They are always clad in navy blue aprons and seem disinterested in anything else in life except making a sale. They do not look happy, and seem like they are struggling in business. But looks are deceiving.
It is now emerging that most of the parents who took Brookhouse Schools to court in Kenya are traders in Kamukunji who despite not knowing the good things in life, they have sacrificed everything to make their children successful.
The traders who spend most of their time directing people with handcarts, overseeing their five or so employees tightly squeezed in overflowing stalls, running up and down from the stall to the store and convincing passersby to get in and buy stuff from them are not as poor as you think. They have mastered how the world works, and are determined to make full use of the information that they have. This is why their children school at Brookhouse
They are also the same people who are suing Brookhouse School because they know the real value of every coin they make.
The revelation also puts into light the amount of money that informal traders make in Kenya, easily beating their educated counterparts who are still tarmacking and pleading with the government to reduce the PAYE so that they can save some money.
On a normal day, a Kamukunji trader is able to make an average of Kshs 25,000 in profits. With such amounts of money and a simple lifestyle, it is understandable that they can afford the fees at Brookhouse school. Their tenacity keeps getting them more money, while their business mindset does not allow them to pay anything more than is necessary. That is why they could not agree to pay full fees when learning is going on online.
The traders live mostly in their own gated communities in the outskirts of Nairobi and have some very well-organized structures where their children are picked and dropped to school every day. They always drive pick-up trucks but their children are ferried to school in Mercedes Benz vans, and while they once in a while travel to China and Dubai for supplies, their children vacation in Europe and US.
Meanwhile, the people who are talking about Brookhouse Schools on social media are graduates who are worried about their next meal.
