Matata is a daring young boy who believes that success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. He is the last born in a family of four. His parents are unemployed and largely depend on subsistence farming, which has been negatively affected by frequent severe droughts. Most of the rural roads in his village are very impassable and this has pushed him towards achieving his dream of becoming an engineer. Since Matata was a young boy, he has always liked playing football not only at home but also in school and he was the goalkeeper for his school team.

Fiona is the last born in a family of three. She lives with both her parents who are casual labourers. Her mother had a major surgery on her left hand in 2020. This made them sell part of their property to take care of the medical bills and thus reducing their income significantly and again making it very difficult for them to take care of the education bills of their children. Fiona drew her inspiration to pursue success from her Math teacher and she aspires to be a civil engineer to make contributions in the development of infrastructure in her village.

Enoch comes from a humble family of two and he is the first born child. His parents are unemployed and depend on casual jobs to sustain their family and thus unable to raise his secondary school fees. Despite staying home for most of the time throughout his primary education due to lack of school levies, his dream to become a mechanical engineer has kept her focused. Enoch has seen a number of people in his area struggle too much when their machines and engines break down and there is no one to help repair them. He would also like to help the needy and poor families support their children in becoming better persons in the future. His hobbies are drawing and taking photographs. He holds on to the quote that says the road to success is not straight.

Anthony is the third-born child in a family of four. He lives with both his parents who are casual labourers and are struggling to cater for the needs of their family. He loves drawing and he looks forward to pursuing a career in electrical engineering.

Davis is the second born in a family of six. He completed his primary school education and passed very well in his national examinations. His parents deserted the family and he and his siblings are currently living with their aged grandmother who is unable to work. Davis is a determined young boy who wants to be a meteorologist to fulfill his desire of understanding the earth’s atmospheric phenomena as well as uplift his family from poverty. The encouraging words from his grandmother have propelled him to pursue his dreams and he believes that there is light at the end of the tunnel. He likes playing football during his free time.

Purity is the first-born in a family of two. She has been staying with her grandmother who is struggling to cater for her needs. Her mum and dad separated and her mum went to source a livelihood in town and has never returned for the past five years. Purity is however determined and she believes that education will set her at a better place to break the poverty cycle in her family. She believes in being hardworking, committed, patient, kind and focused. She would want to be a pilot when she grows up.

Stephen is the first born in a family of four. He lives with his parents who are financially struggling since they lost their casual jobs during the pandemic. He loves drawing and watching action movies and he would love to be a pilot when he grows up.

Anna is an uninhibited girl who believes that there is a price for working hard. She is the last born in a family of three; two sisters and one brother. She lives with her parents who are not employed. Anna has been working hard and has always remained focused towards achieving her goal of becoming a lecturer at the university. She wants to end poverty in Kenya by teaching and transferring skills to students at the university in different fields. She is a fan of reading novels about real life situations and how to overcome them.