Education is key; Father-daughter story Sixty year old Momposhi is father to Linet who is among our pilot girls to have joined Kakenya Center for Excellence (KCE). Linet enrolled in fourth grade in 2009 and since then, Kakenya’s Dream has been supporting her education. In 2013, Linet emerged top student from KCE in her primary education national examination and secured a place at a national high school. She was also privileged to meet and converse with former USA President Barrack Obama on some of the challenges facing girls’ education in Kenya, when he visited in 2015. Linet is now 18 years old and currently sitting for her final national secondary school examination. Come next year, she will join college. Unlike his daughter, Momposhi was not privileged to school. He says that when he was a young boy, no one saw the value of education in his village. “I never went to school. I was a herd’s boy because my people and culture has always valued livestock. My poor family background did not also make it easy for me to access education. When I grew up I became a Moran (to mean Warrior) and I married, started family life and I now have five children. Linet is my third born child and she has had the opportunity to go to school through the scholarship she receives from Kakenya’s Dream,” he says. Momposhi who is a herdsman and also practices small scale farming to fend for his family, disclose that in his life time he lost many opportunities due to his lack of education which could have contributed to him having a better life. It is for this reason that he decided to allow his children to attend school and be educated for a brighter future. “Thanks to the scholarship Linet has been receiving, I have been able to put two of her younger siblings through school and pay their fees with the income I make from farming and selling my livestock. As a result, I know once they are done with education they will be empowered and make informed life choices,” states Mr. Momposhi. According to Momposhi, it is important to educate children, not just boys but girls as well, because they can perform well and be successful in their professions. “Education allows girls to go for careers they dream of such as pilots, teachers, doctors and engineers. Education also gives dignity and honor because in our society, educated women are respected,” Momposhi says. He adds: “I am proud of my daughter Linet because through
her hard work in school, she has become a source of inspiration not only to her siblings but also to many young girls here in the village. She has become a role model just like her role model Dr. Kakenya!!
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