Meet Frankco

“When you are educated, you will have a good life. When the time comes, you will get a job, and your life will change.”

Chantal Ngabire teaches Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) to children at her local school. She is a mother of six children and a refugee. 

Chantal is Congolese and was forced to flee from the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She’s been living in Kenya’s second largest refugee camp, Kakuma, for the last eight years with five of her six children.

Chantal never got the chance to go to school herself. However, she sees the importance of studying for a better life for her children and community in Kakuma.

"During my childhood, it was very normal to decide not to go to school. But nowadays, it's very difficult to succeed in life without going to school. 

I was at home in Kakuma with no job when I heard about the opportunity to register for a SEL course at my local school. 

I had never had the opportunity to study higher education, and I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity. SEL was something I could invest my time in instead of just sitting at home.

After completing the training and receiving my certificate, I was asked if I could help the school by teaching children in the community.

I now volunteer and teach at the school. 

When we started teaching at the school, many of the parents were hesitant to register their children. However, over time, they became more receptive, and the children would ask their parents to enrol them.

We could then engage with the parents and learn from each other. The children now love going to school and learning new things.

We teach kids to show love to everybody no matter which tribe they come from."

"If you don’t talk to your children, they won’t know anything. So I speak to them and explain how to control their emotions.

If we find ourselves disturbed and angry, we must ask ourselves what we will accomplish if we react.

We have to be kind and learn to be patient.

I’m very lucky that my children are understanding. When I talk to them, they hear what I say."

"A few years ago, I didn’t have the money to send my children to secondary school. But now, I’m very happy that they can attend school.

I’ve found that if I follow up on my children’s education, they will perform well because they feel supported.

Even though I didn’t go to school, I can still ask my children what they studied and ask them to repeat what they learned to me. That way, I can learn, too.

I’m honest with my children. When they ask me, ‘Mum, what do you know?’ I always tell them that I learned very little. But if I could return to my younger days, I wouldn’t have left school and pursued education to the highest level.

It’s all about encouragement.

My children feel that school is everything and that you can do anything with education."

Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya is home to over 290,000 refugees — approximately half of them are children.

244 million children today cannot access education, of which 200 million live in adversity in areas of conflict or low-income countries.

Over 135 million children in school are at risk of dropping out before reaching their final grade, of which 130 million live in conflict zones.

Education systems systematically marginalise these children. Their struggles often go unnoticed, and generations of children are left behind.

These children in adversity experience persistent stress, which harms their social, emotional, and physical well-being. This has long-term effects on individuals and, in turn, on economies and societies.

Chantal had the opportunity to learn and teach SEL through the Children in Displacement (CiD) programme.

Solidarity Initiative for Refugees (SIR), is a refugee-led organisation and one of the implementers of the CiD programme in Kenya. Based in the Kakuma Refugee camp, SIR is a community-driven organisation dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by refugees in the region.

SIR empowers refugees and host communities through access to quality education and dignified livelihood opportunities. By integrating SEL into its programmes, SIR promotes emotional well-being and resilience, fostering holistic development among refugee and host community youth.

A key aspect of SIR's approach is empowering parents — like Chantal — by highlighting the importance of their involvement in their children's education and active participation in school-related activities. This has led to a deeper understanding and a heightened sense of responsibility among parents regarding their children's educational journeys.

By shifting educational systems to support children in adversity by incorporating social and emotional learning into schools, education systems become more inclusive and adapt to the needs of their students and communities.

This is why Porticus supports refugee-led organisations like Solidarity Initiative for Refugees, to ensure that more children, especially those in extreme adversity, receive inclusive, high-quality education, helping them to reach their full potential.

Learn more about Porticus’ work to build future generations.