Results schoolkids in 2011
Once again activities in 2011 were implemented with relevant ease; thanks to development partners. Four new cases were added to the project following further gesture from one more partner who offered to sponsor more children. The total number of children supported was therefore twenty nine up from the regular twenty five. The new students were Martin Musyoki, Sprewell Junior, Ashley Khahukani Lilian Oyuga, Loice Odero and Charity Waithira. Out of the six, Charity had replaced Hannah Wanjiru who got a scholarship while Loice replaced Hellen Wambui who did not perform well in form four in the year 2010. The other four were those added due to additional funding.
A total of five children sat for KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education)after going through primary school for eight years. The five who will be joining Secondary schools in 2012 are Martin, Ashley, Quintor and the two Marys. (See the list below).
The list of students supported in the project in 2011 is as follows;
1. Sprinwel Junior Joined class two in 2011
2. Felix Oseyo Joined class three in 2011
3. Mitchelle Akumu Joined class four in 2011.
4. Kate Akinyi Joined class five in 2011
5. Kelly Otieno Joined class six in 2011
6. Martin Musyoki Was in class eight in 2011
7. Ashley Khahukani Was in class eight in 2011
8. Quintor Obwango Joined class eight in 2011
9. Mary Njeri Joined class eight in 2011
10. Mary Wambui Joined class eight in 2011
11. Lillian Oyuga Was in form one in 2011
12. Nelly Akinyi Joined form one in 2011
13. Crispin Owino Joined form one in 2011
14. Victoria Juma Joined form one in 2011
15. Robert Oscar Joined form one in 2011
16. George Ochieng Joined form one in 2011
17. Anna Wambui Joined form two in 2011
18. Loice Odero Was in form two in 2011
19. Michael Magambo Joined form three in 2011
20. Brian Juma Joined form three in 2011
21. Hannah Wanjiru/Charity Waithira Joined form three in 2011
22. Brenda Osoo Joined form four in 2011
23. Monica Odongo Continued with college in 2011
24. Patrick Nganga Continued with college in 2011
25. David Mwangi Continued with college in 2011
26. Rosemary Wambui Continued with college in 2011
27. Felix Ouma Was completing college in 2011
28. George Ogolla Was completing college in 2011
29. Paul Opano Joined college in 2011.
Charity Waithira replaced Hannah Wanjiru within the year after Hannah got a bursary from a local church and the CDF (Constituency Development Fund). CDF is a fund normally set aside by the Government to assist in developing basic amenities at the grass root within the constituencies. The fund is often very limited and can only take care of a handful of cases. She was replaced by Charity Waithira. Charity is an orphan who lives with her grandmother, Mary Wanjiku who is eighty five years old in Baba Dogo; one of the Nairobi slums. She managed to join form one through an organized harambee but later faced being discontinued in second term. When Hannah Wambui got a bursary she was lucky to take up this chance. She has a brother who was also supported through his education by well wishers up to form four level. He passed with B plus but is not in a position to continue with his education.
Primary level:
1.Sprewell Junior
Sprewell was seven years old when he joined the project last year in class two. He was then in Kayole Primary school; a semi slum area but was transferred to a better school with better facilities after joining the project. Sprewell has great academic potential. His academic records indicate good grades despite the fact that he was in a school with crowded classes. The performance is still good even in the new school with fewer pupils and better facilities. He is a second born in a family of four. The mother; Naomi Wanjiku is a vegetable vendor and the father a casual laborer who normally looks for odd jobs to do. Family income is about kshs.10, 000 per month.
2. June Felix Oseyo (Our Lady of Nazareth Primary School)
June joined the project in 2010 in class two. Born in 2002, June is a second born in a family of four. They live in one of the slums in the eastern part of Nairobi called Mukuru. June and the other siblings have been attending to a catholic aided school within Mukuru slums over the years. In 2011 he will be attending a better school which is less crowded. His mother still operates small businesses within the estate while the father is a mechanic within the informal sector in Nairobi. June’s parents both struggle to fend for the children in whichever way they can. The father often identifies individual vehicle owners and repairs their vehicles as part time job outside his mechanical engagement in the informal sector. Their average family income is kshs.13, 000 per month.
3. Mitchell Akumu (Kwoyo Kowe Primary school)
Mitchell is another child taken into the project in 2010. She was in class four in 2011 and will join class five in 2012. She comes from a family of three with parents who are HIV positive. The two are on ARVs and need to eat well all the time. Both parents are not employed and often carry out petty trade to make ends meet. Like many other micro entrepreneurs the businesses change depending on what is in demand. The unsold stock of foodstuff is not wasted but used to supplement food for the family.Their average income from business activities is kshs.9, 000 per month. The father occasionally finds odd jobs in factories in industrial area which forms part of family income.
