MACHEO ACHIEVEMENT

PROGRAM

You may never meet the students you are helping, but you put a smile on their faces. Thank you for your donations which we have received in the recent past.

This year, the first lot of our Macheo students are in the final year of secondary education and will sit for a nationwide exam, The Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education (KCSE). Please allow me to give you a brief update of their progress.

These students have been in the program since its inception in 2012. As we reported earlier in the year, of the 25 who joined the program, 3 students dropped out in the second year and were replaced. Besides the mentoring and the tutoring, we realise that some of these students are not able to cater for their secondary tuition fee. This affects their performance because they are always kicked out of class. We have approached other partners who are helping them cover their upkeep and tuition fees. It is our hope that this goes a long way in improving their grades.

Our aim is to help these students to realize that life can be better, that life should be better and that it is within their reach to make it happen.

Each year, Strathmore University continues to advance in its mission of service to society and specifically Macheo program enables young people, especially those who need it most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

Janet O Wycliffe

Janet is the third in a family of six children. In her words:

Wycliffe, who dreams of studying electrical engineering, lives in Kibera slum with his parents, 4 brothers and sisters. He says:“My parents do small scale businesses. My father

is currently a welder. He is the sole provider of my school fees. He also takes care of my two cousins who are orphans. My mother lives in the country-side. She sells ropes or sometimes cassavas in the nearby market to provide for my younger sisters and brothers. I want to study Journalism ”

Janet is 17 years old.

“My parents don’t have permanent jobs and they struggle to provide us with our daily needs. My mother normally encourages me by saying that “if you want to live long, observe the following rules, keep calm, go to church and do not worry”. This is how I overcome my challenges in life.

I thank Macheo people for making my dream come true. By training me physically, emotionally and mentally. Though my family is struggling to get money, I would like to get a small job after KCSE to pay for my younger sister and brother school fees. After KCSE results are released I would like to join a university and continue with my education.’’

Wycliffe is 23 years old.

Sheilah K Daniel M

For 16 year old Sheila, the sky is the limit. She dreams of becoming a flight attendant.

17 year old Daniel is the second of three. He says:

“I come from a family of three girls. . My mother works as a house help and my father is a construc-tion worker. My elder sister completed form four in 2012 but until now she has not been able to find a job. I am the second born in our family and am in form four. My younger sister is now in form two and she studies very hard to be a lawyer.

I, on the other hand would like to be an Airhostess.’’

‘‘As a single parent, my mother who works as a house help, is always hard pressed on cash. This poses a challenge in raising the finance needed to educate us. My older brother completed his studies last year. He attained a mean grade of B. Due to insufficient funds, my brother has not yet joined university.

Despite the challenges am facing in paying my school fees and in acquiring learning materials, I am still doing my best. I thank Strathmore sponsors who cater for part of my school fees.

I thank God for offering me the chance to be part and parcel of Macheo. This programme has men-tored me, taken me to places and developed me both physically and spiritually.

I really want to become a Doctor.’’

Stephen K Muli S

Stephen K the first born in his family is 18 years old.

‘’I am the second of five boys. We have been bought up by two parents. My eldest brother is in college. My four other brothers are still in primary school. My father works in a security agency, while my mum is unemployed.

“I am the first born in our family. Our family con-sists of three boys and our parents. My two broth-ers are still in primary school. I did my KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) in 2009 but I was forced to repeat due to lack of school fees for my secondary education. In form one I studied with school fee difficulty until I got sponsorship in term three. My dad is a shoe cobbler in Kibera slum. This is the only source of finance where my family depends on. Mum stays in the countryside with my younger brothers.

When I joined form two, a programme called Macheo, was started in Kibera by Strathmore University. By good luck I was among the pioneer students. I would like to continue with my education after form four so that I get a well-paying job to assist my family as well as the community where I come from.

I hope to become an accountantMay God bless all Macheo the founders. Thank you.’’

I want to study Medicine at the University of Nairobi.’’ Muli is 18 years old.

“In our family, we have 3 brothers and three sisters. My two brothers are at home and the other one lives Naivasha. My mum and dad are living at home. My mum is a farmer. My dad is sick and nursed by my mum. I live with my older sister. My younger sister and I are still in school. Our school fees is paid through bursary since my sister cannot afford to pay for us.

