Needy boy pleads for ‘wings to fly’

By NANJINIA WAMUSWA

“Poverty is very bad. It can deny you education, ruin your great dreams and make you a pauper for the rest of your life.” This is the moving verdict of Wycliffe Onzere, a bright boy who comes from a poor family at Tendwe village, Nandi County.

 The former Mwein Primary School pupil scored 401 marks in last year’s KCPE.

He was admitted to Nakuru High School, but his parents cannot afford to pay fees to enable him join the school.

 His parents, Herman Mugaritsi and Mary Vugutsa, earn their livelihood by doing menial jobs. Since the exam results were announced, Onzere and his parents have been frantically looking for a sponsor in vain.

 “My parents and l have sought help from individual people and even knocked on various financial institutions’ doors, but so far there’s no success,” a worried Onzere, whose dream to become an aviation engineer, is plummeting by the day, said.

This was not the 16-year-old’s first KCPE attempt. In 2012, he sat for exams and scored 350 marks. He got a letter of admission to Samoei Secondary School but lost the opportunity due to lack of fees.

 “I was disappointed after my parents failed to raise my fees. At one time l thought 350 marks was little to get me support. I therefore decided to go back to school and score at least 400 marks.”

 But even as he went back to class, Onzere regretted the missed opportunity. He says he could have done better but he faced myriad challenges. He rarely studied in the evenings as most of the time there was no paraffin to light their tin lamp and sometimes he slept hungry.

His mother is worried about him. “For the last two weeks, he’s been very quiet and wants to be left alone.”