A 13-year-old orphaned bright boy from Kitengela town, Kajiado East Sub-county, who scored 383 marks in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, has failed to join Form One due to lack of school fees.
Hassan Nandwa Khareche sat his KCPE exams at Kitengela New Dawn Academy under the sponsorship of well-wishers and secured a place at Ikutha Boys Secondary School in Kitui County.
But as his classmates headed to their respective secondary schools on Monday, the boy's future looked increasingly bleak with a dark cloud hanging over Hassan and his elder sister, Metrin Khayisia, who is also his guardian.
When Nation.Africa caught up with him and his sister on Monday afternoon in a one-room rented house owned by a well-wisher in Kitengela Township, the duo looked dejected and hopeless.
Hassan Nandwa Khareche, 13, who has failed to join Form One due for lack of school fees displays his KCPE results slip at a well-wisher's home in Kitengela town on January 15, 2024.
Photo credit: Stanley Ngotho | Nation Media Group
The single room has a single bed, some clothes for the two of them hanging on a nail on the wall and a few utensils. Half a cabbage and a packet of maize flour lay on an old table.
A light bulb hung loosely from the ceiling, indicating that there was no light in the house. This is where they have spent the last three days, thinking about their next move before the owner returns.
The owner of the house, who is said to be a church colleague of the duo's mother, had given them a place to stay for a few days while she was away.
Metrin, 21, who has been working as a house help in Kitengela town for the past year, told Nation.Africa that her parents, Ronald Odede and Violet Khareche died in April 2021 and February 2022, respectively.
"My mother, who used to do menial jobs, lived with the two of us in Kitengela before she was taken ill and later died. When I completed Form Four in 2021, I secured a house help job here in Kitengela. My employer allowed me to live with my brother while he was in school until a few days ago when we were kicked out," she said in tears.
She said their aged grandmother who lives in Vihiga County is poor and looks after three other grandchildren.
"We are surviving on the little money I had saved for food. We are getting hopeless with each minute. I had applied for various sponsorships for my brother but I did not get a response," she added.
Hassan Nandwa Khareche, 13, who has failed to join Form One due for lack of school fees displays his KCPE results slip at a well-wisher's home in Kitengela town on January 15, 2024.
Photo credit: Stanley Ngotho | Nation Media Group
During the interview, the two siblings hugged each other and wept bitterly, a clear indication of their despair.
The boy, who aspires to be a medical doctor, told Nation.Africa he spends most of his time revising his primary school books in the hope that a benefactor will come along to enable him to go to secondary school.
"All I have is my sister. I'm still hoping to get some help to join high school to be able to accomplish my aspirations and help my grandmother. My sister has sacrificed a lot for me since my parents died,” said the boy.
Now, the boy is appealing to well-wishers to support his secondary school education.
