Alfred Hunge: From School Dropout to Fashion Entrepreneur & Community Trainer
In the winding wooden walkways of Makoko, where the lagoon mirrors the changing sky, a 12-year-old boy once sat quietly by a stall of assorted goods-biscuits, sachet water, tiny household items-calling out to passing buyers. His name is Alfred. He had dropped out of school in Primary 4, and for nearly a year, street-hawking had become his classroom. Education felt distant, almost impossible, buried beneath the weight of economic survival.
But in 2015, everything changed.
On one of Slum2School Africa’s earliest community outreaches, a volunteer noticed the boy with bright eyes and a hesitant smile. He asked Alfred if he wanted to return to school. The question hung in the humid air-unexpected, almost unbelievable. But Alfred nodded. And that moment became the beginning of a journey that no one, not even he, could have predicted.
A Second Chance at Learning
Alfred was enrolled at Adekunle Primary School, where he completed his primary education and transitioned into junior secondary school in 2014.
Slum2School provided school fees, uniforms, learning materials, routine check-ins, and small stipends that kept him in school and reduced the pressure to hawk.
And, for the first time in years, Alfred had the freedom to simply be a child, one allowed to learn, dream, and grow.
Inside the classroom, something awakened. He discovered a natural affinity for mathematics, business studies, and accounting. Numbers made sense to him. Ideas about money, trade, and enterprise lit a spark he didn’t know he carried. He completed his Junior WAEC with impressive marks, fueling a newfound confidence.
Setback, Resilience, and the Fight to Stay in School
In 2017, as he prepared to sit for his SS1 promotional exam, Alfred fell seriously ill. He missed several exam days. During a routine visit, the Slum2School team found him weakened but determined. He was rushed to get proper care and, despite the odds, regained enough strength to write the remaining papers. He passed. He moved to SS2.
It was a quiet victory, but one that proved to Alfred that he had something powerful within him-determination.
During these years, he began experimenting with his brother’s sewing machine. It started as playful curiosity but quickly became something more. As he learned to stitch fabric into shape, he realized he had another passion-fashion design.
The Pandemic That Redirected His Future
By 2020, Alfred was preparing for WAEC when the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. Schools closed, exams were postponed, and uncertainty clouded the dreams of millions of young people.
But Alfred saw opportunity.
He poured himself into fashion, training under a local tailor, practicing “from Monday to Sunday,” as he would later proudly say. He stayed committed to his academic goals, but he began to build something else: skill, identity, and a craft of his own.
He wrote his WAEC when the exams finally resumed. His results weren’t the best, but he didn’t give up. With eleven years of support from Slum2School behind him, he understood one truth: education is not a straight line. It’s a ladder you climb at your pace.
So he kept climbing.
Becoming a Fashion Entrepreneur
In March 2023, Alfred officially launched his small fashion business-a bold move for a young man in Makoko. His dream wasn’t just to make clothes; he wanted independence, stability, and a pathway to further his education.
And then, another turning point.
That August, during a meeting with Slum2School graduates awaiting university admission, Alfred mentioned his fashion skills. It happened to align with something incredible: Slum2School had just opened a fashion factory inside the new Innovation Hub, designed to produce school uniforms for children across the country.
Alfred was selected to lead the first team of six trainees.
He became a teacher, mentor, and model of what education-fueled empowerment looks like. Not only did he train Slum2School beneficiaries; he extended his knowledge to young people in Makoko who were desperate for skills and opportunity.
The boy who once hawked goods to survive now stood as a community educator, passing on what he had gained.
A Vision Bigger Than Himself
In 2024, Alfred sat for his GCE exams and passed. But his dreams had since expanded beyond numbers and tailoring.
His vision now is to:
- Study entrepreneurship
- Build a fashion enterprise that competes nationally and globally
- Establish a training academy for young Africans
- Create economic opportunities in communities just like Makoko
For Alfred, education opened a whole new world. And he intends to keep it open for others.
Beyond the Classroom, Beyond the Odds
Today, Alfred is no longer the boy selling biscuits by the waterfront.
He is an entrepreneur.
A trainer.
A future leader.
A testament to what becomes possible when a child is given not just access to school, but access to belief, support, skills, and a community that refuses to give up on him.
His life is proof of a truth we witness every day at Slum2School Africa:
When you educate a child, you go beyond changing their future-you ignite a transformation that ripples across families, communities, and generations.
