Days after K24 Digital highlighted the plight of Sarah Khanari, a 16-year-old bright but poor girl from Mariani village in Gatundu North who has been working in tea farms due to lack of school fees, she can now heave a sigh of relief after a well-wisher came to her rescue.
The girl who scored 299 marks in last year’s KCPE has been working as a casual labourer in tea farms within the village together with her mother hoping to raise the school fees required for her to join form one.
A dejected Khanari said that she had sleepless nights and emotionally provoking days while picking tea as her peers were in classrooms furthering their students.
Acute poverty in their home had seen them rent a derelict single-roomed house where she was living with her mother and her other three siblings had also taken a toll on her.
The family would be unable to raise Ksh600 rental fees especially when they fail to secure menial jobs in the village.
However, the agonizing sleepless nights came to an end when a well-wisher came to her rescue and paid her four-year school fees at Our Lady of Fatima Kiriko Girls secondary school and promised to walk with her through her education journey until she realizes her dreams.
Kenneth Wamburu who is the proprietor behind Imara Lands Investment Ltd told journalists that the girl’s setbacks touched him when he read about the girl’s plight on the K24 Digital platform.
He noted that the story made him reminisce about his struggling moments back in the days when he would join his single mother to pick coffee in estates within Gatundu North in search of his school fees.
“I read about Khanari’s story on the K24 Digital platform and it reminded me of my past. Her story is similar to mine as I was equally raised by a single mother. While the girl has been working in tea farms, I was working in coffee farms seeking to put food on the table and raise school fees. For me to complete my life in school, I was also helped by a well-wisher and that’s why I have undertaken to educate Khanari who I will guide and nurture until her dreams materialize,” Wamburu stated.
The CEO who also bought the girl’s personal effects and some food rations for her struggling mother said that he will closely monitor the bright girl’s academic journey to ensure that she excels and attains good grades to propel her to university.
On her part, Khanari, who could not hide her tears of joy, promised to focus on her studies and post good results.
The girl who aspires to be a medical doctor said that she will work hard until she achieves her dreams of freeing her single mother and siblings from the shackles of poverty.
“I promise to do my best in my studies to go for my dream of becoming a doctor. With the support I have been accorded, I believe I will make myself and the well-wisher behind my education proud,” she undertook.
Her mother, Mercy Njeri, hailed the kind gesture from the businessman noting that she has now been relieved of a burden that was the cause of her despair.
Kiriko Girls Principal Judy Muthoni said that the school will mentor the girl and offer her moral and psychological support to ensure that she concentrates on her studies and excels academically.
“We will do everything possible to counsel and mentor Khanari to become the best person she aspires to be in life. She may have been broken down and psychologically affected by the situation at home but we promise to accord her every academic support we can to ensure she shines after four years,” Muthoni stated.
She also called on abled individuals and corporates from Gatundu North to chip in their support and assist scores of learners who are yet to join school in the region.
