SHOFCO

Deborah Nyaboke Nyakwara of Sironga Girls High School in Kisii, I am 14 years old and I am from the Kibera slum in Nairobi. My parents were unable to get the school fees and through the acces of the SHOFCO Scholarship program I managed to join the school. Still I could not get the boarding essentials and took too long at home waiting for my parents to purchase them. During this pandemic we are at home and the truth is that life is harder here than in school. Most times we go to bed without eating anything. We are also restricted in movement and my parents keep us indoors. We also lack facilitators who can help us as teenagers and encourage us to study than we used to be taught in school. I thank you for your support that reduces the burden on my parents.

Sawe excels in math and science and loves to learn. She is currently interested in learning computer programming. She wants to go on to university so that she can have a better life. Sawe has 3 younger sisters who were born at the same time (triplets). Since triplets were unexpected, her mother had to have a C-section and the family is still paying off the medical bills. Although she loves her sisters, her parents did not expect to have so many children and they are struggling to improve their standard of living. Her parents are both unemployed and take on various short term jobs when they can.

After finishing school I would like to be in a better place than where I am now. I would like to have a better job so that I can even move my parents from the slums to an estate. I would like to build my parents a permanent house which will have everything they need. In the next 10 years, I am hoping that I will have my own family and will be living happily with them. I will teach my children to have good morals. If I succeed in my education, I will try my best to help people who are living in the slums and give scholarships to children who do their best on exams.

I am an intelligent girl. My hobbies are drawing, colouring, and painting. At school I enjoy going for sports, but at home I enjoy playing and watching movies. My favorite subject is science because I enjoy doing the experiments with the teacher. I also enjoy english because our teacher reads fun and inspiring books to us. When I grow up I want to be a doctor so I can treat people with injuries and illness. I want to examine patients, take medical histories, and prescribe medications.

I am a very smart and hardworking girl. My hobbies are dancing, reading, and swimming. When I grow up I would like to become a fashion designer and continue to design fashionable clothes. At school I enjoy the extra curricular activities such as the sports we play. I like learning new things in different subjects but my favorites are social studies and english. I also enjoy crafts.

I have five siblings - one brother and four sisters. Subjects I love are Math and science as they do help me solve problems in real life. Learning math and solving problems is part of the many things that make me happy since when I get to teach others who might not understand when new things are taught I do get to learn again in the process. My hobby is drawing, this is what I enjoy doing when I am free. I do look forward to becoming an engineer when I grow up so as to make new designs of buildings and other things.