Mathare Kids Having Chang’aa For Breakfast

Kids in Mathare slum are having chang’aa for breakfast as a result of extreme poverty. Pupils as young as six years old are served a glass or two of the illicit liquor by their parents before they go to school.
One such parent, Mary Wambui told Nairobi News that poverty has left them no choice and chang’aa is the only thing they can afford to fend off hunger.
“Getting breakfast in the morning is a problem and sometimes I just don’t have the time(to prepare breakfast). I prefer preparing my chang’aa early in the morning which I will sell and earn a coin and my son will have half or one glass, that will do no harm,” she said.
A teacher in one of the schools who preferred to remain anonymous said they were forced to summon parents following cases of pupils coming to class drunk.
The schools have now teamed up with NGOs to offer free meals to the young pupils to curb this menace.
A community health worker attached to one of the schools, Isaiah Juma identified such cases as parental neglect.
“Some mothers have become too careless to the extent of drinking in front of their children. This makes it more difficult to help the children out of such behaviors,” he said.