SHOFCO

I managed to score 386/500 marks from a local government primary school despite coming from a challenging background. I have always remained focused so that I can be able to achieve my dream, which is becoming a pilot one day. After my primary level education I concentrated on football and handball to overcome the financial stress that we had, alongside my closed dreams of becoming an engineer. My father is a partly involved member with Shining Hope for Communities activities/ programs, and I managed to secure a chance through scholarships offered to needy children in the slums of Nairobi. I am now at Nambale Boys High School where I am working so hard to achieve my dreams.

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.

Even though life has been very hard, the efforts and support I got from the friends and well wishers has made me learn the disadvantages of depending on others. When i got the information about the scholarship my parents encouraged me to work hard and do my best in my studies. They helped to apply for the chance, and lucky enough I was called and got the opportunity to be one of the scholars.

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 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.

My name is Nicholas Omwenga and I was born on 26th october in the year 2001 in Kibera slums. My parents are from Kisii country. I started schooling in the year 2004 at Fefa Preparatory School then transferred to Kicoshop Primary School where I sat for K.C.P.E. I love swimming, playing football and listening to music. My weakness is trusting so much while my strength is wanting more knowledge. My past and present situation is lack of basic needs e.g food, shelter and clothing. Even when I was a child I had a big imagination thinking that I could become a big time engineer in life. I thank SUN so much for this opportunity.