When Winnie was a young girl, she liked school, and did well in her classes. But her family was poor and struggled to pay her school fees. Even in her first semester of school, it was obvious to her principal, John Muchiri, that Winnie was a dedicated and committed student. Winnie left to go home for her school holiday after second semester, but she did not return to school. At this point, Winnie was 15 years old. Muchiri knew immediately that something must be wrong so he called the police and asked them to come with him to Winnie’s home. It turned out that Winnie had been married by her parents to a elderly local man and was to be his second wife.
When John Muchiri found Winnie, he asked her if she wanted to abide by her parents’ wishes and stay with her husband and his family, or go back to school. Even though underaged marriages are illegal in Kenya, Muchiri wanted to make sure it was the right decision for Winnie. If she decided to go back to school, she would be going against her family’s wishes for her to be married and because of this, her community might shun her.
Without hesitation, Winnie said she wanted to return to school with Principal Muchiri. Mr. Muchiri knew that his family would embrace having Winnie stay with them during the school holidays but he also knew that he could not afford to pay for her school fees. This was at the time that the partnership with OPC and PA-MOJA was starting and so Mr. Muchiri reached out to OPC, explained Winnie’s story, and asked for a scholarship for her. Thus, Winnie became PA-MOJA’s first scholarship student. With the encouragement from Principal Muchiri and the support from PA-MOJA, Winnie was able to finish her education, and attend university. She graduated as a computer scientist and now owns her own technology business in Nairobi and is also a certified International software tester. Winnie has two children and is enjoying the life that she has built for herself.
“Without the support from Principal Muchiri and PA-MOJA, my life would be very different today.” Winnie Wamuyu
