I am a girl aged 13 years old, hard working and dedicated to my studies. I went to Olympic Primary School and managed to score 400 marks . I am staying with my family: father, mother and my three sisters. My father is a casual worker while my mother runs a small grocery kiosk. We live from hand to mouth due to low income from both my parents. I am a girl who believes that being poor is the state of mind and not permanent because good attitude and hard work can help change my life. While at work, my mother had her fellow group members talking about the scholarship from SHOFCO and then she helped me to apply. After confirmation that I was successful as one of the beneficiaries I am really thankful to the almighty God because He's great.

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.

I went through my primary education at Palm Olive Academy and managed to score 356 out of 500 marks. In our family we are six members after divorce between my mother and father. My mother has been taking care of us ever since. She works as a casual laborer within Kibera community and supports us with the little that she earns. Sometimes it is so hard for my mother to feed us because the father is not offering any supporting. Due to life challenges, I have faced life head-on and determined never to give up in life and one day fulfill my dream of becoming a lawyer after receiving the scholarship. Thanks to SHOFCO and may God bless you.

Am the second born in the family of three. My elder sister is in secondary school and the third born is class five. Mother is a housewife and my father is working in a security firm. I am hard working in class and generally my academic performance is above the average with an aim of competing with other students. My dream of becoming an air craft engineer always motivates me in everything that I want to do.However, the situation sometimes gets harder when it come to paying my school fees since my father's income is too little. I believe there is no permanent poverty unless you don't want to overcome the poverty state. My life was like a mountain range with its highs and its lows, but like any mountain I walked past the lows with struggle but I still made it. With my mother and father working too hard I took upon myself to protect my sister from all the bad men who would take advantage of her. Between chores and keeping my sister safe I was very busy. I thank SUN for this chance to improve my life.

My mother died when I was still young. We were left with my father, who later married a second wife and decided not to provide for us proper education and food. My late mother's sister took care of my siblings and me. She was just a job hustler and nevertheless she agreed to move on with us. She took me to a primary school and I was able to score good marks to progress to a national high school. When my aunt heard about the scholarship from her group members, she encouraged me to apply for the chance, after which i was successful as one of the scholars of the SHOFCO program. Both my aunt and I are so grateful to the SHOFCO families and wish them long life.

For years my father had been the bread winner of the house. In 2012 when he was killed I was in standard four but after that day I dedicated most of my time to helping my mother with casual labor. Every moment I was not able to attend school regularly. My mother started to wash clothes and sell dagaa [omena] to people for her to buy food. Mother always does her best but still it's not enough to balance with school fees. I thank SHOFCO for the opportunity to further my studies.

I come from a family six and all my family members lives in Kibera. Life here is tough but as a family we have managed to hold together and stay focused. I managed to score 360 out of possible 500 marks which enabled me to be one of the successful Shofco scholarship applicants beneficiary. This enabled me to join Kabare Girls High School to fulfill my dream of being a judge and follow my passion for handball and music. I am so thankful to this program that touches the heart of children who do not have the school fee support.

I was born in August 2004 and am the last born in a family of 5. My family has lived in Kibera for more than 20 years. My primary school education hasn't been easy because my parents are casual labourers with inconsistent earnings. Without letting my past affect my future destiny, I did focus and scored a total of 357 out of 500 marks at Three Bells School. With too much hope of going to a good high school and becoming a better person in the society, I've always been focused on my academics, which is funded by Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), an organization that has become a light giver to the helpless and the needy children in the urban slum. Apart from my struggling parents who are really working hard to educate my other siblings, I am always grateful to Shining Hope for Communities and everybody supporting my education for the kind heart they've got. I will always work hard to make them proud. I enjoy attending community workshops and youth forums that seek to empower the community.

In our family we are seven people; father, mother my siblings and me. My father is a casual labourer and my mother is a housewife. We always survive with the little income that my father is getting. It's always challenging more so when we are sent home every now and again for school fees. Teachers have been very supportive to my side .The relatives too have been giving support but couldn't do enough. It even sometimes forces us to engage myself in casual jobs to help me support my parents. I usually feel like a parent since my parents are away working and I am looking after the other children. I work hard to keep my siblings fed. I became a star pupil after becoming no.1 in my school. I thank SUN, especially Kennedy and Jessica and Hillary, for this scholarship opportunity.