When Sarah Khanali Songoi scored 299 marks in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), she was overjoyed and expected to further her studies.
Khanali who comes from Mariaini village in Gatundu North, Kiambu County hoped to join a boarding school to continue with her secondary education with the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty in her destitute family.
Two weeks after her peers joined Form One and began studying, Khanali has been picking tea at smallholder farms in Mariaini village to help her mother feed her siblings and pay their rent.
Hopeless and dejected, the 16-year-old who aspires to become a doctor said life has been unbearably hard and had to chip in to help her mother meet their daily obligations.
Desperate Khanali said they have been living in a derelict single-roomed rental house and are sometimes forced to sleep hungry especially when they fail to secure a menial job in the tea farms.
“I have been doing casual jobs of plucking tea here to help my mum feed my other siblings. I have been crying all night asking God why me but I remain optimistic. My dream is to help my mother out of poverty and support other struggling children to go to school but it remains just a dream should I fail to continue with my studies,” Khanali told K24 Digital.
To add salt to her wound, Khanali who schooled at Mariaini Primary School, was denied her result slip after her mother was unable to clear her Ksh2,500 arrears, a situation that continues to make her shed tears all day.
Distressed and troubled that she might end up becoming useless in life unless she continues with her education, Khanali appealed to well-wishers who would be touched by her family’s predicament to help her continue with her studies.
Mercy Njeri, her mother who only manages to pluck between 15-20 kilograms of tea a day taking home about Ksh200, said the money is usually not enough to both feed her four children, pay rent and support their education.
One of her children, a boy, who was set to join pre-primary education (PP1) also remains at home as she was unable to buy him a uniform and pay the required registration fees.
While describing Khanali as a bright girl and the saviour of her family, Njeri who is a single mother expressed fears that her daughter’s dreams might end up crumpling.
“I humbly ask well-wishers to help my daughter continue with her studies. I have been having sleepless nights and continue to be troubled by her continued stay at home. It is not my wish to pluck tea with her but I have no option,” Njeri, who doesn’t even have a mobile phone, said.
At Kimiili village in the same constituency, Brian Waweru Mwangi who was studying at Chania Primary School and managed to score 322 marks in the 2023 KCPE exams continues to roam at home.
His financially constrained parents have been unable to buy him a uniform and raise the required school fees to join Form One forcing him to similarly continue plucking tea for survival.
The future lawyer whose thirst for education is extreme said he has been troubled for the two weeks he has remained at home as his former fellow students continue studying.
“It’s been hard for me! For the two weeks I have been plucking tea and helping my parents as my peers study, I have had so many thoughts. I urge well-wishers to help me go for my dreams of becoming a lawyer to represent the poor,” Waweru said.
Cry to join Form One
His parents led by Anthony Mwangi and Mary Wachuka said they have tried all means possible to have the boy enrolled in school without success.
The casual labourers narrated that life has become overly hard and are now clinging to hope that the situation might change.
They called on Kenyans to come through for them to rescue the future of their boy who could be a solution to some of the challenges bedeviling the society.
“Waweru is very hardworking and as parents, we have done everything we could. Life is very hard and the money we make after plucking tea is not enough to feed all our children and support their education. Waweru has been restless and feels disappointed by our inability to help him join Form One. We have the will but our pockets are literally empty and we humbly appeal for support from Kenyans,” Wachuka said.
