Physical Health Kenya Project #12442

Empowering 37 Orphans Through Education in Kenya

by Nyumbani

Project Report | Jun 12, 2019
Mercy's Paradise

By Mercy | Village resident

My name is Mercy and I was born in 1998 at Muusini Location in Makueni County. I am the third born in a family of five. Even though we were not well off, my parents could afford to meet our basic needs. We were happy and lived each day at a time. Things took a drastic turn in 2010 when both of my parents passed on leaving me orphaned at the tender age of 12. Our paternal grandparents took over the role of mummy and daddy to my siblings and me. Things were fairly okay for the first few weeks after the burial, but slowly life became difficult. My grandparents were very old and could barely work to fend for five of us. They struggled to take care of our basic needs. At times we went without food for a day or two and this affected not only our concentration in school but our attendance as well. Our school uniforms were also in tatters making us subjects of ridicule in our school. My performance in class really went down, and I started to give up on education. We majorly relied on handouts from well wishers, but we could not count on that to consistently take care of our basic needs. My siblings and I considered dropping out of school and looking for casual jobs to at least help put food on the table.

Things got worse when I started developing health complications and I required medical attention. My grandparents could barely feed us, thus getting medical treatment was impossible. Our aunts and uncles could do nothing to salvage our situation since they had their own families to fend for. I could not get the required medical attention and my health deteriorated. I eventually had to drop out of school. One day, we received a special guest who was a social worker and he promised to take us to Nyumbani Village. The visit brought us a glimpse of hope in the midst of misery.

After what felt like a decade, he surely came to pick us. I was overwhelmed with joy when 2 of my younger siblings and myself left my grandparents’ homestead for Nyumbani Village. I did not know what the Village looked like but I knew for sure I had gotten a chance to improve my life and future. At the Village, we were placed in a house under the care of a grandmother. We found a new family, brothers and sisters who we grew up with, schooled together and played together. We were supplied with basic needs, education, and I also got medical attention and my health improved drastically. We were no longer worried about where our next meal would come from, and as opposed to our tattered uniforms from before, we had a new set of uniforms and clothes as well. Nyumbani Village was like Paradise to us. It seemed like a dream come true.

I was enrolled in class six at Hot Courses Academy and later Lawson High School. In 2017, I sat my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and I qualified to join college. I am currently pursuing a Certificate in Early Childhood Education at Kibwezi Teachers Training College.

I remain indebted to Global Giving and Nyumbani for helping me get closer to realizing my dreams and hope for a brighter future. Words cannot explain how grateful I am to Nyumbani for giving me an opportunity to get access to education and health care. I do not know what would have become of me had I not gotten this opportunity at Nyumbani Village. On behalf of my siblings and my Nyumbani Village brothers and sisters, thank you very much! The sacrifice you made has changed my life. May the Almighty God bless you.

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Mar 15, 2019
Joshua's Opportunity

By Joshua | Nyumbani Village graduate

My name is Joshua. I was born in 1992 in a village called Miu in Kangundo, Machakos county. I am the second born of three siblings.

My parents then lived in Dandora, a slum located in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Due to the high levels of insecurity in the slum, we were attacked by robbers when I was only 7 months old. Unfortunately, my father who was the sole bread winner of the family sustained severe injuries leading to his demise.

My mother was left with a burden of taking care of 2 children on her own without any source of income. She would do casual labor and all kinds of odd jobs in order to put food on the table. Life in the slum was very hard. At that time, my mother was not in contact with our paternal relatives so she had to struggle on her own. To date, I do not have any memories of my father apart from the pictures that my mum showed me.

When I was 4 years old, my mother remarried and we had to move to Kitui. Life got better since my step-father supported us. We did not have a lot, but at least we were comfortable. In 2004, my mum found out that she was HIV positive. By that time, we already had a baby brother. The news of being HIV positive broke my mother’s heart and she felt betrayed. She opted to leave the marriage and take care of us by herself.

We then had to move to Kangundo, my mother’s rural home. Life was very difficult. My mother was depressed and did not adhere to her medication. She was constantly ill. She did not have access to proper health care and nutritional support. She developed health complications and later passed on.

My mother’s death felt like the end of the world to my siblings and me. Our maternal relatives did not want anything to do with us. We were young, helpless, stigmatized and left under the care of our aged grandmother who was then a peasant farmer. She could barely put food on the table let alone send us through school. We had to work in people’s farms and in return they gave us food. Clothing and education were not basic needs to us anymore. We would spend our days dressed in tatters and toiling in people’s farms while our age mates attended school. We really wished that we could at least have access to education, but we did not have any hopes of setting our foot in school anymore.

In 2009, a good Samaritan referred us to Nyumbani Village after she saw our suffering. I was 10 years old then, and luckily enough we were all admitted. That was the dawn of a new chapter in our lifetime. We were all given new clothes, food was no longer a luxury to us. In addition, we were enrolled in Hot Courses Primary School. All these were things I never thought I would have access to in my lifetime. I promised myself that I would work hard since this was once a dream to me. I managed to score 339 marks in my KCPE and was admitted to Lawson High School. In 2017, I sat my KCSE examinations and scored an aggregate mean grade of B-.

I am currently in my first year taking a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology at South Eastern Kenya University. To date, I describe my life as a miracle, I never thought I would come this far. I am very much grateful to GlobalGiving donors for trusting in me and empowering my life by giving me access to education. My first born sister who is also taking a degree course in Nutrition and Diatetics and myself reminisce on the days that we were so helpless and could not even dream of having an education, and really thank God for the opportunity that came our way. We are forever indebted to GlobalGiving and Nyumbani Village for the support. For now, I can only work hard so I can have a brighter future. I also aspire to support a needy child in future just like someone supported my life.

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Dec 17, 2018
A Village Family for Kyende

By Kyende | Nyumbani Village resident

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