Esther comes from a very poor family, who live in a fairly remote village in Kenya. Sometimes the family don’t have enough to eat and have to rely on the kindness of friends and neighbours to get food. Esther is the second eldest of six siblings, and during her years at state-funded primary school, was offered a scholarship to cover her secondary school fees, where she did well. In fact, Esther did so well in her high school exams that she was offered a place on a degree course in nursing at the University of Meru. With great sadness Esther had to turn down this opportunity as her family could not afford the fees. Instead she found work as a maid, where she was sometimes paid (a small amount) and sometimes not.
Esther felt desperately unhappy not being able to continue her education and specifically not being able to train as a nurse. Her parents both suffer ill health and are unable to work: it had been Esther’s dream to help them – and other people in her community who suffer from similar issues – while providing an income to support her family. Her younger siblings are in school, but the one who is in secondary cannot afford the fees and her elder sister had recently been sent home from College due to unpaid fees too.
When Esther heard about the possibility of receiving a scholarship to do the degree in nursing – made available by HATW in partnership with the Disability Community Centre (DCC) – she applied at once. Unfortunately, she missed her appointment to discuss the scholarship with the centre manager, but called later to apologise and explain that she didn’t have the bus fare to travel to the interview. When she finally managed to get the fare to come to the DCC office, we later learnt that she was in tears talking about her family’s situation and her frustration at not being able to continue her education.
It was clear that Esther would be a great candidate for sponsorship – she had the passion and determination to complete the nursing degree, and once she graduated, her wage would be life changing for the whole family.
In 2023, after finishing her degree, Esther wrote this:
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to you and the entire Hands Around the World fraternity. Thank you for your unwavering support that you have accorded me since we started this journey together in 2018 up to Oct 2023. It has been five years of great friendship and support. Am sincerely grateful to you all.
“Am pleased to let you know that I have now officially finished my undergraduate degree and graduated on 27th October 2023. At the nursing school I have been trained as a nurse, equipped with knowledge and skills on how to interact with patients, clients and all people requiring my nursing services and other medical needs, from the neonates all the way to the elderly, not forgetting the last offices and caring for the bereaved. I believe that I can now be able to competitively compete for job opportunities in Kenya and the whole globe at large.
“What is now required of me is to do a Nursing Council of Kenya exam next year in April or August, so that I can attain a practice licence. I am also supposed to do a one-year internship which will start next year, depending on the Ministry of Health placement.
“Please receive my sincere gratitude. Am also looking forward to walking with you through work and in future studies. Thank you very much.”