By Betty Luke
Despite spending sleepless nights to ensure he excelled in the 2020 KCPE examinations, a young boy from Ngaremara, Isiolo contemplated sitting the exams for the second time this year to ensure he secured a scholarship to help him join secondary school.
Enock Doctor’s decision-to-be was prompted by lack of funding to join Chogoria Boys in Tharaka Nithi County where he got an admission from.
From a family of three boys and his mother being the sole breadwinner, Doctor on several occasions slept on an empty stomach and had to walk for more than a kilometer to school.
To the 16-year-old, the needy situation at his home was a clear indication that if no one lent a helping hand to have him join secondary school, his dream of becoming a lawyer and helping his single mother out of poverty would be a tall order.
“My mother can hardly provide us with enough food, leave alone raising thousands for school fees,” Doctor said.
During a recent interview with The Press Point, the enthusiastic boy said he was both excited and worried after scoring 360 marks at Ngaremara Primary School.
He was certain his poor mother who relied on manual jobs to fend for the family would not manage to raise fees for his Secondary education.
When Equity Bank invited applications for the Wings to Fly scholarships, Doctor tried his luck with fingers closed though he had the backup plan- seek admission to class eight would he not be picked for the sponsorship.
“I had made up my mind that if I did not qualify I would repeat and try my luck next year,” he said.
In what he terms miraculous, he was among the 23 learners who benefited under the program that caters for the scholars’ tuition, books, uniforms, transport costs and pocket money for the four-year period the scholars are in school.
“It is a dream come true for me having come from a family of three that entirely depends on our mother who has no regular and reliable source of income,” the boy who has since joined the Tharaka Nithi based school earlier said.
The Wings to Fly program is fully sponsored by Equity Bank Foundation targeting learners who score 350 marks and above.
