Top girl's dreams in limbo over lack of school fees

By Job Weru

It is exactly 10am, and the populous Ngangarithi Estate in Nyeri Town is already a beehive of activity as residents go about their daily chores.

But in one of the houses in the estates, a seemingly pensive 14-year-old Stella Wanjiku is seated at a study table, perusing a Bible.

The timber doors and windows are tightly locked and the light-bodied girl has lit a tin-lamp to illuminate the room.

The study table, which she shares with her younger sister Brenda Wangechi who is in Standard Four at Nyamachaki Primary School has a pile of books and old magazines which she at times reads to acquaint herself with the happenings in the world – at least at the time they were published.

The soft-spoken girl with a light complexion was among the best performers in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in Nyeri County, scoring a total of 413 out of a possible 500.

Tuition expenses

She believes her marks would have secured her a place in the prestigious Starehe Girls – her first choice – or even the nearby Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls, which was her first choice of provincial schools.

She had dedicated her performance to her disabled mother, Eunice Wanjiru, and the well-wishers who catered for her tuition expenses at the school.

"Mum told me to study hard so that I can help the family move out of poverty. I achieved my goal and performed excellently, but I am sorry my dreams to become a pilot are almost shattered," she says, as a tear rolls down her cheeks, interrupts her speech.

But as she sits at the study table, Stella who had her tuition fee at Nyeri Town View Academy paid for by a well-wisher, has one more thing gnawing at her young heart.

She recently received a letter to join Mahiga Girls in Othaya but her mother cannot raise the school fees.

"I wanted to join Starehe Girls, but I received a letter from Mahiga Girls which indicates that I report to the school either on February 7 or 8," she says.

"I do not mind joining the school, but what is worrying me most is raising fees to enable me secure my space," she says.

She is now pegging her hopes on well-wishers to help raise her fees just in time to beat the February 8 reporting deadline.

Her predicament has turned into a recluse who now spends most of time holed up in her mother’s rented room reading the Bible.

"This has become my routine and I have been praying that a well wisher comes along and helps me pay my fees. I love my mum, but I hate this cruel world which subjected us to poverty," she laments.

Stella also does other light manual duties like cleaning the house and washing utensils.

The annual fee, according to the fees structure she received from Mahiga Girls, is Sh23,200.

She is also supposed to buy books and other personal effects, estimated to cost Sh10,000.

Mother disabled

This is beyond what the family can afford as Stella’s disabled mother, Ms Eunice Wanjiru only does menial jobs like washing people’s clothes and hairdressing to put food on the table for the family.

"I earn meagre cash, which I can only use to buy food for myself and my two daughters and pay rent," she says.

She continued: "I am not able to raise the fees. Not unless I save for, say, two years and take her to a dress-making college."

Wanjiru and her two daughters live in a one-roomed house where she pays Sh600 rent.

Since the KCPE results were announced, Wanjiru said her daughter’s morale has gone down by the realisation that she (the mother) will be unable to raise the funds to enable her continue with her education.

Wanjiru said her daughter’s appetite has also deteriorated.

"She cries every day and keeps on asking me whether I have friends who can assist raise the fees, but I only advise her to pray to God who is the provider," she says.

A neighbour, Ms Tabitha Murugi said whenever the mother leaves the house to seek casual work, the girl locks herself inside and they have had to force her to come out.

Needs assistance

"We now ensure she is out of the house before her mother leaves, since she locks herself inside and we only hear her cry. She is desperate and needs urgent assistance," said Murugi.

Mr Esau Nderitu, also a neighbour said she helped the family apply for scholarships that were advertised by local banks but are yet to receive any positive response.

"We have tried with two local financial institutions that advertised the programmes, but she was not successful. We are urging well-wishers to come to the aid of this ambitious girl.

She is determined to chase her dream, but the situation at home cannot allow her," said Nderitu.