Empowering 37 Orphans Through Education in Kenya

My name is Bernard, born in a family of six, from Kenya.  My mother was a single mother.  However, she managed to raise her family with the little money she earned, working as a primary school teacher employed by the Board of Management of the school she was teaching.  Life was normal because all our basic needs were met and life was good.  She was a disciplinarian ensuring that we were all well mannered and taught us the importance of education. As a result, my siblings and I got good grades in school.

In the year 2008 my mother started ailing so she visited different hospitals often because of a wound that had developed on her foot that was not healing.  She was referred to different doctors each giving her more and more medications but the foot was not healing.  All this hospital visits and referral for more tests meant that the little resources she had were getting depleted fast.  Even after all the many different treatments there was no improvement and slowly by slowly, we watched as she became more sick, sad, helpless and depressed.  Eventually one doctor managed to diagnose her medical problem as cancer.  That meant that the hospital visits increased and the treatment was brutal while the bills kept pilling.  The worse part was when her employer had to let her go because she was unable to offer services because she was too sick.  With the loss of income, our life changed for the worst, from children who were well feed and cared for to children who had nothing to eat.  The situation was complicated by the fact that we could not even afford prescription medicines or painkillers for my mother who at the time was bedridden wasting away by the minute.  Looking at her you would read the desperation and hopelessness in her face as her life  faded away slowly.  I knew this because she cried a lot silently and when I asked her if she was okay, she always smiled and said yes.  The tough life continued to be part of our daily lives but we held on hope that mother would be well again.  However, all our thoughts and hopes were crushed when she passed away in 2010 leaving us orphans.  I remember that day like it was yesterday because I felt like I had been hit by a bus.  The devastation, hopeless and loneliness set in.  We cried for days because we felt like this was the end of our world.

At the time of my mother’s demise my eldest brother was in form two, our second born sister in class five, I being the third born was in class three, my brother in class two and the other two sisters in pre-unit.   Life was so dehumanizing since we had become a child-headed family.  Food started becoming a challenge so we started fetching water for people for a fee so that we could afford food.  This was not easy because the river was about 14km from home so you can imagine walking to and from carrying water cans on our backs.   We still felt fortunate because the school we were attending allowed us to study for free for one month after our mother's death. We were very grateful for this offer even though we did not know what would happen after the one month was over.  We were just glad that we could benefit by getting an education and be fed through the school feeding program where lunch is provided.  We had to quickly learn to survive on one meal per day which was not too bad.

Our joy was short-lived because after the month was over, we needed to either pay school fees or leave the school.  Obviously, we did not have any money for school fees so that meant that no more school and no more free food.  We were back to our situation of fetching water while watching miserably as our former classmates continued to go to school.  Sometimes we got help from people of goodwill who either knew our mother or heard our story and were moved to help by bringing us foodstuffs.  This became our life but deep down we were sad especially because we were no longer going to school.   We could at times hide out of shame when we saw our former classmates.

One morning we received some visitors from the church that we used to attend with our mother.  They said they had come to check on us and to see how we were coping.  They were sad to see how miserable our lives had become.  They talked at length with my brother wanting to find our why our relatives were not helping.  I do not know much about the conversation because all my brother informed us is that they promised they would come to get us and take us to a place where we could get an education.  That was enough to make us very happy so we started looking forward to the day.  It took a while but one Thursday afternoon as we returned from the river we saw a car parked in our compound.  We were overjoyed knowing that this was the day we would be rescued from the grip of poverty.

We boarded the vehicle and were taken to place known as Nyumbani Village located at Kwa Vonza.  While on the way we were assured that all our needs would be taken care of including being enrolled back in school.  To this day I cannot explain how I felt hearing such words.  I immediately felt that life was about to change for the better.  When we arrived, we were warmly received by those we found and food and clothes were immediately provided.  We were now staying in a place that had enough food, water, good clothes and also the school fees was no longer an issue for us to worry about.  We were taken through counselling and guidance to help us regain our confidence that had been shaken by the events in our lives.  The staff and grandparents who were staying at the Village supported us so much as we settled into our new life. 

We were all enrolled in schools which were in the compound.   I worked very hard in school because I did not want to squander this golden opportunity that had been presented to me after having gone through a lot of difficulties.  After siting my class 8 National exams I was admitted to Lawson High School which is also in Nyumbani Village.  I did not want anything to distract me from my studies so I concentrated and worked hard.  After four years, I graduated with a mean grade of B.  I was very happy when I received my results because I knew I had fulfilled my promise to myself to perform well.  I have already secured admission to a public university called Maasai Mara University.  I would have joined in September, 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic affected the school calendar.  In the mean time I am currently doing sales and marketing for a company called M-Kopa Solar Limited in Kitui so that I can be able to earn a few shillings as I wait for the university to open. 

I stayed in Nyumbani Village for 10 years and I am very grateful because they rescued my family from the jaws of poverty.  They cleaned us up and gave us an education and a good life.  I miss my mother but I thank God for bringing Nyumbani Village in my life.  They moulded me and gave me guidance and advise which has enabled someone like me to be able to dream of a bright future.  I am courageous and ready to face life in the outside world because of the care, love and support I received.

I am well aware that without the support of donors who give their funds generously to GlobalGiving, I would not be where I am today.  Without a good education, guidance and support I may have ended up becoming a criminal in order to take care of my needs.  The support GlobalGiving has given me has enabled me to undergo a tremendous transformation from a ‘nobody’ to becoming ‘somebody’, from a zero to hero.  Thank you for resurrecting my dreams and restoring my future that was fast fading away like smoke.