SHOFCO

Ivin's parent's are day laborers and do not make enough money to pay her school fees. She has been able to attend school this far based on donations from a local church. She longs to continue to a higher level in school and to make her parents proud. She currently lives in a one room house with both her parents and her two siblings. She often has to go to school without eating breakfast first. She longs to finish school and improve the prospects for her family.

Nicholas has always been a good student. However, a few years ago his father lost his job and his mother had trouble paying his school fees on her own. "My plan in the future is to complete my education and I aspire to be a professional psychologist. I would love support with my school fees for my secondary level. I believe in the name of God and you guys, because I know that you are the ones who can help me and make me what I want to be. I know specifically that I have to focus on my studies if I get this opportunity. I am ready and willing to make you proud by attaining good marks in my studies. After my studies, I promise to stop and work very hard to eradicate the issues of poverty and corruption. These are the issues most faced by many people in the area where I live."

My hobbies are drawing, painting, and reading. I also enjoy practicing my typing on computers in school and training myself to learn how to swim when I can. My favorite subject is art because it involves a lot of painting, colouring, drawing, and some cut-outs. When I grow up, I would like to be an optician. Although opticians have tough times, I will not give up on my dream because I would like to give something back to the community. I would love to be a famous optician known around the whole of world. My dream is to travel the world helping people with their eye problems. I would like to thank my mum for all the good things that have happened to me and the C.E.O of our school, Kennedy Odede. He is my role model.

"My life has been difficult since my parents have no good jobs. We are living from hand to mouth but we care about our lives. My life situation has worsened since my father got in an accident. We are very grateful to god for keeping us alive and giving us a place to lay our heads on. First I would like to finish school and acquire a degree. After that I would like to have a higher standard of living. I would like to open a school and teach children on how to make their dreams come true. I would like to tell other children from the slums that their background doesn't matter. What matters is where they are going, not the challenges that they came from."

Sawe excels in math and science and loves to learn. She is currently interested in learning computer programming. She wants to go on to university so that she can have a better life. Sawe has 3 younger sisters who were born at the same time (triplets). Since triplets were unexpected, her mother had to have a C-section and the family is still paying off the medical bills. Although she loves her sisters, her parents did not expect to have so many children and they are struggling to improve their standard of living. Her parents are both unemployed and take on various short term jobs when they can.

I live in the Kibera slums in a village known as Kisumu Ndogo. I have two siblings and live with both parents. My favorite subjects are science, social studies, and Kiswahili because they are entertaining and give you the history of where we’ve come from as a country and as human beings. I love swimming, sports and reading story books which wholesomely engage me and keep me fit. I am aspiring to be a nurse so I can contribute positively towards people in my country by attending to them when they are ill.