[B]The year is 2013, I had just turned 25 years.
If u have followed my stories u realise in one episode in my life I worked as a teacher (principal) for five years in a private school earning 12k per month…
Don’t think I was rich , just another youth doing what everyone does to survive .
In 2014, in a place called Athena Thika, where I lived . As I sat outside the plot watching passerbyes I saw an old woman approaching me .
“Habari ya mwalimu” … She greated me n introduced herself as mamake Onesmus.
After brief conversation I had learnt she worked for the Asians that live in a rich suburb in Thika called section 9. Her work involved house chores like washing clothes, sweeping compounds and other basic chores the rich Asian could offer, she told me her monthly salary was kshs 7000 and she had a family of 5 to feed , Onesmus his only son , and four daughters ages , 3yrs, 7 yrs, 9,yrs, 12yrs, and Onesmus 14 years. Onesi had just sat for his kcpe.
Lets cut the intro part coz waluhya na hadithi zao Ni mingi za busia … straight to the point …… his son Onesmus wanted to join form 1 … though it was already late since it was 3rd term . She told me she only had saved kshs 2000 na hakuwa na pesa ya vitabu au uniform.
2 k was small since school fees was 7,400 per term plus uniform n other requirements it could total kitu 15 k on admission…. The school was a day school….
She gave me onesi kcpe results…… onesi had scored 136/500 marks , I was used to such marks since the highest to be enrolled in the school had 234/500 marks and they expected this little Kenyans to score A’s and compete with those in Alliance n mangu…. I always wondered why the govt side lined this kids since without 250 marks a kid couldn’t be invited to a public sec school …
Her story touched me n I advised her , she should report with the kid in 2015 nimulipie fees na pia apitie naye kwangu Dec. Nimununulie nguo na uniform awe ready ikifikia 2015…
Dec I met onesi … he was a young man who ghetto life made him look 17 or 18 , his tattered clothes touched my heart as I even bought him a pair of jeans n some t shirts …. Remember was still broke hapa nikujinyima usaidie tu….
Come Jan 2015, onesi was admitted in the school , I paid 5k , tuition fee , 2400 balance was deducted from my salary .
1st term the boy was punctual n of good discipline , he loved football and wished I had such a disciplined young son .
2nd n 3rd term he started absenting himself from school and from the looks of things his performance in class was wanting all he cared about was playing football or been absent in school .
I one day enquired from him the sudden change of behaviour , he told me his mum was very sick n he was helping at home to look after the other siblings n do small errands jobs to feed his family…. Should have told you about Athena where they lived……they lived in an old mud house ,rent was kshs 400 per month , in short they were extremely poor .
I told him to still be attending 70% of the tuition at least a catch up na wengine .
All this time from the peanut wages I got his fees was deducted from it, director hakutaka kujua , Mimi sio mother Teresa….
In 2016 , my friend Onesi didn’t report to school, his classmates told me onesi had become a hardened criminal in Thika town involved in pickpocketing n doing manual jobs in car wash …. I followed the story up one weekend n realised it was true…
I even went where they lived n found onesi , sisters playing outside , I asked to see their mum and one cried , they told me mama onesi passed away before Christmas and that they now lived with their uncle who worked as a watchman kwa kampuni flani Thika…
My heart felt broken n sad at the same time. What could I do ? I talked to fellow teachers to assist but they too couldn’t manage they were broke as wao walilipwa 7k na hakuna guarantee ya kulipwa on time plus u can be fired anytime.
Onesi never reported to school , in 2018 I met him pushing a mkokoteni , we exchanged greetings , n from the look of things he was either high on weed or drugs… I was no longer teaching , I told him where I lived n told him to see me incase he 2anted I pay for him a short course in juacali either as a welder or mechanic, plus gave him my no.
To date am still waiting for him to call me as I can now afford to pay for him….
Share the story n let our leaders know , there are people who need cash more than our churches….[/B]