[two_third]Misheck Kariuki
Age: 17
Form 4 (Grade 12)
School: St. Augustine Secondary – Boarder
PA-MOJA Scholarship started: 2015 – Form 1 (Grade 9)
Sponsoring School: Windermere Secondary, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Misheck lives with his mother Elizabeth Nyaruai, on a small farm in Kijabe village in Laikipia East. His father left the family when he was a young child. He is the last born in a family of three. His 24 year old brother, Daniel Nduhiu, is a taxi driver and his other brother, Michael Ndung’u, is in Grade 12 at St. Augustine Secondary School.
Misheck’s mother was able to make enough money selling vegetables from her tiny plot to pay for Michael’s school fees, but she could not find enough for Misheck. Until PA-MOJA agreed to pay his school fees, Misheck faced a life as a farm labourer.
Misheck’s favourite subjects are Physics and Geography and his favourite teachers are his Geography teacher, Madam Caroline and his Biology teacher, Mr. Mathu. He loves them because they don’t favour some students over others and they spend extra time going over the course content.
If given a chance to make some changes in his school, Misheck would make computer lessons compulsory for everyone because he realizes the world is moving towards online learning.
Misheck has experienced a number of successes. Since he joined high school he has been performing well in athletics. This year he emerged number two in both athletics and badminton in the competitions held at the county levels. He has also been excelling in student leadership. In 2016 he was chosen as dormitory captain and 2017 he was promoted to be the school vice chair. He hopes to go to university and become an Engineer. He was motivated by James Kabuchwa, an Engineer and lecturer at Karatina University who visited his school and spoke passionately about his career.
The most important person in his life is his mother who has always been there for them even when his father left. She has taught him to be obedient, hardworking and respectful to everybody.
One of the major challenges Misheck faces during school holidays is a lack of time to study, especially when his mother is away and he has to look after the farm. He also has trouble finding the money for supplementary learning materials like books, pens and paper.
Misheck loves to read novels and plays during his spare time. His favourite play is Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Currently he is reading the Real Magic.
One thing he would like to change in his community is the way people think. Many community members don’t believe they can earn a living except through farming and livestock and don’t want to explore other opportunities.
Misheck has a message for his PA-MOJA donors: “I feel so blessed and honored to receive this scholarship from PA-MOJA. It’s my goal to prove to my donors that they didn’t make a mistake in choosing me. I will continue working my hardest to continue to achieve high grades. Asante Sana. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
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[one_third_last]
August 2018 Update
Misheck’s comment, June 2018 [/one_third_last]
