A Kenyan who found a prospectus from Manchester University in a rubbish bin says he is overjoyed to be receiving his Masters degree from there.
Sammy Gitau was initially refused a visa to attend the UK university as he had only two years of formal education.
He grew up in a slum district in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and from the age of 13 became his family's breadwinner after his father's murder.
He sold drugs and battled addiction before turning his life around.
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"It feels wonderful; it feels wonderful," Mr Gitau told the BBC's Network Africa about receiving the degree.
"It makes me look back and see myself, see those difficult times, and also, importantly, realise we have potential people in the slums.
"We have other people who are just like me."
Mr Gitau, 35, once came close to death after a drugs overdose and said it changed his life.
"After the drugs put me in a coma, I remember hearing hospital staff telling me I was going to die and when you are dying, you make a deal with God," he said.
"You just say, 'Get me out of here and I will do anything. I will go back and stop children going through the same kind of life as me.'"
He then began a project to help children in the slum where he grew up.
He came to the attention of European Union officials working in Kenya who helped him apply to the University of Manchester's School of Environment and Development.
"I found it humbling to teach Sammy - it really is a remarkable achievement," the University of Manchester's programme director Pete Mann said.
Mr Gitau says he will continue to direct his education and his energies at improving life for others in Mathare slum.
(BBC)
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