Beatrice Ollimo,a life coach, shares her journey from poverty in Mbita County to New York

If anyone ever told Beatrice Ollimo that she would one time live and school in New York, she would have laughed at them hard.

She grew up in poverty. Right from the time her mother’s womb opened like a flower bud and brought her forth, life was dull.

“I went to school with clothes torn at the backside; wore old sandals for shoes; had two meals a day (on a lucky day); walked long distances to fetch, deliver or interact. I slept on a straw mat; and woke up to the ‘reality’ that life and pain are synonymous,” she says, smiling off the unpleasant memories.

Being the first born of a traditional household, Beatrice’s role in the family was well cut out for her. As she grew up, she became a pseudo-mother to her younger siblings.

“I was tasked with watching over them,” she says. “I cooked their food, washed their clothes, bathed them, chaperoned them to school: I was a mother of sort.”

That her polygamous father orchestrated coming to life of 11 other children made life that much harder. It played out like drama, she says. She would, however, surmount all these, finding her way to America, studying for success and changing the lives of her family back at home in Mbita, Homa Bay County.

A woman of faith, Beatrice was born again while at Asumbi Girls High School located in her native Nyanza. In her plight to find purpose as she grew in her faith, she met American missionaries called Youth With a Mission (YWAM).

“I interacted with them and discovered that anybody could school in America. I was surprised to know that an online application was enough to go abroad and study. That is exactly what I did.”

When she received mail that her application to University of Natures’ Bible School in Tyler, Texas went through, she was overjoyed. But there remained hurdles that threatened her American dream.

“It dawned on me that I didn’t have money to pay for my school fees; but even before that, how was I going to fund an air ticket? Fate had been so good to me but these two made me sulk in disappointment,” she says.

Undeterred, she went back online and applied for a scholarship. She also took a leap of faith and applied for a student Visa at the US embassy, believing that all would fall in place. Back in Mbita, her father (whose life was soggy with alcohol problems) and mother sold family property including cattle to raise the much they could. A fundraiser was promptly organised. In the end, combined efforts bore Sh49,000.

Convinced that her day on American soil had come, she visited an office in Westlands, Nairobi, where prospective students to the United States receive cheap air tickets as a result of their status.

“I gave my details – what I had been accepted for and where I was going. The computer rolled the numbers and out blinked what would be the cost of my travel: Sh49,000,” recalls Beatrice.

Reconstruction

Whether it was sheer coincidence that she was asked to pay the exact amount her family managed to raise is a thought she has no hang-ups for: “I believe it was God. I had been praying for this. Many students were asked to pay much higher but mine reconciled with what I had.”

But why was she flying when she had no fees to pay for her studies?

“I believed,” she chuckles. “I knew it was my time to shine and I was owning it even before it actually happened.”

Luck, or perhaps God, had already streamlined her rise above the murk of poverty. At the time, she learned of ‘an uncle’ who lived in New York. She nestled at his home as she waited for “scholarship miracle to come through.”

Believe it or not, about a month later, she was served with documents indicating that she had been granted the scholarship.

“I was the happiest person. I went to school and dived right into books. I studied hard. The last thing on my mind was failure. I couldn’t afford it. I had come so far and I was not going to let anything sap the energy away from my studies,” says Beatrice.

Between 2003 and 2005, Beatrice studied for and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Education. By that time, she had made some savings, which she brought back home to start off the process of reconstructing lives as she had left them.

She got employed at Christ Gift Academy in Mbita as a teacher and holistic trainer. Having been brought up in the rural, she had dreamt of becoming a teacher since “it was the best career I ever came across in real life.” She took her siblings to school, provided for most of their needs while keeping their parents afloat with regular stipends.

In 2009, while working as a private tutor in Eldoret, she felt the need to expand her horizons.

“I worked for some Canadian parents. I home-schooled their children and they paid me well. However, there was a void growing in me and I needed to fill it.”

She took time to comprehend her situation. Eventually, she flew back to United States for a degree in Theology at Colorado Springs Bible College. She would end up majoring in Business Studies. More importantly, she would discover her purpose: Life coaching.

“I found out that I could help people discover and achieve their passions. In everyone, there is unexploited potential. There is a reason for your existence. Sadly, not many live through their purpose as they ought to for a fulfilling life,” she explains.

She set up practice in the US and has never looked back ever since. But even as she pursues a career in life coaching, Beatrice hopes to re-establish her life back in the country: She would be united with her roots and relationships.

Through Beatrice, three of her sisters have gained college education at USIU.

She believes that one’s background should not be a determinant in the equation of life.

What are you good at? What do you want to see in your life? What don’t you want to see? What are the hurdles you are facing?

The conundrum of life, says Beatrice, is what she has passion for. “My job is not to fix anybody’s life. No one except God can fix your life. However, I bring you to the realization that you have something to do and you have to do it.”

At her apartment located in Jacaranda Gardens at a Nairobi suburb, shelves of books decorate her days. A retinue that captures every minute of her time rests at a corner of a home office she has created for herself.

She says life for her has been a journey of discovery. The Beatrice who wore torn clothes viewed life through the prism of lack; the new one has a purpose and is not afraid to pursue it.