“Wewe!” (you!), she yells out to a tousle-haired girl. “Kuja hapa sasa!” (come here, right now!). Her voice is sharp and loud; her Kiswahili commands can be heard 100 metres down the street, let alone a few paces away, where her young daughter plays in the dirt. The dusty girl jumps up and runs to her mother, a silhouette in the doorway of the café, looking out for her evening customers.

A blue kuku adorns the shop front and is the standout feature in this area, known locally as Mikoroshoni. Blue is the predominant colour of the façade, which boasts the café menu and hand-painted examples of mouth-watering foods on offer inside. For those unfamiliar with the Kiswahili language used on the coast of East Africa, ‘kuku’ means chicken in English. ....

Teaching in Kenya is judged by many to be the most important profession: with over half the population below 16 years of age and more than 30,000 schools to service, who can be needed more than a good teacher. In addition, education they say is the route to enlightenment, and if ever there was a downtrodden people who need enlightenment, Kenya is the place they inhabit. This is the predominant view from a grossly unequal society.