WHILE the G8 summit leaders were focusing their minds on Africa, the world lost a man whose inspiration and dedication made poverty history for thousands of young Kenyans.

In 1959 Geoffrey Griffin rescued a handful of destitute boys, found roaming the streets of Nairobi. It was the time of the Mau Mau freedom fighters, when orphan children, forced to flee ravaged homes in the countryside, headed for the city. From this simple action grew the Starehe Boys’ Centre, an institution that became one of the most successful schools in Kenya, if not in all of Africa.

Geoffrey William Griffin was born in 1933 in Eldoret, Kenya, the son of an English police officer, who went to serve in Kenya in 1919, and an English mother, born in India. Griffin was educated in Kenya and there gained an interest in the Scout movement. He formed his school’s first troop and later qualified as Kenya’s first King’s Scout. When he left school he became a cadet for training in the Survey of Kenya.

When the State of Emergency was declared in 1952, Griffin enlisted in the Special Police Reserve and was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion of the King’s African Rifles as a second lieutenant. But after 14 months he became sickened by the brutality of the struggle, and increasingly impressed by the justice of the rebels’ cause. When his commission expired he returned home, a soldier no more.

He joined the Kenyan Civil Service, and in 1964-98 he was the founding director of the National Youth Service. Starehe started in two tin huts, donated by Kenya Shell and BP. The early days of the centre were extremely difficult, with the country in turmoil and suspicion rampant over the “criminals” in Griffin’s care. For a short time he even lost his government job — the only source of income for the school.

Griffin was, however, skilled at attracting support. Save the Children was an early supporter and when in 1971 its president, Princess Anne visited the school, it was her first overseas visit on behalf of the fund. The visit was filmed by Blue Peter, the BBC children’s programme, which later raised £3,000 for the school. Through its sponsorship programme, Save the Children was able to pay for the education of thousands of boys.

In 1990 Griffin and his school joined the Round Square organisation. Starehe’s value to the community was proven during flash flooding in Nairobi, in which the school’s boat service saved many lives. Many Starehe boys spend their holidays in the bush, helping in small medical clinics, and none of them lose the sense of belonging to Starehe. When the Olympic athlete Paul Ereng won gold in the 800m event in Seoul, he asked to have his medal presented to him again, in front of his school, by his revered headmaster and “father”.

Griffin’s work brought much recognition, including an honorary doctorate from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, in 1997. Upon hearing of his death, the Kenyan Parliament finished its business so the Deputy Speaker could pay tribute to Griffin.

The two original huts still stand at the centre of Starehe School, now a beautiful campus with hall, chapel, library, dormitories and classrooms. Three quarters of the 1,056 boys are paid for by sponsorship from around the world. Griffin lived to see his other long-held dream realised — the founding of the Starehe Girls’ Centre in 2004. In School Mastery (1994) Griffin writes: “It is not enough to give shelter, food and medical care to a poor boy unless one also educates him to stand on his own feet in life.”

Griffin’s funeral, a joyful procession of more than 15,000 Kenyans, was attended by the Kenyan Prime Minister, Mwai Kibaki. Griffin never married.

Geoffrey Griffin, OBE, headmaster, was born on June 13, 1933. He died on June 28, 2005, aged 72.