I take this opportunity to thank each one of you who is interested in knowing more about my family.I would like to study IT.’’Mercy is 18 years old

Mercy A

Justine M Nzomo S

“My family comprises of six members: my par-ents, two brother and my sister. I am the eldest. My sister is in form one in a school in the country side. My father stays with me in the challenging slum of Kibera and pays my school fee.

“I am from a family of seven; 2 boys and 3 girls, and I am the second born in the family. My father works as an employee at a photo studio and he is lowly paid, my mother is a famer with nowhere to cultivate. My sister, a 2010 form four graduate is jobless and now married with two children.My mother is back at the country side where she

practices small scale farming to earn a living.

When I grow up, I want to be a business person or an Accountant’’Justine is 17 years old

I am a form four student and it’s a blessing to the family and relatives. I believe I am their hope for the near future and am working hard to be suc-cessful. My younger sister is now in form two and I will hopefully pay her school fees in the near future after my success since my parents have a lot of challenges due to their low income.

I would like to be an Accountant’’Nzomo is 19 years old

Jackson M Erick A

19 Years Jackson would like to be an Accountant Erick who is 18 Years old says:

“I am the fourth born in our family of 7 brothers and two sisters. We are raised by a single parent (Mother). Two of my elder brothers are working blue collar jobs which pay little amount of remu-neration which cannot sustain the whole family.

My mother sells vegetables in order to cater for our basic needs and to also pay school fees for my two young sisters who are in primary school.’’

“I would like to be a mentor for the remaining Macheo students as I pursue my career as an Entrepreneur.

Am in a family of three and I am the last born. My parents separated in the year 2000. Since then our mother has provided for everything that we needed. My two sisters left school because of different circumstances.

My father has never given me any support since I started school. My mother cooks and sales food for a living. During the weekends I sometimes engage myself in income generating activities like repairing shoes.’’

Stephen M Achoki N

“I am from a family of four children, my three sisters and myself. My father earns very little salary, the same with my mother. They do their best to take care of all of us.

20 Year old Achoki would like to join a University and be successful. In his own words:

Since he is not permanently employed, sometimes my father doesn’t get work. My parents struggle to pay school fees, rent and food. Sometime we go without food.

Three of us are in secondary school while my youngest sister is in primary school. I would like to work in a factory.”Stephen is 19 years old.

“ I am the second born in a family of seven, two girls and four boys. We are in a single parent family where only my mother exists. I have been raised by my grandparents and educated by them from the time I joined standard eight.

It has been difficult continuing with my high school studies until my uncle started supporting me. I had almost lost hope of studying. I now stay with my uncle who is also a single parent in his family and he has three sons, two in high school and one in primary school.

He does not have a good salary and the little he earns he divides it into catering for the basic needs and school fees for the children including me. By now we owe the school a very large amount of money that makes us be send out of school every now and then.’’

Alfred N Titus K

“I am from a family of four. My mother and my two sisters. We were brought up under the care of my grandmother until we completed our primary education. It was only when my grandmother passed away that we were left with my mother who has a small business selling sukumawiki and doing some manual work.

“We are five children in our family and I am the first born. I have two sisters and two brothers. My parents do farming but it seems not to be suitable because of the bad climatic conditions in the area. Due to this, my parents are unable to pay my school fees.

Life was not so easy for her which forced one of my sisters to drop out of school when she was in form one due to lack of school fees. In our family, I am the only one who had a chance to study up to form four with the help of well-wishers and teachers.

I would like to proceed in my education up to university so that I change the life of my family and be a good example to them and my fellow friends who are still at school.”Alfred is 18 years old

I am happy that they have done their best until I am now in form four. I am working extremely hard so that I may get a good grade that will enable me join a University

I would like to start my own business.”Titus is 18 years old

Mr Muhia of Strathmore School giving a Biology tutorial

Rachael W Mwita S

“My family and I live in Kibera. My family consists of four children. My father does manual work as a constructor and my mother doesn’t have any work. In terms of education, my father and mother are school dropouts as a result of lack of school fees.

18 Year old Mwita would like to Mentor the youth once he graduates from high school. He says:

My parents do their level best to educate us despite the challenges we encounter in our day to day life. In a family of four children, I am the first born, the second born is in class six while the last born is in nursery school. With the little money that my father earns, it is difficult to survive due to the expenses that need to be satisfied.

