Alex Gitau Mukuria, 15, has been admitted to Ndururumo High School but he is worried about dropping out of school like his mother.
Gitau, who scored 380 marks in the 2022 KCPE exams, lives with his mother who is picking up the pieces after overcoming alcohol addiction in Free Area slums on the outskirts of Nakuru City.
“My mother dropped out of school in Class Seven. I hate that label of a school dropout. I’m worried that if I don’t get a sponsor, my education journey will head south. My mother has indicated she has no money to pay for my secondary school fees,” said Gitau.
Gitau, who is the firstborn in a family of two boys and two girls, said he has overcome many challenges including sleeping on an empty stomach and lacking supplementary revision materials and books.
“During school holidays, I was forced to join my mother to hawk boiled maize to supplement her income,” said Gitau.
Gitau reveals how he witnessed first-hand gender-based violence at home which saw his mother narrowly escape death in a toxic marriage.
“I was rescued by a Good Samaritan who took me to St Georges Grassland Primary School in Nakuru County. I thank Ms Mary Muthoni for making sure I did my Class 8. May God bless her so that she can help other poor children from Free Area slums,” said Gitau.
Added Gitau: “I want to study hard and pass KCSE exams and go to university and become a mechanical engineer. I appeal to well-wishers to assist me to achieve my childhood dreams and fight poverty.”
His mother Vivian Wambui, 30, offers laundry services and hawks boiled maize to earn a living.
“I get Sh300 on a good day to buy food. The school fees at Ndururumo High School is Sh27,500 for Term One while the whole year is Sh58,835 besides other expenses like uniform, bedding and books which amounts to more than Sh25,000,” said Ms Wambui.
She said she applied for Equity Bank Wings to Fly, KCB Foundation and Elimu scholarships but his son was disqualified.
“My son was disqualified because of a discriminatory clause which rules out poor pupils being sponsored in private schools by well-wishers from getting scholarships. My son was at Madaraka Primary School but a Good Samaritan sponsored him at a private school while I was recovering at an alcoholic rescue Centre,” said Ms Wambui.
