In August 1992, Hussein Dida lost his father, and hardly six months later in February 1993 his mother passed on and was left an orphan.
At the time his mother passed on, he was preparing to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination. The development spelled doom for them.
Dida said they were squatters on a farm in Subukia and didn't know what to do or where to go. Little did he know that another door had just opened.
The sixth born in a family of eight said they had no one to look up to as most of them were still in school.
He said villagers embraced them and the community took care of him. He said a well-wisher who owned a school took him, admitted him, and sponsored his Class Eight education. His other siblings he revealed also benefitted from well-wishers.
"I passed my KCPE and was admitted to Njoro Boys and one of the locals took me and introduced me to a white lady-Doctor Ann Spoerry who was working with Amref and paid for my secondary school education," said Dida.
He said he got good grades and while waiting to be admitted to the University, Dr Spoerry got him admitted for an accountancy course which he dropped out after she passed on.
For Dida were it not for the locals and the well-wishers, his life would have been difficult having lost both parents while still young.
The Roamtech Solutions Limited CEO and founder of Hussein Dida Foundation assists students joining secondary schools in what he terms as giving back to the society that offered him a shoulder to lean on.
For three years, Dida has been going around Subukia Constituency with the locals to identify needy and bright learners who cannot join secondary school due to lack of fees and try to assist.
On Wednesday he met the learners in Subukia where they held a talk as part of a follow-up programme to know how they were doing.
He noted that the start of everything is always difficult and has always supported young learners to ensure they join secondary school.
Through the foundation, Dida says he has managed to assist over 200 learners. This year alone he said 103 learners will benefit from the foundation. Each learner gets at least Sh5,000 for school fees.
Asked about his funding source, Dida said he saves his per diem and has dedicated a portion of his business profit to running the foundation.
Dida also said he is into business and owns Angani Resort and Spa in Subukia. Profits from a bar are channeled to the foundation.
"I don't have much but using the little I have I make sure those needy students do not miss school. My work involves a lot of traveling and when I travel I am paid per diem, I don't use a coin and I save and give back to society. I also have separate accounts for the restaurant and those from the bar, the profit from the bar, we take it back to the society 100 percent," he said.
He said as a family they are not looking at the amount spent on the learners but on the impact the fund will have on an individual learner and the society. He said they are after changing the lives of the young learners.
Faith Njeri, the co-ordinator of the Foundation said at the beginning they would target orphans only to realize there was a need to also include those raised by single parents and persons with disability.
"The Foundation was at the start focused on the orphans only to realize there were others whose parents had no financial capability and needed assistance," she said.
Virginia Waweru, a resident said the Foundation has been of great help to them. Waweru said she is part of those tasked with identifying needy learners in the area.
