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Coronavirus in Kenya: How it turned classrooms into chicken coops
Joseph Maina has transformed the classrooms in his school. Credit: BBC

Coronavirus in Kenya: How it turned classrooms into chicken coops

Kenya's decision to close all schools until next January because of coronavirus has left many of its private schools struggling to survive, as Basillioh Mutahi and Mercy Juma report.

The classrooms at Mwea Brethren School, which once resonated to the sound of children learning, are now filled with a cacophony of clucking chickens.

On the chalkboard, maths equations have been replaced by a vaccination schedule.

Joseph Maina, who owns the central Kenyan school, has had to turn to nurturing animals to earn some money as he is no longer getting an income from providing an education.

'Vital for survival'

Things were especially tough in March, when all the schools were told to close, as he was still repaying a loan and had to renegotiate with the bank.

At first, it seemed that everything was lost, but "we decided that we must do something [with the school] for survival", Mr Maina tells the BBC.

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