Kibe Erick Mbugua, 19 years old, a former student at Kwangethe High School in Kiuu Ward, Ruiru Constituency, Kiambu County, has performed exemplary well. His story is one of resilience, hope, and personal strength.
His celebration has, however, been met with anxiety about what comes next. Erick says he is happy, but also worried about his future.
Speaking to The Standard, Mbugua expressed joy over his performance, despite a life filled with challenges. “I feel excited, although I worked and aimed for something higher, I thank God for what I achieved,” he said.
Erick is the only child. He says his mother died while giving birth to him, and his father is a drug addict.
“I was raised by family members, this year with one, next year with another. Sometimes I found myself on the streets,” he recounted.
He says school meals were his main source of food, as he would eat at school and sometimes carry food home for his supper. Even though he has no family to call his own, Erick says he was determined to do the best he could for himself by choosing education. His focus was to study, even when life was painful.
“Life used to hurt me so bad. Even during mid-term, I had nowhere to go,” he said.
Erick explains that he could not work and study at the same time, so he had to focus on survival and education.
He says a longtime friend provided shelter for him, but Erick had to provide everything else for himself. Despite the help, he still struggled to meet his daily needs.
“I stay in my grandmother’s friend’s house without paying rent. I am grateful to her,” he said.
He believes the best thing he could do for himself was to study harder and secure his future through education.
“I would sometimes speak to the school principal and deputy, asking them to allow him to stay in school a little longer to study, since it was a day school”, he recounted.
He says the school became a place where he could push himself and dream again.
He has attributed his success to God, his teachers, and his fellow students, saying their support gave him strength to keep going.
“I want to thank the school principal, Madam Mary Kiai, and the deputy, Paul Gichuhi, for giving me the opportunity and a conducive environment. I also thank my teachers, class, and schoolmates for supporting me. They didn’t look down on me because of my background,” he said with emotion.
Erick desires to pursue medicine. He fears he might not be able to join campus and pursue what he has worked so hard for.
“I worked really hard to make those who supported me proud. They didn’t look down on me. May God bless them abundantly,” he said. Erick is now calling on well-wishers to support him to the next level of his education, as his future remains uncertain.
“I kindly appeal to well-wishers to support me in achieving what I have long dreamed of. I promise to do my best,” he said from the heart.
Erick scored a mean grade of A- Minus, 75 points. His subject results are English B, Kiswahili A-, Mathematics A-, Biology A-, Physics B+, Chemistry A, History and Government B+, and Geography B+.
