Poverty has affected my family social life, with my parents strugglling to gain financial stability to meet our daily basic needs. Meeting basic need such as clothes, rent and food has been very difficult. My parents have suffered more than enough debts to feed us, of which nobody is willing to offer any support. When I mentioned to the neighbours that my dream was to be a doctor or a lawyer they laughed at me. One day when the scholarship chance arose, my hope of becoming a doctor also came true. Thanks to SHOFCO for granting me this golden opportunity to shine and help my neighbours and community in the future.

I have been staying with my mother after she got divorced with my father. This forces my mother to take care us without any support from my father. My mother being the only bread winner, works as a housekeeper everyday. She fights hard to put food on the table, which sometimes is not easy to manage feeding the five of us. My mother always prays for us everyday so that we receive blessings. I got lucky after applying for the scholarship program for less fortunate children in Kibera. My hope is to become a neuro-surgeon and in the future I will help my mother and other children come out of poverty.

We are seven in my family with my parents and my four siblings. I still love my family despite all the challenges we are facing and have hope that it is only a matter of time before we live a better life again. I had even lost hope of becoming an architect since there was no one to pay for my secondary education after I had scored 392/500 mark at Spurgeons Primary School. With my strong hopes and faith knowing that my God is always above everything, I am grateful for the scholarship which is a great gift offered to my family and the helpless children in the slums. I am pursuing my secondary school education at Mbita High School and I believe that this will enable me to realize my dreams. Lastly I have remained focused on my academics, never to disappoint my family and mostly Shining Hope for Communities for I know education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.

Life has been so tough for our family after the demise of my father, but I'll always thank my mother who worked hard to make sure that my siblings and I get our daily bread. Coming from a family of five and being the oldest I worked so hard in my primary school level and managed to score a total of 391 marks (Three Bells Primary), which secured me a chance with a national school (Kisii High School). At school I have remained focused to make sure that I achieve my dreams and goals of becoming an aeronautical engineer, without forgetting my interests in scouting and athletics. With great support from Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), I am really thankful to them for coming to my rescue when I really needed help and funding for my education. Something that my single parent wouldn't have managed even with the additional 1000 shilling that come from my aunt. I'll always be thankful to Shofco and TSF for the great support they've given me and I promise that I will work hard in school and make an impact in our community.

My mother and father work very hard and I rarely see them. I learned to respect them instead of asking them why they never had time for the rest of the family. I learned how to survive on my own. My brother, sisters and I learned that we should stick together and be the best people. When we heard about the scholarship my family and I worked day and night to prepare for filling out the scholarship forms. I thank SUN for the opportunity.

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.

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.

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.

I have been raised up in a family of 5 members. Sometimes we could sleep without getting enough, putting food on the table has been difficult for my Father. Fortunately my elder sister who sat for her KCPE national exam in 2015 passed and was sponsored by Committee Development Fund paying half of her school fee, thus reducing the amount of money to be paid. During my class eight time, I have been frequently sent home for school fees which my parents could not afford to pay in good time. I missed a lot that was taught by that time in class because it was hard to go back to school and catch up with other pupils since 3 or 4 chapters ahead had been covered. Through my dedication, hard work and persistence I was able to catch up with all the chapters already taught. When the result was out I became the best pupil in our school. Through God everything is possible if you believe in Him.