4. Kate Akinyi (St. Teresa’s Girls Primary School):
Kate was in class five in the same school in 2011. Her performance is still above average as she joins class six in 2012. She is still among the most promising children in the project. Kate’s mother still operates small businesses among them vegetables and fruits, charcoal, paraffin, dry fish, second hand cloths and sometimes she supplies cooked food in construction sites. These are businesses she operates at different intervals depending on the opportunity available at a given time. Her mother has been receiving business loans from the credit fund to improve her businesses. This has made her businesses to perform better and improved her income. Her average income is kshs.12, 000 per month. This she adds to the monthly allowance which often form part of the business capital before it is put to the intended use. The unsold stock of foodstuff which would otherwise go to waste is used by the family to reduce family expenses on food.
5. Kelly Francis Otieno (Unity Primary School):
Kelly was in class six at Unity Primary School in 2011 and still continues with his education in the same school. A second born in a family of three, Kelly’s performance at school has always been above average as can be seen in his school report forms attached. His mother still operates a wide range of businesses based on what is viable at different times. These businesses include vegetables second hand cloths and general accessories commonly referred to as ‘malimali’. The father is not in any regular employment and does small jobs which come his way such as carrying luggage in factories just like many other Kenyan job seekers do. Kelly’s mother is a very aggressive entrepreneur who is always on the lookout for business opportunities to undertake. Her monthly average income is kshs.12, 000 from all the business activities. This together with the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 constitutes the family income. They supplement household food with the remains of unsold foodstuff which would otherwise go to waste.
6. Mary Njeri (By Grace Academy):
Mary sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2011 and got 235 marks out of a possible 500. She got admission to form one and will be joining secondary school in 2012. She has been urged to work even harder in order to improve her grades. Her performance only slightly improved after she repeated a class to work on her grades. Her family still lives in Mathare valley where they operate different businesses.
7. Mary Wambui (Kathangeri Mt. Kenya Plains view academy):
Mary performed much better after repeating a class to work on her grades as well. She accepted to rewind class seven in 2010 in order to improve her grades. After attempting KCPE in 2011, she managed to get better grades and has received admission to form one in a good Provincial school for 2012. She managed to score 335 marks out of a possible 500. Her mother still operates the knitting business which is located in a city council market within Nairobi. She also has a poultry business which she has since relocated to a larger space in the outskirts of Nairobi. Incomes from these activities support her family and provide school fees for the other children. Average income for the family is kshs.12, 000 from the business kshs.2, 500 from the monthly allowance. Mary’s father earns occasional income from casual jobs which are on and off. She is keen on making use of the loan fund facility to further develop her business.
8. Ashley Khahukani
Ashley was in class eight in 2011. They are two children with a single mother from a broken marriage. They used to live in Mukuru up to 2011 when their house caught fire in an inferno in the slum. They lost everything in the fire and had to start life afresh. Ashley’s mother runs a small business in hairdressing and most of the customers come to her house for hair do. Occasionally she also gets small jobs in industrial area. She combines income from the two activities for the family upkeep. They now live in Mbotela; an estate close to Mukuru. Average income in the family is kshs. 8, 000 per month. This, together with monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 forms total family income.
9. Martin Musyoki
Martin joined class eight in 2011. He is fifteen years old and an orphan living with an aunt. His mother who was a single mother died when he was a little boy leaving him under the care of an aunt. The auntie is employed in the informal sector as a dressmaker often paid on piece rate with an average monthly income of kshs. 6,000. The aunt has her own two children and they all live together in Dandora.He passed his KCPE in2011 and will be joining form one in 2012. His aunt is contemplating starting her own business in dressmaking since the wages earned per month from her current employment is meager and cannot meet the very basic needs of the family.
10. Quintor Obwango :
Quinter sat for KCPE in 2011. She has been putting up a strong fight against the odds of life surrounding her. She lives with her step mother following a divorce between her parents when she was only three years old. She later lived with her grandmother for about five years when her father married another wife. Life is hard for Quinter’s family in Mathare slums but like every under privileged Kenyan, they have to move on. The casual jobs don’t come along so frequently for her father and this leaves them with the petty trading businesses to rely on. Her current mother lost one of her twin babies but has since recovered from the blow and embarked on her business. Their average monthly income from the business is kshs. 8,000, which they add to the monthly allowance of kshs. 2,500 to take care of family upkeep. Her performance record is shown in the report forms accompanying this report.
