A woman is seeking help from well-wishers to enable her daughter to join university after a stellar performance in the 2024 KCSE examination.
Ruth Auma Otieno, a single mother of three girls living in Oyugis town, says she is worried if help doesn’t come as her first-born daughter will not be able to join university to pursue her higher education studies.
The daughter, Velma Adhiambo, sat her KCSE examination in 2024 and attained a mean grade of A- minus.
Auma is worried she might not afford to fund her education, saying her daughter managed to complete secondary education through the help of her school principal.
She doesn’t have a reliable job to cater for her daughter’s university education needs and is now calling upon well-wishers to chip in to support her daughter so that she can pursue her dream course at the university.
Velma said she has received admission letter to the University of Nairobi to study Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry but added that her family was too poor to meet the higher education costs.
“I am due to report for studies in two weeks’ time from now but I don’t see myself going,” Velma said when journalists caught up with her at her former school, where she had gone to seek help.
She said her mother does not have any property to sell and that they are staying in the Oyugis Kawahindi slums, where they call home, and she has not known any other home except there.
“I ask anyone to help me so that I can pursue my academic dream,” she said as she also acknowledged her mother is ever struggling to meet their needs and that she doesn’t foresee her managing her education. “Please, anybody out there, any well-wisher, I plead for your help,” Velma said.
Her mother said she does menial jobs like laundering clothes for people to cater to her children needs. “Sometimes I work at the neighbors’ farms when I find work there,” she said, adding that she also has two other daughters who are in Grade 9. “Life is really tough for me,” she added.
Auma, a single mother, said they differed with the children’s father 12 years ago when Velma, her firstborn, was in class two. “We could not stay together because my husband was not happy with me after I only gave birth to girls,” she said.
After parting ways with the husband, she said she has been staying in Oyugis doing menial jobs to support her kids. She said Velma had started her primary education at Oyugis primary school where she learnt from class one to class eight, scoring 359 marks in her KCPE exams.
“She was called to join Migingo Girls but I could not afford to take her there. She agreed to join Agoro Sare Mixed Day School here in Oyugis,” she said.
According to Agoro Sare Mixed’s Principal Joseph Ayieko, Velma has been doing well in her studies since she joined form one in 2021. “Velma has always been at the top of her class since form one,” the Principal said.
He said that due to the family’s level of need, she was unable to afford school fees, but the school has been supporting her ever since.
The principal said, given her determination, as a principal he could not send her away, saying that together with the school management they had to find a way of accommodating her.
Ayieko said he is happy at the end of it all; Velma did not disappoint. “In the 2024 KCSE exams, Velma achieved exemplary results. She is the first girl to score an overall mean grade of A- minus of 76 points in the school,” the principal said.
He said he wishes he could continue supporting her but said there are other students in the school who have similar challenges and need help. “I call upon any willing well-wisher to come in and support the girl to join university. She is disciplined and focused,” the principal said.
Anybody who would wish to help can reach the family through Ruth Otieno, on phone no. 0791867021.
By Moseti Julius
