Jacqueline Nyambura was only 12-years-old when her mother died in 2021.
Born with a rare disorder known as anorectal malformation—she has since undergone three surgeries to correct the situation.
In the process, she has become dependent of weekly medication that costs Sh5, 000 and when you would expect her to lament, she says “I am okay, in God I shall not lack, and it is the reason why I have come this far”.
As the second born in the family of three, she was closest her mum when she breathed her last.
“My elder sister is married, and our last-born brother was too young to understand that we were heading to becoming orphans,” she said.
Her mothers last words to her mother before she died were “I bless you… I will be watching over you. Work hard in your studies. It is the only hope you have”.
She added that “I leave you no money for school fees…not even a home you can call your own…but in God’s hands I leave you. You will become a doctor”.
And she died in August 2021, leaving her two children at the mercy of charity.
She awed mourners by her tribute.
“My mother was single… an evangelist and a gospel artist who taught me the secret of living. She has gone to rest with the Lord. We are left here crying and cursing,” she started.
“Our lives have to move on, and I refuse to cry rather I chose to appreciate and thank God that it was not me who died,” she said to the consternation of the mourners.
It was after the burial that it was decided on how the children would be shared out.
“Our sister being married took my brother under her care. I was adopted by an aunt…Missing my mum was real challenge. Being separated from my brother was also a challenge,” she narrates.
She started getting sickly and this affected her schooling.
“But remembering the words of my deceased mother about education made it a binding covenant…I tried my best, balancing between the tragedy, sickness and determination,” she narrates.
She dropped marks and this alarmed her…to her young mind, she did not know she was sinking into depression.
But she hanged on, loved the Bible, prayer and church.
“I gained friends of the faith, they comforted me and counselled me…I joined class 8, and it was the defining moment to make my late mum proud,” she said.
She soldiered on and when she says for her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams in December last year, she scored 353 marks out of the possible 500.
Her nightmare started to bite.
“With the sacrifice my poor aunt had taken by adopting me, she could not afford the Sh100, 000 that was required as budget to join the county school that admitted me,” she said.
She was ready to sacrifice her admission letter to join a locally based secondary school.
“But the budget was still prohibitive…I resigned to fate, asking the God of my late mum to do His will in my life,” she said.
And God started arriving in her life on February 14 when out of the blues a local media station arrived in her aunt’s home.
“The reporters told us that they had been tipped by a neighbour that I was stuck in joining secondary school. I was interviewed…my aunt too and we appeared on TV. I felt as though my mum had come back to life,” she said.
She says that in her sleep, her mum would appear and console her, assuring her that all would be well.
“On February 20 was the big day when I received visitors from Murang’a woman representative Betty Maina’s office. They announced that they were there to take me to school,” she reveals.
Everything moved so fast…she was chauffeured to a school uniform shop, then to general merchandise shops and to bookshops.
“By 11am, I was in class in Muthithi Secondary School where I will be a day scholar. There is a major reason why I cannot join a boarding school…” she revealed.
Ms Maina said “I will closely follow up on her education to make sure she hits her potential of being a neurosurgeon,” she said.
She has perfectly come to love herself saying that when not in school and not helping her aunt with domestic chores, she will be seen more in churches, youth groups and all manner of gatherings to preach the gospel of hope and self-acceptance, despite her age.
She told Nation.Africa that she considers herself among God’s chosen ones who will “become a senior doctor in this country and eventually become a powerful leader in my Murang’a County”.
She says her commitment will be to lessen suffering at the family unit level since she perfectly understands how frustrating it is to have a problem but with no solution at sight.
“If I were to let my life so far be the source of my smile, I would never smile. If I were to be rewarded riches with the easy times I have had with my life, I would be a miser. But thanks to God, I have learnt how to love and appreciate myself and I am my own hero,” she says.
She said she prays for all humans every night before sleeping that they develop optimism in a brighter future, aspire to always do the right thing and finding all the reasons to loving God.
