk away when we saw the need. We wanted to help give these children better opportunities.”

The couple started Miche Bora School, in the slums of Mgongeni Bombolulu, five years ago with 17 children at ‚K1‘, the entry level for kindergarteners. There are now 200 pupils, and the highest level is Class Five, at the school whose Kiswahili name means ‚the best roots‘.

“It is exciting that the school has taken shape. This is not what I had planned to do in my retirement, but I have decided to give my skills to the children to enable them gain better skills,” Rita says.

“We are giving the poor children education that was previously only available to the rich. Our plan is to have the school go up to Class Eight and have pupils sit the KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) exams before we hand it over to the local young people, who will take it to higher levels.”

Despite renting a building at Sh34,000 a month, the classrooms can no longer accommodate the growing student population.

“We are building a school at the cost of more than Sh24 million on a plot we bought,” Geoff says.

When the structure is complete, it will also house a clinic that will serve not only the pupils but the surrounding community.

I has not been all smooth sailing though. Before starting the school, the couple had started a youth programme that did not take off.

However, Geoff continues to support football and boxing clubs in the area to help keep young people busy nd prevent them from engaging in illegal activities such as drug abuse and crime.

“Our aim is to help the people of this urban slum area of Mombasa out of poverty by giving them the confidence, education and skills to solve their own problems,” says Rita.

After starting the school in 2009, she also embarked on using her 21 yeas’ experience to train the teachers in strategies to improve teaching.

“We try and provide high quality education for the poor children, which they will use to solve their problems in the future,” said Fowler.

The Standard on Sunday recently traced Rita to Miche Bora Primary School, where her passion as she interacts with the pupils and teachers is evident.

She says she knows Kenyan teaching relies heavily on repeating things, chanting and learning by rote. The retired teacher says she has found rote to be the best method although the local teachers do not apply it often.

So committed are the Fowlers to their projects that they have travelled to Kenya 13 times since 2008, defying UK travel advisories over claims of insecurity.

“We had no choice but to come to Kenya because of the love we have for these children. Since we decided to help them, we have never looked back,” says Geoff.

The couple has a website, www.mustardseedproject.co.ke, dedicated to raising funds for the children.

They say their dream has come true in the school where people from different communities and religions not only get formal education but learn to live together harmoniously.