I am the third child, out of 11, of a pastoralist and a housewife from Wajir. When I was young, I moved to Garissa with my uncle who decided to lend an extra hand to my father and took me in as his own. There I joined Sankure Nomadic Primary School where I settled down well

During that time in primary, a teacher informed us of the scholarship opportunities available. He would encourage us to score at least 350 marks because that was one of the requirements for most scholarships. I didn’t know I would need that information as much as I did.

Unfortunately, in class 8, my uncle passed on. Remembering the encouragement of my teacher, I worked hard and passed my KCPE, scoring 363 marks. So, I applied for several scholarships. However, I was successful with any of them.

Fortunately, my father was a member of a co-operative society that banks with the Co-operative Bank. When he inquired about the CBF scholarship, we were guided on how to make the application. I was accepted into the scholarship program and I joined Makueni Boys High School.

I struggled in High School, but I had the right support. For our cohort, we attended a physical mentorship program. All the beneficiaries from Coast and North Eastern met at Shimo la Tewa. That moment marked a changing point in life. At that time, I was in form 2 and I was going through a lot. After attending the session, I was able to focus better on my studies.

My performance in school improved. The Foundation would also monitor my performance as I used to submit to them my report card, and this helped push me to strive for more. I sat for my KCSE examinations in 2018, and I managed to score an A minus of seventy-six (76) points.

Now, I am a graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from Kenya Methodist University. All those years ago, when I did not succeed in getting the other scholarships, I had even contemplated repeating primary school so that I could score more marks, hence increasing my chances of getting a scholarship.

As a result of my scholarship, I had a sister who was able to join high school a year after me because my father’s financial burdens were reduced with my scholarship. These milestones were possible because of Co-operative Bank Foundation.