Coach Juma, our head of security, and Mr. Kinaro recently stepped up to train our students about the different kinds of fires, and different emergency preparedness tactics. Over the past decade, Kenyan schools have been experiencing a number of fires, mostly caused by student arson. According to a recent governmental report, poor safety standards, high stress amongst students, overcrowding and drug abuse, have all combined into a deadly tinderbox that has resulted in a series of catastrophic fires in schools all over the country.

Even though many schools have installed fire extinguishers, about 50% of public schools have never carried out any fire safety training for both students and staff, or had any safety assessments.

As a result, most Kenyan students do not know what a fire safety drill is and schools do not offer any type of fire safety training or classes. The most recent school fire at the beginning of September, resulted in the deaths of 21 students identified so far, and even more suffering from various burn injuries. Outside of dealing with the root causes of student unrest, there has been a general consensus that there has been a failure to implement and enforce safety guidelines in schools which has helped lead to many tragedies.