From Milpitas to Kenya: Siblings bring STEM education to Nairobi students

Every Saturday morning for the past two years, a group of students in Nairobi, Kenya has gathered together in a classroom…

The 15 students, ranging from elementary to high school age, come together each week for a STEM education opportunity that is unusual in their neighborhood of Kibera, which is one of Africa’s largest low-income urban communities and is characterized by severe poverty.

Though the students are taking part in a STEM class, there is no teacher on hand to teach it. Instead, the students connect via Zoom to two young siblings from the United States – Eshaan Basu and Shriya Basu. 

Saturday morning is Friday night for Eshaan and Shriya, who live in Milpitas, California. And they’ve gotten accustomed over the past two years to meeting with these students and teaching them everything from coding to the periodic table.  

Eshaan, a sophomore from Milpitas High School (MHS), and Shriya, a 7th grader at Thomas Russell Middle School, serve as ambassadors for the nonprofit organization Education Empowers Inc., which aims to bring free STEM programs to thousands of students across the world annually. 

In 2019, the siblings both started taking online STEM classes with the organization; and in 2024, they decided to start volunteering to actually teach classes to other students. 

Anna Prakash co-founded Education Empowers in Arizona with her daughter nearly a decade ago. 

“I feel like it’s important for organizations like us to bring these programs to students,” said Prakash. “Not everybody wants to become an engineer, but even having an idea that such a thing exists and knowing these are the different routes one can follow…Our students are going into various fields – some become patent lawyers, or go into sports medicine, or archaeology. There are so many different possibilities.” 

This past summer, from July 29 to August 8, Eshaan and Shriya traveled to Kenya, along with both their parents, so that they could meet the students that they’ve been teaching remotely. 

“We wanted to be in their environment and see what they were doing,” said Eshaan. “It was very humbling. They don’t usually have much to do in Kibera. They’re trying to make the best with what they have there.”  

Shriya and Eshaan stayed in Kenya for about a week, giving them an opportunity to teach and bond with the students. 

Eshaan, who plays basketball for MHS, also got a chance to teach the students how to dribble and shoot three-pointers.

“One of the days, we went to the Giraffe Centre and got to feed giraffes,” said Shriya. “After that, we got lunch at KFC. Here in the U.S., going to KFC is nothing special. But there, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students.” 

Eshaan and Shriya hope to continue teaching and evolving in their work with Education Empowers. In the future, they’re thinking of volunteering at a remote school in West Bengal, India. Both of Eshaan and Shriya’s parents are immensely proud of the work they’re doing to teach and engage students.  

“Going out to Kenya was eye-opening for us, especially to see how little some people have,” said Subhadeep Basu, Eshaan and Shriya’s father. “Growing up in this country where everything is available has given Shriya and Eshaan the perspective of how lucky they are, and also tells them how important it is for them to give back.”