Take 5: Founder of Food 4 Education, Wawira Njiru
Wawira Njiru is founder of Food 4 Education, an outfit that feeds 1200 school going children in Ruiru every day. PHOTO| COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The kids pay about half of the cost of the food, which is 10 shillings. We top up to cover the rest – the total is 22 shillings.
- We spend money subsidizing it.
- Operations, though, have definitely gotten easier now that we’ve been doing it for a while. But even 10 shillings is hard for some kids as well, though they definitely prefer to eat with us at that cost because they will get more food with us than anywhere else.
Wawira Njiru is founder of Food 4 Education, an outfit that feeds 1200 school going children in Ruiru every day.
What made you start Food 4 Education?
Food 4 Education is based in the area I grew up in, where I watched a lot of kids miss out on school for various reasons, among them not having enough food. It affected their opportunities in life, because they weren’t in school. So it is basically to try and keep kids in school.
What’s the hardest part of feeding 1200 kids every day?
Everything is hard! What’s not hard? It might be easier to ask that! Well…our model is we cook food in our kitchen and transport the food to schools in Ruiru. So, the hardest part is first of all funding it. The kids pay about half of the cost of the food, which is 10 shillings. We top up to cover the rest – the total is 22 shillings. We spend money subsidizing it. Operations, though, have definitely gotten easier now that we’ve been doing it for a while. But even 10 shillings is hard for some kids as well, though they definitely prefer to eat with us at that cost because they will get more food with us than anywhere else. They will be full.
Wawira Njiru is founder of Food 4 Education, an outfit that feeds 1200 school going children in Ruiru every day. She is pictured here with some of the children in the food programme. PHOTO| COURTESY
And one of the ways you subsidize this is through Double Portion?
So yes, we run a food delivery and office catering service in Kilimani whose profits cover the other half of the food. We currently deliver to areas
What are you planning next for this, to make it even bigger and more sustainable?
We plan to grow in terms of our business because it is not covering all the costs. So we’re looking for more catering and delivery opportunities. Our kitchen is finished now, and is large enough to cater to more kids, we would like to include more schools. We get so many requests. Headteachers pass on our numbers, and we get calls in the middle of the night asking for a school feeding program. There is a huge need.
When you’re not making a difference to Kenyan children, what are you doing in your free time?
I spend time with friends and read books.
around us, like Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Westlands and Upper Hill, but this month we will also start to deliver in the CBD.
What are you planning next for this, to make it even bigger and more sustainable?
We plan to grow in terms of our business because it is not covering all the costs. So we’re looking for more catering and delivery opportunities. Our kitchen is finished now, and is large enough to cater to more kids, we would like to include more schools. We get so many requests. Headteachers pass on our numbers, and we get calls in the middle of the night asking for a school feeding program. There is a huge need.
When you’re not making a difference to Kenyan children, what are you doing in your free time?
I spend time with friends and read books.