Secondary school cases
1. Victoria Juma (Ngiya Girls’ Secondary school):
Victoria joined form one to start her secondary education in the above school in 2011. This is a school which attained the National status due to its outstanding performance. Victoria is however still performing quite well despite the competition in the new school. She may not be among the top ten but her grades are impressive. The competition in this school is healthy and chances of one joining public universities high.Victoria’s mother is equally very hard working in her small business and has managed to keep the other brothers and sisters in school. She makes an average income of kshs.13, 000 per month. This together with the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 from the project plus the husband’s occasional income from casual labor constitutes the family income. The support for her daughter and the fact that she is doing well in school is reason enough for the family to work and offer children an opportunity to go to school.
2. Nelly Akinyi ( Ngiya Girls Secondary School)
Nelly is a first born in a family of four. She joined form one in the above school in 2011 after successfully passing KCPE. She is an average student and is likely to get even better grades if she puts more effort in her studies.Nelly’s mother operates a grains selling business for a living. The father is not on regular employment and occasionally gets casual jobs within Nairobi. Nelly’s mother makes an average of kshs.10, 000 per month from the business. Her income has improved in the recent past like many other mothers in the program me. This has been facilitated by loans which they easily access from SEED Trust at the right time to boost their businesses. It is unlike loans from mainstream microfinance institutions which takes longer time to be processed and sometimes comes too late to rescue the business. Nelly’s mother has been able to educate her other children who are still in Primary school since main burden of secondary school has been carried by the project.
3. Crispin Owino (Barding Secondary School)
Crispin joined form one in 2011 after scoring 316 marks out of a possible 500. He was in the above school which is one of the best Provincial Schools in the Country. A first born in a family of four, he lost his father in September 2011 and they are now left under the care of their mother. They live in one of the slums in Nairobi called Kyambio. He has one sister and two brothers who are also in school. His mother sells grains and sometimes vegetables for family livelihood. She is now a sole bread winner and has to do everything all alone following the death of her husband last year. Her average income for the family is kshs.10, 000 per month. This income has been consistently growing due to support from SEED Trust loan fund and business skills training
4. Robert Oscar (Agoro Sare Secondary School)
Born in1996, Robert joined form one in the above school in 2011 after successfully passing KCPE in 2010 and scoring 339 marks out of a possible 500. He is a last born in a family of four. The other older siblings did not pursue education to higher levels due to financial constraints. His mother runs a business in second hand cloths and also does hair dressing. The father does panel beating in the informal sector and together they join hands to bring up the family. Family average income is kshs.12, 000 per month; both from the business and occasional wages paid to the husband.Robert’s mother in another beneficiary of the micro credit facility offered by SEED Trust and has greatly improved her business performance. She gets business loans and promptly enabling her to access repeat loans.
5. Lilian Oyuga (Nyakach Girls’ Secondary school)
Lilian joined form one in 2011 at the age of fourteen years. This was after passing the Kenya Certificate of Primary education. She is a last born in a family of eight and none of the older brothers and sisters has been able to join secondary school. Lillian was going to face the same predicament and this was why the project gave her a chance to get higher education. They live in Mathare with their mother who is a widow. A part from the brothers and sisters, there are three grandchildren under the care of her mother. Lillian’s mother operates small businesses which include vegetables, dry fish and sometimes second hand cloths. These are businesses she has been running from the time she got married in the early seventies. The average income from these activities is kshs.10, 000 per month.
6. George Ochieng (Hono Secondary School)
George is another child who has been brought up without a mother following her demise several years ago. He joined form one in the above school in 2010 but will be repeating the same class in 2011. His performance in 2010 was not very impressive and letting him go to the next class was not the best decision. Children brought up under very difficult circumstances and without a mother sometimes take a longer time to catch up in school. He improved a bit in 2011 and joins form two in 2012. However his father also died in 2011 leaving him under the care of a step mother. Life may be even tougher for George but this is fate and we can only hope that he will be able to complete his education.George’s step mother runs small businesses as a source of livelihood. She has her own five children to take care of. Her average income is about kshs.10, 000 per month and additional monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 from the school kids project.
7. Ann Wambui (Gitungi Girls High School)
Ann joined form two in the same school in 2011. She is working towards improving her grades as she moves to form three in 2012. Her performance records in 2011 can be seen in the attached report forms. Her mother still runs different businesses including bag making in Nairobi. The father is unemployed but occasionally gets casual jobs to do. Anne’s brothers are also in school and their school fee is mainly paid from the proceeds of the business activities. Now that Ann is supported by the project, the parents have a slightly lesser burden to carry with regard to their children’s education. On average the family earns kshs.13, 000 per month and also gets the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500. The mother is a beneficiary of the micro credit facility in the programme and is gradually growing her business through and business skills training.
