By RENSON MNYAMWEZI

KENYA: Every morning, Veronica Kilola wakes up to do her routine household chores. She is a dometic worker and loves her work dearly.

But the 21-year-old mother also loves education, but until recently, had never stepped into a classroom.

She is now in nursery school, with ten classmates,  at a Catholic Church-sponsored nursery school in Taita-Taveta County. The class is full of childish babbling, but that does not detract Ms Kilola from the ultimate prize—banishing ignorance and poverty from her life.

The woman from Mwatunge village in Mwatate sub-county is happy to be in school after failing to attain formal education earlier.

“I cannot withstand the shame of illiteracy any more,” explained the mother of three. “I have decided to go back to school because I cannot communicate with my employer effectively in Kiswahili and English.”

Speaking to The Standard at Lushangonyi Catholic Nursery School in Wundanyi division, Kilola reveals that she uses part of her salary to pay school fees and the rest to support herself, her children and mother.

“I juggle between my work as a housegirl and my school work. I am grateful to my employer for encouraging me to go back to school from where I hope to move to the next level. I am progressing well with my studies and hope to join Standard One next year.”

She adds: “All along I did not know how to read and write my name, but I am happy now that I can do so,” she says.

That Kilola is performing well in class is not an exaggeration. Although she only enrolled in the school on October 22 this year, her teacher, Pamela Maza, says she was ranked number one at the end of the term, beating the ten other pupils in her class, who had been in school for a whole year!

Disciplined

“Age is just a number. The woman has proved to be bright and she took position one in the baby class out of 11 pupils last term,” Maza says.

The teacher said Kilola is eager to learn and is keen to join Standard One next year. “She relates with other pupils and teachers well and asks questions where she does not understand,”  the teacher explains.

“We are encouraging the woman not to relent in her pursuit of education. If she gets sponsorship she can go places,” adds Maza.

The teacher describes her as hard working, disciplined and an encouragement to the younger generation.

“Education has no age limit. We are encouraging those who have dropped out of school to return to the classroom,” says Maza.

Kilola is not only determined to acquire education but also wants to ensure that her children do so too. “Education is the only way to kick out poverty from our midst,” she adds.

Kilola explains that her father abandoned the family while she and her siblings were still young. Her grandmother took care of them as her mother took odd jobs to support them.

She says due to poverty, her mother could not afford to take them to school.

Ironically, the same misfortune that befell her family haunted her later in life.

“I got married at the age of 18 to a man who was a scrap metal dealer. We had three children,” she says. The marriage, however, broke down and Kilola was left with the task of looking after the children.

Her children are aged between three and eight years. “My first born is now eight years old and will join Standard One next year,” she says.

Busy playing

When The Standard visited the school, we found Kilola busy playing with her classmates. “The kids relate with me very well despite my age and I like playing with them,” she reveals.

The priest in charge of the church Fr Edwin Kori said when Kilola approached them with a request that she be allowed to enroll at the school they readily accepted. “The woman is determined to learn and we could not deny her the opportunity to do that,” said the priest.

Her employer Rose Righa, a secretary at St  Mary’s High School, Lushangonyi,  said she empathised with her determination to go to school. “I was touched when she said she wanted to go to school.  I decided to enroll her,” she said. “Her goal is to go up to Form Four and beyond and I will support her to the best of my ability,” said Ms Righa.

Parents are also impressed with her determination. “We are happy to have the woman in school and we are encouraging her to continue with her education to the next level,” said Agnes Mwadime, a parent.

They spoke as scores of children continue to drop out of school due to a multiplicity of factors among them early marriages, pregnancies and poverty in the region.

This saw her travel to Nairobi where she worked as a househelp for a year before returning home.