Quality Childcare In Nairobi’s Slums

In 2011, whereas working for a non-profit in Kenya, Sabina Habib visited a daycare middle in a casual settlement, or slum, of Nairobi. The expertise was startling.

When she entered the ten foot by 10 foot corrugated steel shack, the place there was nearly no mild and the scent was terrible, Habib stumbled throughout one thing—solely to appreciate that she’d nearly tripped over slightly lady. Then she noticed greater than 15 infants who have been eerily silent, clearly so uncared for they’d given up any hope of receiving assist. After that, she discovered how widespread such services, identified domestically as child care, have been—about 3,000 in simply Nairobi slums. “The issue was so large, but nobody was doing something about it,” she says.

What she noticed additionally shocked her into taking motion. After a number of years of analysis, Habib, who calls herself “an entrepreneur by chance,” and her then-boyfriend, now husband, Afzal, launched Kidogo. The community of childcare services goals to attain a triple play: giving youngsters an excellent begin in life, moms peace of thoughts and franchisee/childcare operators entry to financial alternatives they wouldn’t have in any other case had.

Right now, there are 763 facilities in 33 communities in Nairobi serving a complete of 16,206 youngsters 5 days every week.

The Essential First 36 Months

Kidogo’s mission rests on a key reality of kid growth. The primary 5 years, and particularly the preliminary 36 months, of a kid’s life are of vital significance to cognitive growth. For that purpose, being in a protected, nurturing and stimulating surroundings is essential.

On the identical time, moms who’re gainfully employed want to have the ability to do their jobs with out worrying about their youngsters. But 40% of youngsters beneath faculty age globally—350 million in all—want childcare and don’t have entry to it, based on the World Financial institution.

In Nairobi’s casual settlements, moms face three unsatisfactory childcare choices. With little household help accessible, they will depart their baby at residence alone. Or they will have an older sibling—sometimes a lady—take care of her youthful sibling, thereby hurting her possibilities of getting an schooling. Or they will depart the infant in a daycare middle. These institutions are housed within the tiny shacks wherein residents reside, with one girl taking care of on common 22 infants and toddlers, based on Habib. There’s little hands-on care or diet supplied, a lot much less mild or efficient air flow.

A Franchising Mannequin

When Habib got here residence after her go to to the daycare middle, she known as Afzal in Toronto and talked about what she’d seen. By the tip of the dialog, they’d determined to do one thing about the issue. “We requested ourselves how would possibly we offer the next high quality childcare possibility at roughly the identical worth level moms have been already paying,” she says. When Habib got here residence for visits, she and Afzal would talk about their plans throughout dates, generally turning over napkins at dinner to map out enterprise plans.

The state of affairs was notably poignant for Habib. The daughter of immigrants from East Africa who had moved to Toronto earlier than she was born, she felt a deep identification with the kids she noticed. “If I had been born within the nation my mother and father got here from, my trajectory in life would have been utterly totally different,” she says. “The place a toddler is born shouldn’t dictate the place they find yourself in life.”

Properly conscious that they didn’t come from the communities experiencing the issue, the co-founders spent two years talking to tons of of childcare operators and moms. Additionally they carried out a worldwide benchmarking examine to see whether or not comparable points existed in slums elsewhere. What they discovered, says Habib, was that “Nobody had cracked the code” when it got here to delivering acceptable childcare, outlined, she says, by, “whether or not we’d ship our children to this middle.” Additionally vital was whether or not the operation was sustainable and the mannequin was scalable.

The answer they devised was a franchising mannequin. First, Kidogo invitations all of the daycare operators locally to a workshop to study concerning the method. After that, ladies who’ve expressed curiosity undergo an accelerator program that features, amongst different classes, the fundamentals of promoting and billion. At first this system was 18 months, however finally it was shortened to 3. Then, Kidogo invitations certified members to change into franchisees. It additionally will make renovations, like making a skylight and extra home windows for higher lighting and air flow.

Methods Change

However when the 2 co-founders approached a number of NGOs with their analysis and plan, none have been . So that they determined they’d need to do it on their very own. “We gave ourselves one yr to provide it a shot,” says Habib. They saved $15,000 and launched their first middle, which they used to show to childcare operators within the casual settlement what they’d in thoughts. “We needed to present them what was potential,” she says.

Now, Kidogo has a few 30% market share in every location it serves—a share Habib says they don’t wish to improve. “Scaling for us is not only scaling our group, however scaling our impression,” she says. Her pondering: By not increasing an excessive amount of in anyone neighborhood, residents in that locality will strain different daycare suppliers within the space to up their sport in an effort to compete. Their analysis has proven that, after one yr of publicity to Kidogo, mother and father change how they select which middle to pick out. Whereas earlier than it was all about proximity and hours of the operation, they now deal with the extent of diet, security and sanitation, in addition to how engaged middle operators are with the kids. “For us, that’s techniques change,” she says.

A nonprofit within the U.S.—working as a for-profit would have required that Kidogo serve a considerably extra prosperous buyer, which might have diluted the mission, says Habib—the enterprise is registered as an LLC in Kenya. That’s as a result of ventures charging charges can’t register as nonprofits in that nation.

A Profession Pathway

There are three forms of Kidogo facilities. Some function out of a franchisee’s residence. (That sometimes is the ten by 10 foot shack present in Nairobi’s city settlements). As a result of these places additionally home the girl’s belongings, they will match about eight youngsters. Others are solely used for daycare, so that they serve about 15 children. The third operates out of a college that may doubtlessly take youngsters as much as the sixth grade, with a separate room for daycare. They’ve 40 to 50 youngsters.

That additionally creates a profession pathway for franchisees, who could begin out with a home-based middle and regularly develop to a rented area and, lastly, add lessons, till they’re working a college. As their enterprise grows, franchisees additionally normally rent different ladies to assist out.

Franchisees have biweekly check-ins with Kidogo. And so they get entry to an app, which helps with administrative duties. Kids are also served hard-boiled eggs twice every week to stave off malnutrition. Plus there’s a month-to-month get-together the place all of the franchisees talk about their challenges, from the lengthy hours to the loneliness of the work and a common lack of respect for his or her livelihood. Habib describes it as “the stickiest” a part of her mannequin. Franchisees, who pay a charge of $5 to $15 a month. can improve revenues by as much as two-and-a-half instances after one yr, based on Habib.