MY STORY

 

Hi? My name is Samantha. I am 16 years old and a form 2 student at St Teresa’s Mundere Girls’ in Busia County, Kenya. My mum passed on when I was in class four, so it’s just my dad, me and my little sister.

I really want to study but I am really facing a lot of struggles. I need your help to get a good education and help my family.

My dad is a fisher man. This is his only source of income. He tries his best to keep me in school. He will give me from 200ksh to 1200ksh to help reduce my school fees. This is not enough to keep me in school for the entire term. Most of the time I get sent home due to my school fees balance and I miss out on a lot of classes.

I live around 13KM from my school and I have to walk to school and back every day because I cannot afford to pay for transportation. I would really love to be in boarding school so that I am not too tired to read. School fees is the hardest part. I can survive as long as my fees is paid. Sometimes I miss upto a month of studies because I was sent home due to my school fees balance and my dad is trying as hard as he can to come up with a reasonable amount for the school to allow me back to class.

This is also emotionally disturbing because I am stressed all the time thinking and asking myself questions like when will I get time to study? When will I be able to go back to school? Will I get to school on time? Will I ever catch up with my classmates? Will I have my school fees paid?

This is taking a toll on my grades in school. I really want to improve my grades so that I can stand a chance at improving the life we live so I can pursue my dreams and ensure my father and my brother can live a better life.

As a girl, it is important to maintain cleanliness. However, I have only 1 pair of uniform which is hard for me to wash because of the time it needs to get dry so that I can wear it again to school the next morning. I can only wash it once a week but sometimes we don’t even have soap to wash the uniform.

Also, we as girls undergo menstruation every month. Most of the time I cannot get access to sanitary towels. I borrow from classmates but ultimately it gets annoying to them. I have to wear two underwear or cut a piece of mattress to help. I miss school sometimes.

My school shoes are plastic and I have worn them out because of the long distance I walk to and from school so they are torn at the bottom. My teachers have given me countless warnings to change my shoes but my dad cannot afford to get me new ones. He is trying but he is not able. He has to pick top priorities which is at least feeding us or trying to reduce my fees.

 Nelly Asere , writer

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