CHILDREN FROM POOR COMMUNITIES DESERVE A BETTER SHOT IN LIFE

A few years ago, I visited Turkana County and something happened that changed my life. As I drove through the vast emote areas of the County, our vehicle was stopped by children who asked us for water. We quickly gave them a few bottles of drinking water, but what happened next, left our hearts broken: Non of the children opened the water bottles. They just stared at the bottles as if they had never seen such clean water or water packed in bottles. Whatever the reason, I was left saddened by what poverty can do to a whole generation.

That evening I did not sleep. I stayed awake thinking about what I would do to change the course of these children's lives. Many hours passed but just before the day broke, I found the answer! I was going to help these children study better and have a shot in life just as their counterparts in more developed parts of the country. I set about looking at ways through which students could effectively undertake personal studies, given that most schools in the marginalized regions are understaffed with very unproportional teacher-student ratios and are ill equipped to adequately arm these students with proper education.

I developed a study system many months later, that enables students to effectively undertake personal studies in a way that enabled them understand and recall the contents of the topics studied. This was a sure way of enabling them pass their final exams and join some of the best schools where they could attract bursaries and scholarships. I then used part of my salary to train students in this new system which is built around what I call, 'Emotional Learning'. I believe that effective learning can only be done through emotional exposure to different lessons. I believe that effective learning is more of an emotional process than it is a logical process. That is why people remember songs and experiences years after encounter faster and better than lessons learnt within a few hours of being taught in class.

The system involves systematic repetitive reading where a student uses a guide to undertake their studies during their free time. The guide uses a formula that ensures that the student not only learns the concept they read but also recalls the same concept accurately. I started going to schools and training students on this this system. One of my beneficiaries is a young man now in Pwani University who was part of a group of students who I trained in a very remote village of Bamba, Kilifi County where the community is so poor that children rarely wear shoes to school. He recently called to thank me for the system and promised to do the same when he goes back home.

I have so far reached more than 2,000 students (who are in their final year in primary/secondary schools) and hope to reach many more. Study skills are a permanent asset that they'll carry with them everywhere they go. I appeal for your support so that I make this my full time engagement. I need about $250 to visit a school in the remote counties and train and distribute study guides to the students trained. These funds cater for transport, accommodation and printing of at study guide booklets. I target to visit at least 120 schools (20 schools monthly) based in remote areas of the Counties of Turkana, West Pokot, Baringo, Marsabit and Kajiado between now (May) till October when students seat for their final exams. This means that I need a total of $30,000 to accomplish this mission.

The only way to empower people is to endow them with education as this equalizes the gap between the rich and the very poor. I intend to do this with the whole of my heart, knowing that it could mark a new beginning for many disadvantaged children out there. Will you join me in this journey of bettering the lives of children whose distance to a promising future is a study skill away?