We usually try our level best to have three meals a day. In conclusion, though we are faced with challenges, we try to manage them with mercy and grace of God”Rachael is 18 years old

“I am the second last born in a family of seven (4 boys and 3 girls). I am from a single parent family after my dad left us when I turned six years old.

As a result of this, my eldest brother dropped out of school so that he can assist my mum who is vegetable vendor.

After I had completed my KCPE and passed very well to join a provincial school, due to his low income, my brother he took me to a local school where he could afford to pay for my school fees.’’Mwita is 18 years old

Virginia V Dominic N“I am 19 years old.My family consists of seven members. My father is a carpenter while my mother is a house wife. She stays at home to take care of the house and makes sure we are not misbehaving. My elder sister is in her second year at Maasai Mara Uni-versity. She is pursuing Bachelor of Travel and Tourism.

19 year Dominic would like to get a job to sustain himself and assist others in the society.

I am the second born in our family and I want to follow the same footsteps my sister left behind as she was working very hard.

Our third born studies at Straight Secondary School and she is in form Two. She is a very bright student but due to lack of school fees she spends a lot of time at home because my elder sister needs a lot of money to cater for her university education.”

I would like to be a business lady. “I am the first born in a family of three. My younger siblings are still in their primary school.

My parents and my younger siblings live upcoun-try where both are small scale farmers. At times they engage in casual labor to earn extra money to provide our basics needs especially my fees.

On many occasions, I miss my classes to go and collect my school fees. Though this has been a great challenge, I don’t look down upon myself. This has been hugely influenced by Macheo men-toring sessions.

Macheo students having lunch in the Strathmore Cafeteria I am pulling up my socks in school to attain good

grades to join campus. Afterwards, I will continue being an active member of Macheo Mtaani to help other young youths with same or different problems to mine.’’

Juliet W E Scovia

“I am from a family of seven members, five children and my parents. I thank God for such a wonderful family. I have three sisters and one brother and as of now.

A student of John Paul II mixed Secondary School, Scovia would like to join either a college or a university once she graduates from high school. In her own words

My elder sister is jobless. Although she reached form four, as a result of financial problems, she wasn’t able to join a university despite the fact that she scored a B- in KCSE. As an alternative, my parents decided to take her to a college where she studied catering and design but she has never got a chance to work.

My 2nd born sister dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. As for me I was lucky to get an opportunity of being sponsored by Strathmore University. I am glad because my brother is in form one and our last born is in class five. I am praying hard that God will open ways for them to finish form four and go further.

“I am not from a well up family because my father passed away when I was young. I have been brought up by a single parent, my mother. She has to struggle each and every day to provide for our basic needs like food, clothes and even to pay our school fees. Since we are five children in the family it is a real challenge to her.

One of my brothers who qualified to join Univer-sity did not have money to pay for his school fees; he is just at home right now.

The kind of job my mum does cannot cater for our needs because she sells vegetable. This chal-lenges push me to work hard in school so that one day I can improve my family situation.’’Scovia is 17 years oldThank you very much Strathmore for paying

school fees for me. I am also glad to be part of Macheo project. May God bless you abundantly.

I would like to join either a college or a university once I complete high school’’Juliet is 17 years old

M Lydia O PeninnahLydia who is 18 says she wants to join a college and do a catering course and thereafter join a university.

“I am the second born in a family of three children. My father is a business man who has a Jua-kali business near our home. My mother on the other hand, sells vegetables within our neighborhood.

We are a happy family though we experienced some challenges for the past years. My younger sister Sharon started developing health problems in 2007. When she was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital for medical attention, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure, kidney failure and ovary problems. This was a great challenge to our family because of lack of money to cater for her medication

She was then admitted to Kenyatta Hospital and this costs my parents a lot. She is now under medication though it’s very expensive.

Apart from the illness, my parents are working extra-hard to meet our basic needs and also to pay our school fees. My sister and I are in form four, while brother is waiting to join college as soon as my parents are financially stable. Otherwise I thank the almighty God for keeping us alive. Thank you.’’

19 Year Peninnah has seen her share of challenges. Despite all this she is working very hard.

“We are a family of four with a single parent (mother). I am the firstborn in my family with one sister and two brothers.

For the last few years, we had been staying with our grandmother. Our mother by then, was finan-cially unstable.

