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.

Monicah is the fourth born child in a family of seven children. Her mother is divorced and and the sole bread winner of the family. She earns a living doing casual labor painting and sanding wood carvings to support the large family. However, recently she has been ailing and unable to work thus making it difficult for Monicah to continue with her education. Monicah has so far gone through many struggles like being sent home regularly due to unpaid school levies and wearing old school uniforms. Despite theses odds, she worked hard in her studies and scored 349 marks in her KCPE exam in 2015. She was among the top students at her primary school. Monicah is very optimistic about life. According to her, poverty is not going to deter her determination to join secondary school and study hard to be a medical doctor. Her role model is pope Francis and she dreams of becoming a doctor and building health centers to save the lives of mothers and children in her village.

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.

Florindo was born in Sofala province. He is very humble and loves to play with children of his age, especially playing football in the afternoon when returning from school. He is orphaned of parents. In 2008, his father passed away due to illness. He went to live with his mother in company of his older sister, and his newborn sister. In December 2011, his mother also died victim of illness; leaving the boy and two sisters alone. Florindo, along with his older sister, was adopted by the pastor of the church his mother used to attend, while his younger sister was only 2 years old and was adopted by another family that worships at the same church. As the pastor is of old age, he would like to finish his studies as quick as possible and learn a trade; his dream is to reunite his sisters together with him to take care of them. "

"Where I live is not pleasing to the eyes. Coming from a family of seven, and myself being the firstborn, my family members look up to me as their future helper. It has been a very difficult task in paying school fees and for uniforms up to now. I cannot afford to buy books. When I finish my education, I would like to be a neurosurgeon. Many people suffer from problems, and there are not enough qualified doctors to treat this problem. People cannot get treated in Kenya. If I become a doctor, my parents will no longer live in the slums. I will make life heaven on Earth for them. I will also use my earning to pay school fees for my younger siblings."

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.