Daniels Family Sustainable Energy Foundation

Students of Sunflower Primary and Secondary School following a lesson in a makeshift classroom, Western Kenyan.

Photo: Sigrid Vestergaard Frandsen

This school is not unique. Tens of thousands of children across Kenya attend classes and even live in similar makeshift structures, where temperatures regularly soar past 395°F (35°C), especially during the dry seasons. Several US studies have found that cumulative heat exposure decreases the students' productivity.

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At such high temperatures, our body needs more energy to cool itself down and, if humidity is also high, the body simply loses its ability to cool itself efficiently by sweating. As a result, we have less energy available for mental tasks and that ultimately leads to reduced attention, longer reaction times and dehydration. In November 2024, UNICEF reported as many as 460 schools in Kenya have no water source and more than 1,800 schools rely on rainwater collection, an unreliable water source.

Photo: Sigrid Vestergaard Frandsen

Back in the makeshift classroom, temperatures rose even higher as the day progressed. A teacher fanned himself with a school notebook and stopped every so often to wipe his face with a handkerchief. The sweat was dripping from our bodies, my clothes started to stick and I wondered if it wouldn't have been much better to sit in the yard under a big tree.

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The building's structure itself amplifies the effect of the sun, with metal roofs radiating and accumulating heat much like an electrical oven does. Unfortunately, this is the most common and economical way to construct buildings in the developing world.

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Temperature anomaly map of Africa for last summer. Source: Climate ReAnalyzer, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine.

As countries like Kenya are starting to industrialise and urbanise, the demand for cooling is bound to skyrocket. If left unrestricted, this will likely lead to millions of new air conditioning units, and without clean energy or sustainable designs, that means massive carbon emissions, as most African countries rely on fossil fuels for limited electricity production. More air conditioning is not a solution to the problem here. In the US, air conditioning make up 32% of national energy consumption, and that's not a sustainable model for developing countries that do not have the infrastructure to support it.

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Climate data shows that the region where our primary and secondary schools are located has warmed by 3.6ºF (2°C) in the last few years and that's only the most recent increase. While this is already staggering, other regions across Africa are heating up even faster, with some experiencing changes up to a scorching 7.2ºF (4°C) in the Sahel, Sahara (MENA district overall), and Congo.

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These numbers aren't just abstract data points. They're the reason that this classroom — like many others — feels like an oven, and the reason many people migrate away from heat-ravaged regions toward Europe and other Western countries.

The heat is more than enough to dramatically alter the comfort and safety of indoor learning spaces covered with the ubiquitous metal roofs. And the sad truth is, this is just the beginning. Heat is not abating, and emissions are increasing in a vicious carbon cycle relying ever more on high-energy consumption. We need to avoid a future where millions rely on AC and where climate change accelerates even faster. Solutions exist. They only require the will to implement them.