Kusoma International

After a challenging selection process because of the many worthy candidates, we are thrilled to announce four new Mohochi Scholars – Everlyn, Joseph, Esther and Isabel. The Kusoma International – LMEF scholar selection committee was impressed with each of these student’s consistently high scholastic marks, pursuing education despite financial hardship, and promise for leadership in their communities and beyond. Everlyn, Joseph, Esther and Isabel will join the current six Mohochi Scholars indicating Kusoma International – LMEF’s exciting capacity for expansion as well as the tremendous need for support for secondary education in Kenya.

Everlyn comes from the Kehancha Division of the West Kuria District and is enrolled at Ogande Girls High School in the Homa Bay District. She is the first born of four children. Her mother passed away in 2004 when Everlyn was just eight years old, leaving her father to raise and support his children alone. He is a subsistence farmer who grows maize; school fees are a significant burden. Everlyn obtained 347 points in the Kenyan national grade eight examination and at the end of her first term of Form One (the first year of secondary school in Kenya); she was ranked number 104 out of 241, having earned 730 out of 1200 points. She is a determined student and shows great promise for her studies in the future.

The youngest of 12 children, Joseph’s parents are subsistence farmers who grow maize and cassava and have 5 indigenous cows. Both of his parents are living, but his father is 72 and has been unable to work since an operation. Only one of Joseph’s sisters successfully finished high school, supported by an uncle. His family has enough food to eat, but school attendance is difficult due to limited funds. Joseph has shown initiative by taking care of many of his needs independently such as clothing, through his own small farming endeavors. Scholastically, he demonstrates a lot of potential; he was always in the top three in primary school and was the top student in his school on the national grade 8 examination, scoring 358 points. In his first term of secondary school at Tarang’anya Highs School in West Kuria District, he ranked number 12 out of 239 students having scored 869 out of 1100 total points. He is a hardworking and mature, likely to benefit greatly from his Mohochi scholarship.

Esther is the second born in a family with six children and the only girl. Her father passed away in April 2009, leaving her mother to support her family on her own – she is a small-scale maize and tobacco farmer and operates a small store. Her elder brother dropped out of school after completing grade eight. Esther was always among the top four students in her primary school class and obtained 369 points on the national grade eight examination last year. In her first term of Form One at Kadika Girls High School in Migori District, she ranked number 12 of 194 students, having earned 838 out of 1200 points. Esther is a confident young woman and shows great promise.

The first in her family to attend high school, Isabel grew up in the Masaba Division of the West Kuria District. She is the youngest of four children; her mother passed away in 1996 followed by her father in 2000. Isabel stays with her uncle and his family who are small-scale maize, tobacco and cassava farmers. She was always in the top three in her primary school class, scored 392 on the grade eight examination and was involved in a variety of extracurricular activities including football, basketball, and drama. Isabel currently attends Koru Girls High School in the Muhoroni District and at the end of term one was ranked first out of 201 students, having earned 934 out of 1100 points. She is a resourceful and highly capable young woman – a Mohochi scholar through and through.

A workshop for the new scholars has been scheduled to take place in Kuria in the next few weeks. It will provide the students with an opportunity to get to know one another, to understand the goals of Kusoma International – LMEF and their responsibilities as scholars. Similarly the workshop will allow the Kenyan Coordinating Committee (KCC) of Kusoma International – LMEF to interact with the scholars and understand their needs and how best to support them now and in the years to come. John Owuor Oguda, SHAIP Assistant Study Coordinator for FACES-Nyanza (KEMRI-UCSF) at the Research Care & Training Program in Kisumu Kenya, who assisted with the last scholars’ workshop, has kindly offered to once again help with this workshop. Members of the KCC will also attend including Kusoma International – LMEF’s founder, Professor Sangai Mohochi, who now resides in Kenya with his family. Professor Mohochi will share the story of Kusoma International – LMEF, discuss the role that scholarships have played in his life and introduce the organization to the scholars. The new scholars, in turn, will learn what is expected of them scholastically and assistance to their communities through service efforts.

Please join us in congratulating Everlyn, Joseph, Esther and Isabel on their accomplishments and welcoming them to Kusoma International – LMEF’s scholars program!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 2:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.