Two pupils with chronic illness hopeful despite taking exam at referral hospital

The label on the door to the room reads 'Postgraduate', but the occupants look too young to be at this level of study.

Joshua Kipng'eno Chirchir and Dennis Kipng'eno are ready for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in a special room at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret where they were diagnosed with prolonged disorders.

They look frail but their faces shine with optimism to conquer the two battles ahead of them.

Chirchir and Kipng'eno keenly listen to the invigilator, Mr Daniel Rugut, who questions them to find out if they remember their school codes and index numbers before the first paper, Mathematics.

Chirchir, 14, was admitted at MTRH in May after being diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and has been undergoing weekly dialysis sessions as his family tries to raise funds for a transplant.

"I came to hospital in May and I have never gone back to school. My eyes turned black at some point and I could not read well, but I believe that God will help me pass because I have been revising my notes," he says with immeasurable optimism.

The candidate of Kapkenda Primary School in Kipkelion East says Mathematics and Science are his favourite subjects and he wants to become a pilot on completing his studies.

"I want to disprove my ailing eyes in future by becoming a pilot where I will clearly view the great things that are difficult for me to see now," he adds.

His father, Pastor David Birgen, who has been with his fourth born son at MTRH since his admission describes Chirchir as an extraordinarily hardworking child who would stop at nothing to pursue the desires of his heart.

"He has always shown determination and pursued his goals diligently. Even after he was admitted to hospital he continued to assure me that he will become a pilot," explained Birgen.

He said his son seems to have had the complication since he was young because his body used to swell.

DIALYSIS SESSIONS

"I have been spending Sh10,000 every week for on dialysis. The doctors have told us he will need a kidney transplant in India at an estimated cost of Sh3 million if the sessions are to be stopped," he disclosed.

According to Birgen, they have exhausted the money he has been using for hospital bills and he appealed to well-wishers to help his son achieve his dream of becoming a pilot.

"We have run short of money and we are not certain of tomorrow. It would be kind of President Uhuru Kenyatta or his deputy to help us and this productive youth," he added.

Kipng'eno, 13, from Ilkerin Primary School in Trans Mara also likes Mathematics and Science and wants to be a doctor.

"I have a disease that is eating up my blood, making me very weak at times. When I get well and finish school I would want to treat other people so that their blood is not drained by this disease," he says.

Kipng'eno has leukemia and is optimistic that God will help him conquer the battle ahead of him.

It is 9.47am and Mr Rugut gives them their first examination papers with the instructions indicating that they have two hours to complete the tests.

"Sickness cannot take away the fruit of your hard work. I am a teacher at GK Prison and conditions there are not too good but still the students pass," he assures.