Gift Wambua and Joyce Mumbe, residents of Shauri Moyo in Shimba Hills, Kwale County, depict a poignant scene of isolation as they witness their peers embark on their educational journey each day while they remain unable to join them due to financial constraints.
Despite their remarkable performance in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams, with Gift scoring 343 marks and Joyce achieving 287 marks, the twins encountered a setback in January when they couldn’t proceed to secondary school.
The barrier?
Their mother and grandmother were unable to meet the substantial school fees demanded by Shimo La Tewa and Kaya Tiwi secondary schools, totaling Sh63,554 for Gift and Sh62,779 for Joyce, in addition to the expenses for uniforms and school supplies.
With aspirations of becoming an engineer and a doctor respectively, the twins find themselves grappling with mental distress as they witness their peers advancing academically while they remain on the sidelines.
Expressing their anguish, Gift shared, “We are stressed. Our friends are in school but we are still at home. It feels bad,” encapsulating the emotional toll of their circumstances.
Residing with their unemployed grandmother while their mother works in Saudi Arabia, the twins frequently confront the harsh reality of going to bed hungry.
Nevertheless, despite their adversities, they conscientiously rise at dawn to assist their grandmother with household chores, their hearts burdened by unrealized aspirations.
Joyce maintains a hopeful outlook, unwavering in her belief that education is the pathway to a brighter future. “It doesn’t matter how long it will take, but my desire for education remains,” she asserted, embodying resilience in adversity.
Their grandmother, Miriam Mumbe, shoulders the responsibility for her grandchildren’s future, bemoaning the absence of their father, who abandoned them before their birth and has never returned.
“I’m not asking for anything other than proper education for the children,” she stressed, underscoring the transformative potential of education in breaking the cycle of poverty.
