U-Tena

My experience in life is that my parents were poor and we couldn't even dress well like others and having one meal a day this made my life hard since we lived in a single room which made my sister copy bad behavior from the neighbors which led to pregnancy. It came at a time when our street was destroyed, which led to migration to the rural area where there was no ample time to read. I learnt that education is the key since if my parents had learnt I could live a better life. It was the time when my KCPE results were out and I found out I scored 401 despite the difficulties. It was the happiest thing in my life was being called to a national school. To become a lawyer by working smart I will achieve it. I will build a house for my family and do construction for the school and help those with the same problem as mine. I would end corruption since this is the main cause of conflict in our country.

I've gone through a challenging situation, but I believe I'm able to talk about it. Experiences I've had in my life is having a violent father who doesn't care about my basic needs. He comes home very late, drunk, and starts shouting and calling us names, including my mother. With the little money earned, he buys alcohol, therefore forgetting about our needs. Leaving him is a tough decision because the little he deserves is what keeps us moving. What I've learnt from this experience is that I should not give up because I'm the only one who can change my situation and my mother's. A moment when I was really proud of myself is when I was able to achieve my goal and even got an award for it. One thing I always remember, and I'm pleased about is, I was really poor in math, and no one wanted to help me but my mother was always there ready to help even though she didn't understand everything. She walked with me every step of the way until I improved. My dream is to become a successful nurse and help the sick and others who I can help. I'm going to achieve my dream goal through hard work, your support, and my determination. I will work smart to make sure I achieve my goal. Once I achieve my goals, I will take my family out of poverty. I will also help my community by helping children like me to achieve their dreams. I will also help WEF by donating funds. If I get a chance to change anything for the better, I will do it with all my might. I will use all the resources available to achieve my dream. A motivation that always keeps me going is that I never judge anyone because of their background, my background doesn't determine my future and also with time, a piece of charcoal can turn into a shiny diamond.

Being raised and brought up in a slum always turns out to be a disadvantage. Viwandani is never a center of much exposure. So I had to try to live a life free of drug abuse, bad company and negative energy. Hardships in life were there, since my parents were not stable enough to cater for me and my sibling's interns of fees and other needs, but thanks god we managed to survive. Through U-TENA and my former primary school I got a chance to expose myself. I got the chance to interact with successful people, who became my mentors and role models. I was able to go for different science congresses where I enhanced my skills and creativity. I was proud of myself for everything I did, and mostly for passing my KCSE and making it to the university to enroll as an engineering student. My high school life was not that easy but through WEF, I managed to stay in school and study like other students. U-TENA enhanced me with great leadership skills and motivation through talks, through the mentors I was assisted in my school work and assignment during the holidays. My dream in life is to become a successful mechanical engineer with entrepreneurial leadership skills. I look forward to being able to give back to the community by encouraging young people like me since we are the ones to transform our community. For me to get there I must be self-disciplined and always ready to learn from others who are better than me. When I become successful I'll give my family the good life they deserve. I will give back to the community by being a pioneer of scholarships to those students who are unable to pay their school fees. I will come up with mentorship programs to mentor and encourage young people in the society. If god will help me to be that stable, I will partner with WEF and U-TENA in ensuring quality education is accessible to each student by helping them in paying their fees. If I had power to change my country, I will first change the education system, since education is the key changing factor to development and stability. This will too change their mentality that people go to school not to become rich, but to gain knowledge and skills, and to interact with others hence enhancing their social skills and becoming great entrepreneurial leaders who will be the changing factor to the community and Africa at large.

I have lived in Viwandani since I was born. The area is a slum and I have been exposed to a lot of negative behaviors like watching the young people around me engaged in drug abuse and even ending up imprisoned for various criminal activities. My most difficult experience is when my mother lost her job and I had to drop out of school for some time since she was the sole provider at the time as my father was ill and could not go to work. I felt really proud of myself for scoring 408 marks in the KCPE exams as I had not attended most of the classes due to financial issues but I had still worked very hard and was very happy with the results. The happiest moment in my life was when I was admitted to Mary Hill girls’ high school as it had been my dream school for a very long time and I was very happy about being placed there. My high school life was very nice as I got to interact with a lot of people from various parts of our country. I also enjoyed the various clubs like science congress where I was able to make various innovations and present them to other students. My dream is to become an outstanding engineer and become very successful in life. I am going to achieve my dreams by studying as hard as I can in order to get a first-class honor. When I achieve my dream, I will provide my parents with better living conditions. I will also partner with organizations like WEF so that I can support the less privileged in society. If I had the power to change my country, I would ensure the education system is set such that learners are equipped with practical skills so that they can be able to employ themselves and not depend on government jobs.

My early life was hard because my family struggled to get food. We often ate only one meal a day. I felt especially proud when I passed my exams. My happiest memory is of having the hardest-working parents, who make sure I will not suffer. My dream is to become a successful person who will help my parents escape poverty. I will get there through education and hard work. I will make sure to help as many children as possible reach their dreams. I would change the corrupt and selfish people who do not want others to succeed. "Whatever the circumstance, never give up."

It's been hard for me to study in the past few years due to lack of school fees. There was a time I used to miss my exams and it really affected me emotionally since everyone knew I had a poor mom and I learnt that poverty is a bad state of life. I felt proud of myself when I got 379 marks in KCPE to attend my dream school and defeat competitors at school. The most memorable and happiest thing in my life is when I saw my family coming together and celebrating. My dream for life is to be one of the famous architects and build my own empire. I am going to form a fund-raising organization to help the poor children in my community. I would change the education sector so that we can have free education in primary school and university. This is because not every kid out there is able to afford education more so in the secondary and university sector.