At the heart of the Osodo trading centre in Suba North, Homa Bay County, a quiet revolution is taking shape: the collective will of a village determined to change its destiny through education.
For years, parents in Osodo watched their sons and daughters excel in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), only for poverty to cut short their dreams. With no money for university or college fees, many promising students ended up idle at home and vulnerable to early marriages, crime, and despair.
That painful reality sparked the birth of Osodo Community Development Group, a grassroots initiative with a bold vision to support at least 500 bright but needy students in accessing higher education by the year 2030.
“It started as a simple dream,” recalls Bernard Ngere, the group’s chairperson. “We realized too many young people were giving up on life because of school fees.”
He notes that education is the only inheritance that can be given to their children and to secure their future, there is a need for the community to come together.
Five years ago, Ngere and a handful of villagers pooled their efforts and began organizing annual fundraisers.
Contributions came in, some small, others generous, from locals, well-wishers, and friends of the village. Slowly, their dream took shape.
Today, more than 118 students have benefitted, up from the initial 93. Some are studying to become teachers, nurses, and engineers.
For many families, this support has been nothing short of life-changing and for the young people, the initiative signifies the difference between dropping out and pursuing a professional career.
One of the group’s founders, Aloyce Magolo Ogutu, says the results are visible across the community, adding, “Without this initiative, many of those students would be sitting at home, their potential wasted. Now, they are on paths that will transform not just their lives but the entire village.”
Local leaders say the initiative is also shaping the community’s social fabric. Teresa Auma, the chief Gembe Central location, believes the programme has curbed vices among idle youth.
“By keeping our young people in school, cases of crime, early pregnancies, and drug abuse have gone down,” she says. “This is more than just education but community empowerment.”
For parents like Joyce Akinyi, a widow, the project has been a lifeline. Her daughter is now in college thanks to the community’s intervention.
“I had no way to raise the fees,” she says softly, her eyes lighting up with pride. “This support gave my child hope and gave me peace. I pray they reach their target, because in every home like mine, there is a child waiting for a chance.”
As Osodo Community Development Group looks ahead to 2030, its members remain optimistic. Their journey is not without challenges because fundraising is never easy, but they believe their determination will carry them through.
However, they refuse to believe that change only begins in government offices and big institutions but affirm that sometimes it starts with neighbours, who refuse to watch their children’s futures slip away.
In Osodo, that spirit has turned into a movement, one that is writing a new chapter in the story of education, one student at a time.
By Sitna Omar
