Rarieda: St Barnabas School Alumni Sponsors 16-Year-Old Partial Orphan Abandoned By Relatives

• Laureen Atieno Okiri had lost hope in ever getting educated when she lost her mother and her father disappeared after suffering a mental breakdown following his wife's demise
• Despite scoring an impressive 324 marks in her KCPE exams, the 16-year-old had resorted to joining a local day school
• The young adolescent, however, got a new lease of life when kindhearted members of the St Barnabas Girls Kombewa alumni offered to educate her all through high school

Laureen Atieno Okiri is a partial orphan whose future was once in limbo when she excelled in her exams but stared at missing out on education which is her only source of hope.

The 16-year-old girl from Rarieda lost her mother while her father developed mental issues after the death of his wife and can't be traced in Nairobi where they lived.

Laureen is partially orphaned

For a moment, struggled to find bearing when she scored 324 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams and needed to join Form One despite

"I sat for my KCPE at Rarieda Kaloo Primary school and was selected to join St Barnabas Girls in Kombewa, Seme," she said.

Laureen added that her uncle who had been taking care of her moved her to Kisumu and left her under the care of a cousin who was 24 years old and also struggling to make ends meet.

Pushed to the wall, she sent out a passionate appeal on social media requesting anyone with the ability to help.

Alumni to Laureen's rescue

A ray of hope, however, shone her way when the headteacher of St. Barnabas Girls Secondary School - Barkorwa saw her story on Facebook and reached out to her.

It was a new beginning that saw kindhearted well-wishers from the school's alumni offer to take up her case and educate her through high school.

Apart from school fees, the members also take care of Laureen's uniform, shoes, socks, personal effects, and books.

It was a timely intervention that salvaged a bright young girl's future that would have gone down the drain due to lack of fees.

The move also reinforced just how small acts of kindness can go a long way in touching the world in a big way.

County govt pays fees for bright girl

In another story, the Homa Bay county government paid fees for a Form One student who was abandoned by the mum after TUKO highlighted her plea.

Jane Akinyi had sat her KCPE exams in 2022 at Kalando Primary School and and scored 390 marks.

She was called to join Moi Girls High School Isinya in Kajiado County but was unable to raise tuition fees, prompting to come out and plead for help.