The BBC Swahili Service initially intended to bring together school-going children and non-school-going children in East Africa. Due to the difficulty of finding non-school-going children, the service changed the focus of the broadcast. This page reflects the original proposition.

Click on the links below to read more about the children.

Olympic Primary School is known for its exemplary academic performance.

Kenya's government declared free primary schooling for all in 2003

This contrasts sharply with the school's immediate environment - the sprawling slum area of Kibera where thousands of residents live on barely a dollar a day.

Yet there is another irony about this government-run school established in 1980.

It does not only serve children from a poor background but its academic prowess attracts even the richest in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

When the government declared free primary education in 2003 the school was swamped by thousands of parents seeking admission for their children.

The rush degenerated into a near riot as some parents could not secure one of the 1,800 places. Under immense pressure, the school's administration buckled and allowed 600 more students, severely stretching resources.

The overcrowding in the classrooms is now apparent. Desks meant for two are shared by three pupils.

The same goes for textbooks and other learning implements.

Good performance aside, it is a tale of survival against all odds at the school.

There are hundreds of needy children in Olympics primary school, even though it receives help from a couple of organisations including Unicef as well as the UK Government.

Last year, it was visited by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown who wanted to see for himself the free primary education programme initiated by the Kenyan Government.

However times are changing and with the school having to bite off more than it can chew, it remains to be seen if it will remain the academic high-flier it has always been.

Meet a pupil:

Orphan Reagan, 14
Reagan lives with his uncle and eight other siblings close to the school. When lunch is served at school, which most days is a mixture of maize and beans - locally known as githeri - Reagan stashes some away for his siblings.

Overcrowding means that desks meant for two are shared by three

''I take it to my siblings at home. I normally share with the youngest ones since the rest can fend for themselves.''

Reagan has one set of school clothes to take him through the five days he attends school.

''I don't share my problems with anyone in the school compound - no-one asks me,'' he said.

From his extended family's mud-walled single room deep inside Kibera, Reagan gets up early to be at school on time. And he also knows that he has to return home early to help with chores.

Reagan wants to become a doctor when he grows up.

Deep in the heart of southern Tanzania, the Bulongwa Primary School experiences a similar problem in that there is a division between those who go to school and those who don't.

Children at Bulongwa Primary School

Makete has the highest infection rate of HIV in the whole of Tanzania.

While the national average is about 6%, Makete has a record high of 18%.

Out of the area's population of 100,000, a fifth of them are orphans due to the Aids pandemic.

Bulongwa Primary School has 262 pupils below the age of 16 and 117 of those are orphans.

It is common to meet a 12-year-old child left to fend for a number of siblings and the elderly.

These children are faced with the stark choice of going to school or looking for a source of income - however risky - to cater for their dependants.

During the Swahili Service programme Makete orphans who have continued schooling and those who have abandoned school altogether will be sharing their experiences.