At only 6 years old, Ruth lost her father. At the time of his passing in 2010, Mr. Josephat Kesembari had been the family’s sole breadwinner. His wife, Elicah, was unemployed, so she stayed home to take care of their 4 children.
The tragedy of his death left the family in a huge fix, both financially and emotionally. Ruth and her siblings were very young, and their mother had hardly any formal skills or any prior work experience. Needless to say, efforts on Elicah’s part to fend for her family and put her children through school, proved futile.
Being from the rural areas of western Kenya, their local church and extended family made efforts to alleviate their difficulties by offering donations. This went on and for some time, but there being no formal arrangements, at some point, the assistance stopped coming.
Mrs Elicah worked whatever odd jobs she could manage, but unfortunately, they didn’t yield enough. As time went by the pressure became too much and she fell into depression.
Ruth and her siblings had to endure going without food and other basic needs. They were often sent home for lack of uniforms and fees.
Moses, Ruth’s oldest sibling, resorted to working on sugarcane farms to put himself through school and help out at home. His meager wage of Kshs 150 could only do so much. With all the hurdles, it took him so long to get through the basic level of education. It’s only in 2021, at the age of 24, that he acquired his form four certificate.
Benjamin, the third born brother to Ruth, dropped out of school at grade 7 and is currently employed as a herder in Nyeri County.
Life became so unbearable and so Mrs Elicah remarried in the hope that together with her new husband (a widow and a father of two) they could raise their children better in a blended family. Little did she know that she had fallen straight into the fire itself? The man turned out to be physically and emotionally abusive. She persevered until one day he beat the daylights out of her, almost killing her.
She finally gathered the courage to leave. With two more children from the marriage. At 15 years old, Ruth opted to drop out of secondary school, after being sent home for fees too many times.
She then went on to seek employment as a house help with a view of making enough money to pay her school fees arrears and seeing her younger siblings through school.
Being a minor, Ruth was subjected to harsh working conditions for meager pay. She could only do it for so long, so she quit. Heading back to the village, she contemplated marriage, like some of her peers. But she quickly thought against it as she remembered the turmoil that those who chose that path underwent.
She sorts for another employer, this time hoping to find better. She got employed by a divorced man, a father of two boys who promised to take her back to school, if she helped take care of his sons and did the domestic chores. In addition, the man pledged to extend financial support to her family in the village.
Desperate to resume school, with strong belief that education was vital to her securing a better future, she agreed. After 6 months of work, the man had not bothered to make good on any of his promises.
Things became exacerbated when the man began making sexual advances. When she declined, he proposed marriage to her, a minor. This went on for some time, to the extent that she reported being sexually abused. When she expressed her discomfort, the guy threatened to ensure that she never got back to school if she ever disclosed the assault to anyone.
The struggle was so real, and it all felt insurmountable. She despaired. Mired in feelings of hopelessness and overcome by strong sense of defeat, she began having suicidal thoughts.
Luckily she confided that to a friend of hers. The friend happened to know about the Daraja 360 organization, and he shared her story with one of the directors.
Daraja took her on board and set out to rescue her. We offered her counseling and enrolled her in our mentorship program, dubbed “youth out of school.” To establish facts about her story, we paid a visit to her home in the Village of Namushya, Kakamega County. Here we met the whole family and got more details about her story, establishing that it was true.
We are asking for help from anyone who wants to lend their support in ensuring Ruth and her sister get a chance to complete their education. Currently, we are looking to raise about 80,000 ($800) for their re-admission at St. Teresa Isanjiro Girls Secondary School to cater for boarding fees.