8. Loise Adhiambo (Mbaga Girls’ Secondary School)`
Loise joined form two in 2011. They live in Mukuru in Nairobi. She is a first born in a family of four. Her father passed on in December 2000 when they were quite young with a jobless mother who had also dropped out of school after class eight. Since then she has been taking care of her children by running small businesses. Loise managed to join form one through the support from the local church since she had passed very well. She had scored 371 marks out of a possible 500. The hope was that she could get a bursary from the Government but this did not work out and she faced discontinuation. This is why the project came to her aid. Loice performs very well at school where she is always either number one or two in class. She has great potential in academics and with this kind of support, the sky is the limit. Her mother sells cloths for a livelihood and makes an average of kshs.12,000 per month. She is a benefially of the microcredit facility in the programme and pays her loans quite well.
9. Michael Magambo: (Sawagongo High School):
Michael joined form three in the same school in 2011. He is a last born in a family of four, two boys and two girls. He is an average student who is always encouraged to work harder. His performance can be seen in the attached progress reports. His mother operates small businesses while the father is a casual laborer in Nairobi. The mother earns an average of kshs. 8,000 per month from her business. The father occasionally earns about kshs7, 000 per month from the small odd jobs. The total average income from both business and casual jobs is therefore kshs.15, 000. Michael‘s family works quite hard to fend for the family. His mother is also a beneficiary in the loans programme; a facility which has improved her business.
10. Brian Juma (Sawagongo High school)
Brian joined form three in the same school in 2011. He is a first born in a family of four and an average student as can be seen in the attached report forms. Brian is constantly encouraged to work hard in order to maintain good grades. His mother still sells vegetables, fruits and sometimes second hand cloths for their livelihood. Her average income from these businesses is kshs.10, 000 per month. She is a beneficiary of the micro credit in the program me and has greatly improved her business. The father is a casual laborer who occasionally finds small jobs in the city’s industrial area and earns about Kshs.8, 000 per month. The job is not regular and this means he has to go without employment sometimes. The other children are in school too and they all live together in one of the informal settlement areas called Kyambio in the eastern part of Nairobi. It is very clear that Brian and his brothers and sisters would not have gone this far with their education were it not for the Project’s intervention. Taking Brian into the project created the opportunity for the parents to concentrate on the other children who are equally pursuing their education.
11. Hannah Wanjiru Waithera (Karinga Girls High School)
Hannah is a first born in a family of two born from a single mother. She was in form three in the above school under the support of the school kids’ project. In July 2011 she was lucky to be picked as one of the beneficiaries for education support by the local church. At this point she was replaced by Charity Wathira who was in the waiting list.
Charity Wathira (Icaciri Secondary School)
Charity is a fourth born in a family of five. She replaced Hannah Wanjiru above and lives with her grandmother in Nairobi. The grandmother who is eighty five years old also lives with all the other sisters and brothers to Charity She is a vegetable vendor within one of the slums in Nairobi. Most of Charity’s brothers and sisters did not go beyond primary level due to lack of school fees. It was due to her exemplary performance that the church and well wishers contributed money to take her to form one. But that was about all and chances of getting continued support were quite unlikely. This is why the project came to her aid in good time.Average income from the business is kshs.10, 000 per month. Charity’s other brothers and sisters often help their old grandmother in doing the business especially going for purchases.
12. Brenda Osoo (St. Ann’s Kisoko Girls’ Secondary School)
Brenda was in form four in 2011 in the above school. She sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary education and is awaiting results due in February 2012. We all hope she will get good grades to further pursue studies. Brenda’s mother still operates small businesses while the father does casual jobs. These include vegetable selling, dry grains second hand cloths and sometimes dry fish. Her average income from the business is kshs.9, 000 which is supplemented with the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500. Most of the time she puts the monthly allowance into working capital to boost her business. She also gets loans from SEED Trust to improve her business and has good repayment records. Her business is growing day by day as she introduces products in her business.
College cases:
1. Paul Opano (Kisumu Technical Institute):
Paul is going on with his training at Kisumu Technical Training College where he is taking a course in electrical engineering – Power option. He will be going for a four months internship as from January 2012 and resume classes in May 2012. His performance during the year was satisfactory. Paul’s mother still operates small businesses for their upkeep. These include second hand cloths and sometimes vegetables. Average monthly income from the small businesses is kshs.10, 000 which she adds to the monthly allowance. She is a single mother from a failed marriage but is determined to give her son the best in life. She is one client who has been consistent in her business despite the many challenges facing micro enterprises and is likely to succeed in business given the relevant support and resources to develop her business. She is a beneficiary from the credit program me and pays her loans very well.