I competed my primary school five years ago. For the first year I did not join secondary school because my grandmother could not afford to raise the money. I had to join a beauty and hair dressing college for six months since that was the only option left.

That same year, my grandmother became very ill with hypertension and she could not even pay for my college fees. I had to stay at home for few months. As it is said, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”, I got married for three months, thank God my mother came and spoke with me and told me to come and stay with her in Nairobi.

Since I had the desire to achieve my dreams and become a better person in life, I begged her to take me to school. I joined a local school in Kibera and worked hard. Later I had an opportunity to join Macheo.

I hope to study law or Tourism and Hotel management.’’

Macheo student hanging out during a class break.

KIBERA COMMUNITY LABORATORYA big percentage of the schools in Kibera do not have laboratories to carry out experiments in the sciences. The Kenyan National Exams Board requires that each student should do at least two sciences in their final exams (Biology or Chemistry or Physics). The three schools we are working do not have any labs. This puts our students at a great disadvantage. For some time now we have been thinking of starting a community Lab in Kibera to be shared by the various school. As we want this to be a long term investment, we are still working on the practicality and sustainability of the project.

MACHEO MTAANIWe are happy to tell you that Cleophas, an Alumni of John Paul 2 Secondary School has started a pro-gram dubbed Macheo Mtaa (Macheo in the Hood.) The students in our Macheo Program are working with Cleophas trying to mentor their peers in the slum. They are passing down all the things they have learnt in the program and we hope this is the beginning of something great.

We met Cleophas, a few years back during our outreach program in John Paul 2. Upon graduating from high school, Strathmore University awarded him a scholarship to study Bachelor of Commerce. After completing his course, he was employed by Toyota Kenya.

“...the problem of Kibera is a psychological prob-lem. We have to educate the people so that they can solve the problems. The future of Kibera depends on what young people think and what they are doing’’

Cleopas Odoyo, Strathmore Alumni (lives in Kibera)

“May your principle of life be respect for the dignity of others. The less fortunate are so many in our country today. They should know that they are not alone. We must make them know that there is always one person, or one group, who thinks of them. You cannot rescue and help all, maybe not even one; but at least we can be pre-sent for them in their special situation, their con-dition of suffering.’’

Prof. John Odhiambo, Vice Chancellor, Strathmore University

From L-R: Ms Roselyn, Cynthia, Boab, Howell, Ms Theresa and Sandra.

Ms Theresa Bowman, a volunteer from America worked with Ms Roselyn Warau, of Strathmore Uni-versity to start Macheo Program. Cynthia, Boab, Howell and Sandra are Strathmore students who have worked closely with the Community Outreach Office to ensure the success of the program.

TRAINING OF KIBERA TEACHERSIn an effort to remind teachers of the important role they have in preserving and educating the current generation of young people, Strathmore University has developed a Teacher Enhancement Programme (TEP), a continuing education programme that aims at building the capacity of Kenyan teachers, by further equipping them with the skills in effective management while boosting their morale, and train-ing young people to be honorable citizens, with good character, morals, and self-discipline.

As you well are aware, Macheo students are drawn from John Paul II, New Horizon and Glory Second-ary Schools. In 2013, we enrolled teachers from these school to the TEP project for a course in the Art of Leadership (AOL).

This was a unique experience for these teachers and has really helped them understand Macheo and what we are aiming at. We hope to engage them even more so that we can work together more closely.

STRATHMORE KIBERA SCHOLARSHIPSKibera draws a lot of attention from many stakeholders. This includes some of our visiting professors and friends who, once they visit the slum always want to assist. So far, we have at least 6 scholarships for Macheo students if they qualify to study at our university.

This academic year, four students from Kibera have been granted full scholarships to study Bachelor of Commerce. This is a great milestone and an encouragement to our students who will be sitting for their finals this year.

Previously, students from Kibera have been awarded scholarships to study short courses (Diploma, CPA and ACCA course). This has been mainly due to the fact that they do not meet the minimum require-ment. We hope that with Macheo, we will keep achieving better results and get them enrolled to institu-tions of higher learning. At the same time, community Outreach Office will continue giving scholarships to students who meet minimum requirement for admission to study short courses.

From L-R: Alex, Mercy, Scholastica and Charles have been awarded full scholarships to study Bachelor of Commerce.

Thank you for your support