December 2019 Update
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Name: David Kimani
Age: 20 years
Form:3 (Grade 11) – January, 2019
School: Nanyuki Boys’ High School – Boarder
PA-MOJA Scholarship started: 2008 – Standard 2 (Grade 2)
Sponsoring School: Langley Fine Arts School, Langley, BC, Canada.
David’s relationship with PA-MOJA started in 2008 when members of the PA-MOJA team met his grandmother, Mary, and her six grandchildren at their home in Mai Mahiu, Rift Valley. David is the eldest in a family of six which includes three brothers and two sisters. David is a Kikuyu, one of the 42 tribes found in Kenya. He loves the tribe’s traditional dances, food and cultural ceremonies.
The family lived in extreme poverty and the children had not been enrolled in school. David was then ten years old and was responsible for many of the chores that kept the family alive. The children were severely malnourished, and they all crowded together in one small bed in the two room shack. They had no electricity or running water so David and his older siblings regularly had to walk 5 kilometres each way to the community water well.
David doesn’t remember his mother well because she left when he was very young. She returned to their home whenever she was pregnant, but would leave soon after giving birth. This continued until she gave birth to the youngest, Mary, after which she left and never returned. Only David and Joseph, the second eldest brother remember their mother. The other four were too young to comprehend what was happening and were raised to believe their grandmother, Mary, was their mother. None of the children have met their father.
The six children were left under the care of Grandma Mary who had to till other people’s land to earn enough income to buy just enough cabbage and beans to survive. The area they lived in had suffered years of drought so they couldn’t grow food. The few dollars Grandma Mary earned left no money to pay their school fees so the kids were often sent home thus leaving major gaps in their learning.
In 2011, PA-MOJA helped Grandma Mary and her six grandchildren move to the town of Nanyuki. They moved into a rental house in the community of Baraka where they experienced electricity and running water for the first time in their lives. Grandma Mary’s niece Phyliss, her husband, Justice, and their 3 children joined them soon after.
PA-MOJA arranged for all six children to attend Mount Kenya Baptist School, where they would receive the attention they needed to catch up on their studies. Mount Kenya was the only school in the community that would accept the children because they were so far behind both socially and academically. The youngest sibling, four year old Mary, was too young to live at a boarding school, and twelve year old David was too old. However, the school’s house mother, Helen Mbugua, agreed to spend extra hours with the children, teaching them how to fit into their new structured lives that included regular meals, academic classes, extracurricular activities, and a wide range of rules that go along with living in a boarding facility that caters to children from wealthier backgrounds. PA-MOJA hired extra tutors to help the students catch up; however, in Kenya, students cannot skip grades so twelve year old David began as a Grade 2 student.
David says he and his siblings are now settled and happy. Through hard work and commitment David caught up, then surpassed most of his classmates to become one of the top students in his school. His grades in Grade 8 earned him a rare position in one of only 114 national schools in Kenya. He is currently a Grade 9 student at the prestigious Nanyuki National High School. David’s favourite subjects are Physics, English, Biology, History and Mathematics. His favourite teacher is his Physics teacher, Mr. Nderitu, because he is very passionate and approachable.
He continues to achieve top marks which he hopes will earn him a government sponsored position in university. If given a chance to change his school, he would encourage students to be more appreciative of their education. At 19, he is the oldest boy in his class. He is not bothered by this as he remembers where he came from and where he wants to go. His dream is to attend university and become an architect.
In his spare time, David likes to play soccer, read and visit friends. He also participates in community service activities. He regularly joins his church youth group in visiting children’s homes in the community. Through PA-MOJA, David also cooks meals for needy children.
Grandmother Mary, now in her 80’s, continues to live in a rental home with her niece. During school holidays (3 one-month holidays a year), David and his siblings live with their house mother and guardian, Helen Mbugua, at the Baptist School. Occasionally, they stay with their grandmother but the living conditions are challenging because the house is small and there are not enough beds.
He thanks God for PA-MOJA’s intervention. When asked where he thinks he and his siblings would be if PA-MOJA hadn’t come to assist them, he replied bluntly but honestly: “I am sure we would have ended up as street kids. Some of my siblings would have already been dead and considering HIV in Mai Mahiu is the highest in Kenya, my sisters would have contracted the disease through rape or else they would have started working as commercial sex workers to earn the living. As for my grandmother, I’m sure she would be dead by now because of the stress.”
David has a message for his PA-MOJA donors: “I would like to thank PA-MOJA and all the donors for this scholarship. From my story it is evident neither my siblings nor I would have gone to school without this support. I can’t imagine what our lives would have been like. I pray to God to continue blessing you and your families for the support you have extended to us. You have played a huge role in moulding me and my siblings and I will be forever grateful.”
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[one_third_last] Christmas Greetings, August 2018 Update,David’s comment June 2018 [/one_third_last]
