She has two sets of grandparents who she stays with. The family is very poor. She also has four sisters.

Carolyne is the third born child in a family of six. Two of her sisters have been sick since childhood they have never been enrolled in school due to their health conditions. Carolyne's father is a casual laborer while the mother stays at home to take care of the sick children. The medical treatment of the children has depleted all the family resources and they have to depend on the mercy of well-wishers. Carolyne has faced many challenges. Many times she slept hungry without food but was always looking forward to being in school as there was a free lunch served (thanks to the school feeding program supported by a charity organization). Carolyne was determined and worked hard and excelled. Carolyne wants to be a doctor in future to treat people whom suffering (just like her two sisters) and improve the health of the people in Kenya.

"In previous years my parents managed to borrow some books for me, like text books. Uniforms and fees were problems. Sometimes the teachers had to send me home until I could get the school fees from my parents. In my family we are 5 children, 1 boy and 4 girls. I live with both of my parents, and we are not well off. But they struggle in other ways to get educated. My plan in academics is to always achieve above a B. And even after school I want to be a doctor, because that is what I dream of for my career. My imagination in 10 years is that I want to be a good and successful person so that I can help others."

João was born in Sofala province. He is a playful and smiling boy with many interests. He likes to play with friends in the same neighborhood. His father died in 2012, victim of illness. In life, he was selling products at the local market. After some time, his mother remarried, but the current husband pays no attention to his stepchildren. He is making little jobs as a driver here and there and he only provides food for the whole family with his low income, while the mother plants rice to help her husband with the household expenses. As there is no money to support the school expenses for the stepchildren, João hardly can fulfill his dream of becoming a teacher.

Lilian's father works as a sugarcane cutter. Her older brother is in High School and his school fees are pair by her uncle. The rest of Lilian's siblings are in primary school where her parents struggle to raise the fees required at the school. In Primary school Lilian had attendance problems as she was regularly sent home because she couldn't afford the fees She also regularly ate only one or two meals per day. Now she does not need to worry about being sent home or missing meals. The only thing that is on her mind is working hard so she can achieve the grade required to study medicine and become a doctor. "Wema can uplift the lowly and give them fair education field to make them someday be able to help more of the disadvantaged." -Lilian.

I am the second born in a family of six people. I got 319 marks in my primary education. Throughout my primary level it has been difficult for my parents to provide school fees. Sometimes it took me almost a week staying out of school due to lack of school fee and the issue of books and uniforms was still a problem for my parents to afford. My parents do casual work and the little they get cannot be enough for our sustainability. The environment in which we are living is very unfavorable because you need to do a lot to become who you want to be in life. My dream began when i started watching the teacher carefully when teaching to get the tips on how the body language works. When I asked the teachers on how to be a teacher, some were mean and refused to show me the way. Now I am glad and thank SHOFCO for giving me the opportunity to continue with my education and become a teacher in the future.

Clinton’s mother works as a casual laborer, and she has struggled to pay all the family’s expenses. He was sometimes sent home for lack of school fees. Clinton dreams of having a better future, and believes he can achieve this dream through becoming a pilot. He not only wishes to see different parts of the world, but he also hopes that by securing a decent living, he can support his siblings and his mother.

Antony attended a free-education primary school, which provided him with a uniform and books. His family situation has been incredibly unstable because his father has been suffering from an unidentifiable mental illness and his mother is the only breadwinner of the family. Over the past years, she has been using much of her meager incomes to take his father to the hospital. Antony is a strong student and despite all his obstacles, he hopes to continue working hard in his school work.

My name is David Oduor Ogolla. I come from a very humble background in Kibera slum. My father is a juakali artisan (black smith) while my mother is a house wife. Both of their incomes aren't enough to support all the family requirements; but so far we have managed to remain a happy and focused family. Despite all the challenges in my family, I never lost concentration on my primary level academics at Olympic Primary School. Through my hard work I managed to score 359/500 marks, although I was aiming higher than that. With the good marks, I had no hopes to join any high school, not even the local ones in the slums because my parents were now concentrating on ensuring that my younger siblings are also educated through primary level. I put much concentration in my favorite sport (football) as I believed it would get me somewhere with no hopes of joining a high school. But a God sent scholarship opportunity came through Shining Hope for Communities at the right time and gave me a life time opportunity to attend secondary education at Orero High School. A big thank you to Shining Hope for Communities and all the cheerful givers. Through your effort my life and others' are going to change positively.