2. George Ogolla (Siaya Institute of Technology):
George completed his studies in Business Administration in 2011 and is awaiting results. His performance had been impressive over the years and he expects good results. A fourth born in a family of seven; George hopes to get a job which can enable him to educate some of his brothers and sisters. His mother is economically single. The husband is crippled and cannot therefore carry out any economic activity. She runs a fish selling business and gets average income of kshs.9, 000 per month. Support to George has made significant impact on the family with renewed hope and motivation to fend for others. The younger siblings have the hope of going to school in future if their brother finds a good job.The supplement of kshs. 2,500 per month have further boosted family income alongside the small businesses.
3. David Mwangi (Nairobi Technical College):
David is progressing well with his course in mechanical engineering. He is now doing the diploma level of the same course. Born in a family of four, both parents are alive but do not have regular income and therefore run small businesses for survival. They change businesses depending on which business is doing well at any given time just like many other micro entrepreneurs. Sometimes it is vegetables; other times cloths and second hand shoes and at times retail shop. Average income from the businesses per month is kshs.12, 000. David’s other siblings are also in school as their parents struggle to provide for them. We keep empowering the parents in their respective economic activities so that all the children can get a chance in life. Her mother Naomi is a beneficiary of the micro credit and pays back her loans very well.
4. Rosemary Wambui (MTC) – Embu Medical Training college:
Rosemary also joined the project in 2010. She is performing very well after joining Embu Medical Training College where she is doing a nursing course. This was a God sent opportunity which came after she had almost lost hope having sat for the Kenya certificate of secondary education in 2008. A first born in a family of four she hopes to support their younger siblings once she completes training and gets a job.
Wambui’s mother runs a vegetable selling business and sometimes gets second hand clothes and re-sells. The father is a casual laborer who does any manual work that comes his way to supplement family income. Occasionally he gets jobs in the construction sites. The average income earned in this family from all the activities is Kshs.12; 000.This is what is used to provide basic needs and education for other siblings. Her mother is a beneficiary of the microcredit within SEED Trust.
5. Felix Oduor (Kenya Institute of Highways and building technology):
Felix also completed his training in highway engineering in 2011 and is awaiting results soon. Felix’s performance has been satisfactory and he is likely to attain good grades in the final exam results. Felix and his younger sister still live with their grandmother in the slums of Nairobi. They are two children from a single mother who died in 2003. His grandmother is a vegetable vendor and also sells dry fish for a living. From these small businesses, she earns an average of kshs.9, 000 per month. The household has a total of eight people all depending on the small businesses. Felix is one of the children who may be lucky to break the poverty circle in the family. We hope he will soon get a job and support the education of his sister.
6. Monica Odongo (MTC) – Kakamega
Monica is going on well with her studies in nursing and is due to complete by the end of 2012. A fourth born in a family of eight, she was born in1990 and sat for the Kenya certificate of secondary education in 2007 but could not continue with her education due to financial constraints. The family is quite large and that was the furthest her family could assist her with the help of a few well wishers and institutions. In fact she had been assisted through the CDF (Constituency development fund) since she had performed well in the KCPE and had a relative to follow things up. Such facilities are not easy to access unless one has an insider to do the follow up. Monica’s father Daniel still does casual jobs which are on and off in the industries within Nairobi while her mother; Syprine is a vegetable vendor. Her average monthly income from the sale of vegetables is kshs. 10,000. This together with her husband’s income of kshs.8, 000 are what they pool together to meet family obligations. Due to the apparent financial constraints, Monica could not join college to further her education until the project came to her aid. She had faced the same predicament faced by every other sibling in their family.
7.Patrick Nganga (MTC)- Kenya Medical Training college:
A third born in a family of three Patrick sat for his Kenya Certificate of secondary education in 2006 and scored a B-. He did not join college until 2009 when the project came to his aid. His two elder siblings did not get secondary education due to financial constraints. Patrick however completed through the support of the chief through constituency development funds. This facility was introduced by the Government much later when the first two siblings had already dropped out of school. The first brother later became an alcoholic after getting married. The brother has a wife and four children who are all taken care of by their grandmother (i.e. Patrick’s mother). The second born sister is a single mother with three children also living with her mother. In total Patrick’s mother has ten people to take care of in her family and this is why she cannot provide any of her children with reasonable education.
Patrick’s mother; Justine Wanjiku runs small businesses to fend for the family. Her daughter and daughter in law normally assist her in the businesses since they are not engaged in any form of employment. Four of the grandchildren are already in lower primary classes. Her average monthly income from the business activities is kshs.12, 000.