Meet Caroline: caring for others

In Correspondence with Caroline Lusinde, CEO of Wee Care Daycare, Kibera, Kenya

​Caroline Lusinde is the CEO of Wee Care Daycare, in Kibera, Kenya. Her daycare began when she, as a single mother, found herself reluctant to leave her son in the morning to go off to work. Wee Care takes care of roughly 50 children, of ages ranging between 3 months and 6 years old. With the business disruption brought by Covid-19, Caroline had to find a way to continue providing her services, moving away from in-person teaching and adopting online methods instead. Below, Caroline shares with us her story.    ​

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What was your childhood like?  

I grew up in a small village in Western Kenya. I was raised by a single mother. My mother raised three children, me being the eldest. I decided to travel to Nairobi for my education, and received a certificate in (ECD) Early Childhood Development and Information Technology. Fast forward a few years, as a single mother myself, raising a six year old boy, I saw the struggles families faced on a daily basis, living in Kibera - Kenya’s largest slum. I wanted to help and decided to stay in Kibera with my son.  

What inspired you to begin your entrepreneurial journey?

In Kibera, many parents aren’t able to stay home and take care of their children. Putting food on the table every night requires them to work hard during the day, away from home. Myself wanting to start working, I found it very difficult to leave my son behind for hours. Thus, the solution to my problem was simple: I decided to mesh my love for children with the desire to care for my son, and opened Wee Care Daycare.

​Given safety measures imposed by the government, how is your business coping with this pandemic?

Wee Care Daycare roughly looks after and educates 50-55 children, of ages of 3 months to 6 years old. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, my business, along with many others, was deeply affected. Because of government-imposed lockdown measures, the center was forced to close. Many parents found themselves jobless and unable to send their children to school altogether. I quickly realized that this pandemic wasn’t going away anytime soon and the children might be out of school for a long time. So to not let them fall behind, I knew I quickly had to pivot my teachings away from in-person methods.

After receiving a loan from Mkono, I was able to start adapting my ways of teaching. Given the poverty levels of Kibera, many children are unable to access online material for learning. With the loan, I decided to purchase computers that the kids would be able to share amongst themselves. The government has created a small program of content for young students, which they will be able to now access and not fall behind in their education. 

​What challenges do you think you’ll continue to face in the education sector once this pandemic is over? 
    
From what I’m seeing, the pandemic has opened people’s minds - they are not idle, waiting for the government to come help them, but rather they are looking for ways to sustain themselves during these hard times. 

Children are quickly being taught through online methods. They are slowly becoming used to getting the work done online. Once it is safe for them to go back to school, I can already see how getting them to start using books again will be a challenge! Getting them up to speed and filling in their knowledge gaps is also something I’ll have to ensure. 

I think that this pandemic is forcing us to reevaluate how teaching is delivered. I personally think that when schools reopen, online learning might be part of schools’ core curriculum or at least an essential part to every course. I am preparing for that eventuality.

​What’s your vision for the future? Where are you hoping to be 5 years from now?

My bigger goal has always been to give access to education for the people around me. In five to ten years from now, I plan on opening my own primary school, and if things go well, maybe eventually a secondary school. This is how I plan on giving back to my community. I get the best of both worlds: helping children and seeing my son every day.