Spurgeon's Academy

At the beginning of each trimester, each student gets one pencil and one booklet to do lessons.	While Fred Outa attended college in the United States, he would take summers off from his studies and return to Africa. Fred found some government land next to Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya and decided to build a school. His first summer he built one small building with the help of friends he met in the United States.
His first building was for 2 1/2 year olds. Each summer, Fred woudl return to Kibera with friends and add to his buildings until he achieved his goal of building a school for children ages 2 1/2 years thru 8th grade. With so many children in the slum, Fred had to decide who would attend his school. The criteria was that children attending Fred's school would be orphans - total orphans or children with brothers or sisters or distant relatives to help raise the student. Fred's school eventually became known as Spurgeon's Academy.
If Fred does not have money to buy enough food, the teacher must keep track of who gets to eat today and who will have to wait and eat tomorrow.	Today, theree are about 420 orphan children in Fred's school. Most of the children do not have access to food over the weekends so the only food they are guaranteed to receive is the one meal served at the school. For most children, this is their only meal of the day.
Students must pass a government test to move from one grade level to the next grade level.	A classroom at Spurgeon's Academy
Classroom of 8th grade girls at Spurgeon's Academy. What is their future?	Swahilli is the language spoken in the slum. Government tests given in the schools are all in English. Children start school at 2 1/2 years. They begin to learn English so that when they enter kindergarten they will be able to pass the government tests. These young children will also receive the nutrition they need at Fred's school.