Harambee - a new chance and a new hope

Teresina and James Guandai are the two children we are sponsoring through secondary education in Kenya through The Zeitz Foundation. They have just started their final year at their schools.  With that in mind we felt that the time was right to sponsor another child. We contacted The Zeitz Foundation and received this email back:

“We have a boy who we would like to propose. His is an incredible story.

Five years ago when camping Sukutan village doing community scenario planning my team and I we were overwhelmed by the kindness of the community who lived in the village. In a world which is increasingly becoming self-centred , it was humbling to be in a village without much in way of material things but a lot in generosity of spirit. Each morning without fail, a young boy would bring us a guard of milk to make our morning tea. At night, a group of young morans (warriors) would ensure we were safe. It is the safest I have ever felt.

The boy who was bringing us milk had never been to school but he had intelligent eyes, a ready smile and natural curiosity. In few minutes, he could work round a Mac and he had natural aptitude will all things electronic. After few days, we spoke with the brother of Sebastian, as he was called, to see if he could start school. His brother was able to convince the family to send Sebastian to school. The opportunity cost was high as Sebastian was in prime herding condition, just about to get to teenage, with lots of herding hours and experience behind him.

He started school in 2011 and weeks after being enrolled in class 1, he was promoted to class 3. He was too intelligent for that age group and he was promoted to another higher class. He finally settled in class 5 after a year. After 4 years, he has completed the primary school course, which takes 8 years. He has not only completed but he has excelled, attaining 395 marks and topping his school, a public school with least of the facilities.

The selections for national school (the top tier of schools) is happening tomorrow and we hope Sebastian will be admitted to one of the best public schools in Kenya and we would like to propose him for sponsorship. He comes from a single parent family, his dad having died when he was a toddler. He lives with his mother and brother in a village North of Segera called Sukutan.

Regards, Njenga Kahiro, Laikipia Programme Manager, Zeitz Foundation – Kenya.”

A few days later we received a letter from Sebastian, and decided to go ahead with the sponsorship. Sebastian has been accepted at Maranda High School, Bondo. It is one of the best secondary schools in Kenya.

We, as a school community, are full of hope that Sebastian fulfils his dreams to do well at school and become a pilot. By now he will have started at school and we wish him well and look forward to his next letter at the end of his first term. We are thrilled and proud to say that Harambee is totally funded by the Hazlegrove children’s fund raising efforts.