By Wambui Ndung’u

Lucy Mumbi Njeri has known pain for the better part of her life. Poverty has been a nagging tag that refuses to go away. However, the orphan has defied all odds to go through primary and secondary education, but her hope to leave poverty is slowly dimming.

For many Form Four leavers a B- (minus) grade in KCSE would take them to university through the second module university programme, but for poor Mumbi it only landed her to a medical

Orphaned Lucy Mumbi wishes to pursue a nursing course but is unable to raise fees. [Photo: Wambui Ndung'u/Standard]
college. However, even after getting the admission to Outspan Medical College for a diploma in nursing, she can barely afford pocket money let alone the fees and other requirements for her education.

She says every waking day the dream of becoming a nurse seems to be farther away from her reach. Before reporting to the college on March 1, she is required to pay at least Sh49,500 to assure her of a place at the college. She cannot raise the cash and fears the deadline will elapse and dream killed.

Despite all odds, she puts on a brave face and refuses to let her woes get in her way. "I have to be strong for my grandmother. If I give up what will become of her?" she asks tearfully.

The 19-year-old girl lives with her elderly grandmother in Kariko village in Giakanja of Nyeri. She says she has suffered so much but for her every day she wakes up hoping to find a way to shake off the cobwebs of poverty.

Her mother passed on in 2003 while she was in Class Six at Giakanja Primary. She was left in the care of her grandmother who would do manual jobs to get money to feed them.

Mumbi is a former student of Chinga Girls High School in Othaya and says her she has all along relied on bursaries and well wishers to pay fees.

"My grandmother often borrowed money to give me fare to and from schools," she told Education.

Hard survival

She says she would wish to pursue a diploma in community health nursing to help her grandmother and other people in the community.

Her grandmother, who recently developed an asthmatic condition, sells bananas to support the family.

For Mumbi, a typical day begins at seven O’clock when she leaves to do manual labour in farms.

"I earn Sh120 which we use to buy food and paraffin for our tin lamp. This is on a good day. Many times there is no work and we rely on proceeds from my grandmother’s banana business."

Her grandmother says that all she wants is for her grandchild to get assistance because her relatives are not well off and cannot help much.

The family needs at least of Sh150,000 per year for fees and upkeep. The college charges Sh35,000 per semester for three semesters on tuition fees. Further she is required to pay accommodation fees of Sh6,000 per month to be paid in full for the four months comprising a semester.

Administrative costs amount to Sh14,500 and a further Sh8,400 will be required to be paid to the nursing council. This is a far cry from a family that is barely able to place a meal on the table.

Well-wishers can send donations to Equity Bank, Nyeri branch account number 1150198718330.