Against all odds: Moving story of university girl making bricks to stay in school

Brenda Kilimo Chesir’s humble home in Chesongoch, Elgeyo Marakwet County sets base for her inspiring story. It is here that she has managed to break cultural barriers and sculpt her own path in life. Her case is an example of how to make ends meet out of personal devotion and hard work.

Chesir dropped out of campus in her first year. Pursuing a Bachelors of Arts (English Literature) at Kisii University, she could not raise her fees in time for her end of semester examinations. She was therefore not permitted to sit for her papers.

It is at this point that she retreated back to her home and work on ideas of how to raise enough money for her fees.

Her first idea was crop farming but due to the harsh climate in Kerio Valley, the idea seemed impractical. Then she had another idea; changaa and busaa brewing. Chesir admits to having tried brewing but her attempts were futile and just like crop farming, her idea of becoming a brewer never materialized.

“I thought of engaging in crop-farming to raise fees but abandoned the idea due to the unforgiving vagaries of weather in Kerio Valley. At one point, I contemplated brewing chang’aa and busaa but my few attempts were futile,” she narrates.

Her next idea was brick making. She had to pay her school fees. Chesir says the idea of brick making was not an easy one to actualize as she had to break cultural barriers and overcome persuasions from her kin to drop it.

“There was a particular day when villagers came to my home and found me mixing mud for brick-making. One asked me if I was a local from Marakwet or from another community associated with brick-making. I reminded them I was a typical Marakwet, born and bred in their midst,” she recounts.

It took the intervention of a neighbour to motivate her into the brick-making enterprise as she had no basic knowledge on how to make bricks.

Ms Chesir recollects how her brick-making venture motivated her to keep working hard and because of it, she learnt that God rewards people who sweat to eat. She says, her bricks retail at Sh10 a piece and on a good day, she makes about 700 bricks.

Her work does not end there. She then has to seek markets for her ready bricks. She sells them to locals and in nearby urban centres.

Her relative, Peter Cherop admits that the brick-makiing decision was solely Chesir’s.

“With my basic knowledge in carpentry, I made two wooden brick holders to ferry the wet mud,” Peter accounts his contribution to Chesir’s success. He says that she has saved enough money to see her through first and second in University and that she will go back to finish her studies.