Ann Ranah April Update
[two_third]
Ann Ranah
Age: 18
Graduated Student – November, 2019
School: Gatero Girls High School
PA-MOJA Scholarship started: Form 1 (Grade 9)
Tribe: Maasai
Sponsorship: Private Donor
Ann lives with her mother, Eunice, and father, Jonathan, in the village of Ereri. Ann has six brothers and sisters. She is the third born. The family doesn’t own their house or land and are considered squatters in the community because they could be asked to leave at any time if the absent owner discovers they are living on his land. The whole family lives in a one room thatched roof house.
The first born son is studying for a diploma in community health at Kenya Medical Training College. His fees are partly paid by the community who put on a large fundraising event to assist the family. The second born son and fourth born daughter are both in high school and depend on scholarships from other organizations.
Jonathan earns 70.00/month at the Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy as a cattle grazer. Eunice earns 40.00/month working at a flower farm. During school breaks, Ann also works at the flower farm to contribute to her school fees and supplies.
The most important person in Ann’s life is her mother. Despite all the struggles the family has gone through, she still encourages her children to hope for the future and work hard every day.
Ann’s favorite subjects are English and Swahili. Her favorite teacher is her Swahili teacher because she encourages her to try to achieve her dream of being a journalist.
Ann describes the greatest challenge in her life: “In primary school, I was studying for my Standard 8 (grade 8) final exams. My family didn’t have enough money for school fees so I was sent home from school and had work on the flower farm for two weeks in order to earn the fees to go back to school. This was very stressful because I missed out on important lessons and study time. Despite many setbacks, I’m so happy I was able to earn the grades to go on to high school.”
If she has any spare time Ann likes to read and play with her younger siblings. When asked what she loves most about Kenya she said she appreciates how the community comes together to help each other. She is also proud that Kenya is one of the first countries to outlaw plastic bags. If she was in power, she would encourage people not to cut down trees in order to protect the environment. Although she loves many of the Maasai cultural traditions such as food, clothing, and dancing, she would outlaw Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Ann has a message for her PA-MOJA donors: “I want to say thank you so much to all the PA-MOJA donors. Without this scholarship, I could not have attended high school and would have faced early marriage and life as a local laborer. My goal is to go to university so I can earn enough to give the same opportunity to other needy students like me. Asante sana. Thank you so much.”
[/two_third]
[one_third_last]
[/one_third_last]
