SHOFCO

"I am in a family of five and I am the fourth born. It has even become a problem for my mum to feed us all. I would like to prosper in my academics in order to help to lift my family out of poverty. My plan is to make sure that I will go to university, where I will pursue my academics and become one of the best engineers in the country. Engineers have always inspired me. I see myself giving back to the community and helping to lift other people's lives out of poverty."

Florence was raised by her mother and grandmother. She enjoys playing football and netball. Although she works hard, her mother struggled to pay school fees for her and her brother. She dreams of being a community health work and building solid relationships with her teachers in secondary school. She wants to give back to her community and to help children and widows.

I am a student at Makuyu Boys School, and formerly attended Love Africa Somi School. I come from a very poor background and could not manage the high school fees. As a family, we have challenges getting our basic needs met. Both of my parents are jobless and we live hand-to-mouth. If it were not for this scholarship, I would not be in school. This means a great deal to our family and reduces the burden. I am so grateful for this opportunity.

My name is Hassan Juma. I'm 16 years old. I studied at Olympic Primary School in Kibera where I scored 348 marks out of the possible 500 on the KCPE. I joined Pumwani Secondary school in Starehe constituency, which is in Nairobi county. I am very grateful for the scholarship program. It is the reason why I joined high school since my parents earn very little money. I did not experience harsh challenges in school since I just joined the school and within the first two months we had to be released due to COVID-19 outbreak that has affected the whole world. While at home during this period, my parents struggled and bought me a few revision materials. Currently, I'm revising to boost my knowledge since I do not want to be behind when schools open. I need to work hard and show that the scholarship was really necessary and to appreciate and give back to the community. I have four brothers and one sister plus my two parents. The family is already large and I must work hard to save them from poverty. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to study.

I studied at Olympic primary school now attend Nyambaria High School. My studies were always impacted by the level of poverty my family lives in. My family's resources went to medical fees for my mother before she passed. My two older siblings joined university but couldn't manage the fees and are now at home. This scholarship is the only way my family could manage to send me to school. I work hard to get good grades so I can also study at university. I am very thankful for this opportunity.

Ilcy plans to do well academically and she wants to eventually own her own business and employ other people in her community in order to help with the unemployment rate. She has two sisters and lives with her parents, but her parents struggle to make ends meet. Her parents are also charitable, and despite their own economic problems they take care of 3 orphans. Ilcy is driven to succeed and hopes to attend Kenyatta University after graduating secondary school.