Keziah

My name is Keziah and I was born in Kisumu in Western Kenya. I lost my mother at a very young age, leaving my 3 brothers and 4 sisters with our father, who was unemployed and could not provide for us. After some very difficult years in Kisumu, I was taken to the Kibera Slum by my older sister, where I enrolled into a small primary school. Unfortunately my sister could not pay the school fees, so I was forced to miss some years of schooling, instead working in the slum to help pay for food and rent.  When I finally completed primary school, I sat for my national examinations, and despite receiving a score that made me eligible for high school, there was no money to pay for this. I did not give up, and decided to repeat my final year of primary school in an effort to receive a higher grade that may increase my chances of reaching secondary school.

The Kickstart Project team met Keziah shortly after she received these second exam results and it was abundantly clear to us that this was a young girl who was determined to be educated.