As form one students report to their respective schools across the country, hopes to progress to the secondary school level for two bright boys in Gatundu North and Juja, are fading.
David Muhia, a 14-year-old boy from Kawira village in Gatundu North sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) at Kawira Primary School last year and scored 379 marks.
He later received a calling letter from Weithaga Boys High School in Kangema, Murang'a County to join Form One, but he's yet to join.
Muhia who spoke to journalists at their home on Tuesday said that his parents are cash-strained and cannot facilitate his secondary school education as they are casual labourers in the village.
"My parents are unable to raise my school fees. They even struggle to put food on the table. We usually have a single meal per day and at times we sleep empty stomach. I'm giving up on joining secondary school," he said.
Muhia, who was the top performer at the remote public school said that his dreams of pursuing electrical engineering upon completion of his secondary education have hit a brick wall since no help has come forthwith despite knocking on numerous doors for help.
He divulged that the acute poverty in their family is the reason he has been studying hard hoping to one day free his parents and siblings from the shackles of poverty.
"We've been living in abject poverty. Our mud-walled house is on the verge of collapse. I was hoping to study hard so that soon I can help my family," he said.
He pleaded with well-wishers to come to his aid and help him further his studies and actualize his dream of becoming an electrical engineer and pulling his family out of poverty.
"I promise anyone who will help me join a secondary school that I'll study hard and excel. I won't disappoint them," he said.
The boy's father James Gitau said that his attempts to seek help from Equity's Wings to Fly, Elimu Scholarships and the Kiambu County government have been futile.
Gitau, a father of 11, noted that he sold some of the livestock he had to educate three of his children adding that he currently has nothing to dispose of.
He disclosed that another son who scored a C Plus in the 2022 KCSE is yet to join any tertiary institution due to financial constraints.
"Muhia is the brightest of all of my kids but it saddens me that I cannot manage to facilitate his secondary school education. I am a casual labourer and even a month passes without securing a job," Gitau said.
Gitau pleaded with people of goodwill including area leaders led by MP Elijah Njoroge Kururia to help his son join secondary school.
A similar situation is being faced by 14-year-old Francis Macharia from Babylon village of Witeithie Ward, Juja in Kiambu County who is desperately appealing to well-wishers to help him join Form One.
Macharia who was among the top 2023 KCPE candidates at Kuraiha Primary School managing to score 373 marks risks failing to join form one due to lack of school fees and abject poverty in his family.
His mother Joyce Nyambura who had been working at construction sites before she developed complications forcing her to begin doing menial jobs such as washing clothes for villagers said she has been unable to raise school fees for his son’s admission at Chania High School where he has been invited to enrol.
“I am depressed because I don’t have any dime to cater for my son’s education. I have another son who’s in form three and I really can’t manage to raise school fees for them,” she said.
The single mother who separated from her husband years ago over alcoholism and irresponsibility revealed that their single-roomed rental house is also on the verge of being locked over a three-month rent arrears.
The troubled mother of three stated that her bright son who has beaten all odds to post the splendid performance has been crying alone in the house and has at times been asking her why she has failed to take her to school.
Distressed, Nyambura who has lost hope of her son joining high school due to financial constraints called on well-wishers to come to Macharia’s rescue saying that his thirst for education is unmatched.
In their room where they have erected a double-decker bed to accommodate her and the son, Macharia has set a studying timetable which proves his thirst for education.
Macharia who continuously reads the bible for encouragement expressed his pain of remaining at home as his peers begin secondary school studies.
“It pains me to see my peers reporting to school while I’m at home with no hopes of joining school any time soon,” Macharia said
The boy who aspires to become an aeronautical engineer beseeched well-wishers to take him through his education to salvage her struggling mother out of poverty and to enable him to rescue other financially challenged children to pursue education.
To assist the family, reach out to the writer John Kamau via 0723 055198 for guidance on how to reach the family.