Empowering 37 Orphans Through Education in Kenya

My name is John and I was born in Kitui County.  I’m 26 years old. I am the youngest in a family of three. I am a beneficiary of Nyumbani Village. I lost my mum at the age of four.  I can hardly remember her, but I can remember 5 years later losing my dad. I was too young to understand what was going on, I did not understand the meaning of death. I remember at times I would ask my dad why other kids had a mother and I did not and he would just tell me that she went to heaven.  I have a few memories of my dad.  He was very hardworking, and he used to try his level best to provide us with basic needs. He was a loving father.

After his death we were left under the care of our elderly grandmother. I started to notice the change in our family.   My elder sister dropped out of school; my brother and I were in and out of school. We could no longer afford three meals a day we would have only one meal a day. The situation got worse and we could barely afford a meal a day. Most of our relatives were very poor and could not take care of us. I was forced to drop out of school and started working as a casual laborer at the age of 13. This was a very difficult moment for me, I felt like all my dreams of having a better life were crushed since I always knew that education was the way out of poverty.

One of my cousins was working in Nyumbani village as a casual laborer and she requested one of the social workers to visit our home and asses our situation. This was late 2007 when my cousin told me about Nyumbani Village and there was a possibility I could get admission there.  It was at that moment when my hope was restored and I started dreaming of going back to school again. In 2008 one of the social workers paid us a visit at my grandmother’s home and promised she would be back to pick me up.  Later in February 2008 I was admitted in Nyumbani Village and enrolled in Hotcourses primary school.  This was not easy for me because I was already eighteen years old, and my classmates were like 5 years younger than me.   I was the oldest in the class, but my dream for a better future kept me going.

In 2010 I joined Lawson High School and graduated in 2013.  During my stay in Nyumbani Village I developed a passion for agriculture.  After graduating from high school I was sure I wanted to pursue a course in Organic Farming. In 2014 I joined Kenya Institute of Organic Farming and graduated in 2015 October.  This was one the happiest moments of my life.  I was so proud of myself.  In November I started working on different farms on a short term basis.  This really helped me get a wider experience since each farm was unique, but I was still praying to get a permanent job. In January I went for an interview at an organization called IPM which has one of the biggest farms in Kiambu County and a week later I was informed that I had passed the interview and would gain employment.

I am now independent and love the work I do.  I am eternally grateful to all the donors who make GlobalGiving possible because I am a testimony that one should never despair or give-up on their dreams.  Through people of goodwill children’s dreams are turning into reality.