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Boy from a Nakuru slum who beat all odds to score A- in 2021 KCSE

Nahashon Omwero Mogeni

Nahashon Omwero Mogeni (centre) of Langalanga Secondary School in Nakuru Town East who scored A minus of 79 points at home in Kaptembwa slums in Nakuru Town West with his parents Jane Moraa (left ) and his father Isaiah Omweri (right) on April 23 , 2022.

Photo credit: Francis Mureithi | Nation Media Group

Nahashon Mogeni Omweri, a slum dweller in Nakuru, demonstrated that poverty should not be a hindrance to excelling in education after he ranked among the top students in the 2021 KCSE exams.

Nahashon overcome hardships including sleeping hungry in his parents' mud thatched single room in Kaptembwa slums in Nakuru Town West to score an A-minus of 79 points at Langalanga Secondary School.

“I want to thank God from the bottom of my heart for giving me strength and courage to study and scoring a grade an A minus," said Nahashon at his parents' house.

Highlighting the struggles he encountered through his schooling journey, he said paying for lunch was a major challenge and many times he missed lunch because he could not afford the meal.

"I owe the school lunch fees arrears of Sh19,000. I thank the school management for at least allowing me to have lunch once in a while even without paying Sh4,000 lunch fees," Nahashon narrates.

He said he used to wake up at 2am to study, and at 5am he braved the cold and walked to school, about 10km from his parents' house.

"It was very risky walking to school in the morning because Kaptembwa is known to be home to criminal gangs but I prayed to God to protect me," he added.

Nahashon, an advenstist, was in church when he received a message that Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha would release the 2021 KCSE results today (April 23).

“At first I could not believe it as I have never seen national examination results released on a weekend. I could barely concentrate during the church service,” he said.

However, when he received his results he went down to his knees and thanked God for the sterling performance.

“This good performance is a result of hard work, determination and prayers. Without the divine intervention I would not have made it,” he said.

“I was expecting a plain A but all the same I still believe with the A-minus I will pursue my childhood dream of studying medicine at the university. I want to help the poor in the slums. I would not want to see the poor suffer the way I suffered here.”

The second born in a family of five – two girls and three boys – said he wants to become the first person in his family to attain university education and help the family overcome poverty.

He joined Langalanga Secondary school after attaining 363 marks in KCPE in 2017.

His mother Jane Moraa Omweri could not hide her joy saying "my prayers have been answered and I thank God."

"He is a good boy who is disciplined and is hardworking and loves going to church. He told me while in primary school he wanted to become a doctor and today his journey to becoming a doctor has started," she said.