Bright but needy students from Nyamira County may finally realize their wish to join their dream secondary after the Kenya Commercial Bank (CBK) Foundation offered them an education scholarship.
Ms. Gladys Nyanchonka, a blind mother from Borabu Sub-county told KNA during an interview said she had lost hope for his son Felix after receiving a calling letter to join Nyambaria High School.
Due to her disability that hinders her from doing any work and with a husband who was crippled after getting involved in a fatal road accident in 2021, she was helpless and surrendered to fate after their son performed well in the national examination.
“My son’s Head Teacher at Metamaywa Primary School, Ms. Sabina Moraa, has guided me to this place today. She is still the one who informed us about this scholarship after the KCPE results were announced. She encouraged us to go for the interview and try our luck. I am grateful my son was lucky to be among the few who qualified to secure a scholarship with the KCB Foundation out of hundreds of children who applied and called for an interview. My husband and
I had no clue or idea how Felix could start his secondary school because our disability has virtually crumbled all our family plans for we are physically and financially incapacitated,” Gladys narrated.
Another, Jane Moraa, revealed to KNA that her daughter is a teen mother and this status forced her to work for fewer hours and look for lighter jobs because she was babysitting her grandchild, to enable her daughter to go to school since she was preparing for KCPE exams.
“When Elizabeth scored 320 marks, I was excited but also troubled. Excited because despite her challenge as a teen mother she had excelled, but equally troubled because our work as tea pickers in people’s farms to eke a livelihood hardly meets our basic needs at home and now an added responsibility of sustaining a child in secondary school was mind-boggling,” Elizabeth’s mother said.
“I got information about KCB foundation from a nurse where I take my grandchild to health clinics, since she knew her story she told me to apply and take her for an interview when the date is announced. After the interview, I received a phone call from a lady who introduced herself as an officer from KCB and they were looking for directions to come to my home. After the visit, two weeks later she called me to inform me that my daughter had qualified for the KCB scholarship. I cannot express my joy; all I knew my daughter could become even if she had excelled in her KCPE exams was to be a co-laborer as a tea picker or be engaged in some other unskilled work in people’s homes as a house help. God has come through for me,” she excitedly explained.
Felix and Elizabeth’s parents are among 14 others whose children got a scholarship to pursue their secondary education from Nyamira courtesy of KCB Foundation. They said they have no gift that can sufficiently appreciate KCB’s gesture of giving their children hope of a bright future. They will remain forever indebted.
KCB Nyamira Branch Manager, Bonface Azenga, said the KCB Foundation assists bright but needy and vulnerable children to go to their dream secondary schools where Nyamira County KCB Foundation selected 14 students with at least 380 marks and above qualified for the scholarship.
“Our scholarship caters for tuition fees, school uniforms, required textbooks required by the school, shopping, transport to and from school, and some little out-of-pocket cash for the four years the students will be in various secondary schools. You must maintain high grades for your entire period in secondary school because we selected the crème de la crème from those who applied to be considered for the scholarship,” Mr. Azenga said.
The Branch Manager further clarified that the Bank has started a special programme for bright teen mothers who are vulnerable and needy to consider them for scholarships because they encounter various challenges to be able to undertake their exams and excel.
Azenga counseled the students to ensure they work hard because KCB Foundation reserves the right to cancel the scholarship if their academic performance is dismal and/or is reported to be undisciplined by the school.
Ms. Agnes Nyakundi the KCB officer coordinating the scholarship programme advised parents never at any point relent in counseling and disciplining their children because it is their obligation, to ensure their children live- up to the required and acceptable expectations both in and out of school.
The KCB Foundation was established in 2007 to implement the KCB Bank Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility programs and as a sign of commitment to sustainable development to alleviate poverty and enhance well-being.
By Deborah Bochere
