Woman quits four-year marriage to join Form One

A woman has quit her marriage of four years to pursue education.

Beneders Cheptoo,20,a mother of two and an orphan.She joined form one this year despite being married off immediately she completed her KCPE examinations in 2012.PHOTOS:ROBERT KIPLAGAT.

Twenty-year-old Beneders Cheptoo (right) had been admitted to Narok’s Maasai Girls High School, but never reported due to lack of fees.

The mother of two, now in Form One at Salabwek Mixed Day and Boarding Secondary, says life became complicated when her mother died in 2001. Her father had died earlier.

“I had to take care of my siblings including my elder brother who is mentally challenged. I decided to get married hoping to escape poverty,” says the second-born in a family of four.

Cheptoo, who scored 333 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams, says marriage life became more difficult as she was the breadwinner.

She gave birth to her first-born son in 2013, and her second born, a daughter, was born last year.

“I had to flee the marriage and go back to school as I had always wanted, to secure my future. I went to the school and explained my case. They listened to me and agreed to sponsor me,” says Cheptoo from Transmara West.

 She says it has been hard adjusting having been out of school for four years, but she is positive she will catch up.

Salabwek principal Joseph Ketili and his deputy Justus Monari said they decided to sponsor her after proving she is needy.

“We interviewed Cheptoo the same way we had interviewed all those joining Form One. However, she cried throughout the interview. We listened to her story and it was really moving. That is when teachers and the board of management decided to support her,” said Ketili.

 “As we were admitting Form Ones, we came across Cheptoo. Whenever she tried to explain herself, she cried throughout. It was here that we realised that she had a big problem,” says Ketili.

He said they visited her village where a local chief confirmed that indeed Cheptoo, who is nursing a dream of becoming an architect, is needy and is also an orphan.