August 2019 Update
Esther Waringa
Age: 17
Form 4 (Grade 12) – January, 2020
School: St. Jude Secondary – Boarder
PA-MOJA Scholarship started: 2017 – Form 1 (Grade 9)
Sponsoring School: Centennial Secondary School, Coquitlam, BC, Canada.
One of the happiest days of Esther Waringa’s life was the day she heard the news that she had earned the marks to begin Form 1 (grade 9) at St. Jude Secondary. Esther had worked extremely hard in primary school to earn the grades to take her to a good secondary school. Esther shared the good news with her grandfather and guardian, Sylvester Gichuki and her younger sister, Grace.
Esther’s life has not always been filled with good news. When Esther was 2 years old her mother died giving birth to her younger sister, Eunice. Esther’s father, Peter, was so distraught, he took his own life. The children stayed with their paternal grandmother for three years; however, she treated the children poorly. Esther remembers being constantly sick and was often admitted to the hospital.
Esther’s grandmother no longer wanted to take care of the children so one day she drove Esther, 5 and Eunice, 3 to a town called Nyeri and dumped them in the streets. Esther has only a vague memory of this terrible time and doesn’t remember how long the children were left to fend for themselves. Luckily, one of Esther’s aunts, Veronica, saw the children. She couldn’t take care of them because she was already caring for her brother’s children. She contacted the children’s maternal grandmother for help; however, she had recently passed away.
Eventually, the brother of the children’s maternal grandmother agreed to take them in. Sylvester Gichuki and his wife, Nancy Wahu, had their own three children but welcomed the children to their tiny farm beside a river.
The family struggled to support all 5 children. Esther was often sent home from primary school because of unpaid fees. She would miss lessons and fall behind but Sylvester would plead with the head teacher (principal) to keep her in school until he could work odd jobs to come up with the fees. Esther and Eunice lived with Sylvester and Nancy until Esther was in Grade 3. One day a local village women encouraged Sylvester to put the two girls in a new children’s home in the town of Meru which was run by a group of Swiss Catholic missionaries. The children’s home had its own school, St. Clare Girls School, so Sylvester felt this would be the best option for the children; they stayed there for six years.
“I don’t have good memories of this school,” says Esther. “My grandparents couldn’t afford the transportation costs to get us home during school holidays and when my grandparents visited they weren’t allowed to bring us anything. When we arrived at the start of the school year with a clean mattress and blankets for our dormitory, the teachers would take them away and replace them with old dirty ones. My grandfather often didn’t have the money to buy us school supplies or uniforms and for this we were shamed by the school’s administration. Finally the school demanded that we leave because of unpaid fees.”
Eunice and Esther returned to their grandparents’ small farm and enrolled in Lechugu Primary School, which was within walking distance of their home. Sylvester developed a good relationship with the head teacher who kindly allowed him to pay fees whenever he could. The children were never asked to leave the school despite unpaid fees. Esther finished Grade 8 at this school with solid grades.
Even though Esther’s grades earned her a position at a good high school, Sylvester did not have the money to pay the fees. Esther and her family were overjoyed when they heard they would receive a scholarship. “Without a PA-MOJA scholarship,” says Esther, “I would have had to quit school and do manual labour on the farm to help my family. I would soon have been pressured to find a husband to support me.”
Esther’s strongest subject is math. She dreams of being a pilot or flight attendant so she can see the world and learn more about the world’s cultures. She is particularly curious about Switzerland. Esther also loves English and reciting poetry.
From an early age, Esther has felt a deep sense of gratitude towards her grandfather and grandmother who have struggled as manual laborers to earn the school fees to educate her and her sister. “My hope is that one day I will make a good living so I can buy them a small farm and build them a small house. I owe them so much.”
Esther has a message for her PA-MOJA donors: “This is the start of a happy time in my life. Please give my heartfelt thanks to all the PA-MOJA supporters who are responsible for my scholarship. My grandfather is getting older and is finding it almost impossible to earn enough for my education. I will continue to work to achieve high marks to make it to university so that I can help my sister and grandfather. I pledge to make my grandfather and my donors proud.”
April 2019
Christmas Greetings, 2018
August 2018 update
Esther’s comment June, 2018