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About Joyce Aoko Aruga, Founder and Headteacher at Rossholme Education Centre

While I was living in the Mathare slum in 2010, I had the idea to start a pre-primary school, because I realized that people in the slum don’t value the importance of early childhood education. Most parents take their children to school at a very late age, which later has an affect on their ability to learn effectively.

After realizing the fact that preschool education is essential to overall school success and a sure means towards the improvement of the community’s economy and morality, I formulated an education and development policy to integrate a school in the formal preschool system and realize my dream of placing our community in the light of progress and power.

I was born in 1986 on Mageta Island in Lake Victoria. I started primary school in 1992, and finished in 2000.

In 2002, a former neighbor, who lived in Nyeri, asked my parents if I could work for his family as a house girl.

In 2003, I asked my employer if he would allow me to go to school, and he agreed, on the condition that I do house work without pay during the school breaks.

In 2004, I received a bursary which paid for the 1st and 2nd terms, and when the 3rd term started, I was sent home.

In 2005, I was accepted into Tumaini Children’s Home — and I attended Riamukuwe Secondary School.

In 2007, Tumaini paid for me to go to the Presbyterian Teachers College in Chogoria, and two years later, I received a primary school teaching certificate. Because of the help and love I received from friends and from Tumaini, I made a promise to myself that I would always help the poor, and that is what I’ve been doing since then. 

After graduating from teachers college in 2009, I taught in St. Clare Girls School in Meru. Then in 2010, I taught English and Kiswahili in Mcedo Primary School in Mathare — the second largest slum in Nairobi.

In 2014, I attended the BBC’s 100 Women Conference in London, and my life was changed! https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38335861

During the school breaks in April, August, and December, I took courses at Kenya Methodist University, with the help of Noroton Presbyterian Church. I graduated in July 2016 with an Education diploma and specialized training in primary education and counseling.

In August 2016, I used my small savings to found Rossholme Education Centre, located in the Kiambiu slum in Nairobi. There are 405 students enrolled for the 2023 school year, ranging in age from 3 to 14 years, and they were in Play Group, Middle Class, Pre-Unit Class, and Classes 1 thru 6.

In December 2017, Jacob and I married. He is now a government education supervisor in Nakuru. And we are the proud parents of a little boy named Doug, who is almost 4 years old. He goes to a school near our home, where he is in the Pre-school 1 class.

I thank God for everything. He has been my provider. He has been so faithful. I love what He says in Jeremiah 29:11 — about having good plans for us.

About Rossholme Education Center


Rossholme Education Center is a school located in the heart of Kiambiu slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The school aims at uplifting the educational standards of the children within the slum. The school cares for the needy and poor families as a way of giving them hope.

Rossholme Education Center aims at setting up a modern preschool based on current curriculum to create awareness on importance of early childhood education within the slum. This need inspired Joyce Aoko Aruga to lay the groundwork to explore this opportunity by founding Rossholme Education Center, which will help to prevent stunted cognitive development of the children and facilitating better future performance in school.

The school is focused on finding ways to stop school drop-outs, instill good values in all of our students, and fight tribalism to inspire them to become good citizens.