Despite the challenges caused by Covid-19, Norman Waheru, a 19-years old student from Kibera that Project Kenya has been sponsoring for the last 3 years is among the very few students in Kenya who scored A plain and finished only 5 points behind the top student in Kenya at 2020 KCSE examinations, a national exam taken by high school students to determine University placement.
When we met him in 2018, he told us how proud of himself he would be if he could become a pharmacist. Thanks to an amazing dedication and the great mentoring by Japheth Okoth at Uweza Foundation, Norman is now going to follow his dream and study Medicine at University in July.
Like most families living in Kibera, Norman's mom and dad struggle to make ends meet. They live in a single-room house made from corrugated metal sheets and mud walls.
Besides these difficult living conditions, Norman succeeded to be an excellent student from an early age. At his boarding school, Muring'a High School, one of the best in Kenya, he always ranked very high and performed well in all subjects.
During Covid-19 school closures, this talented young man kept up with his studies using his parents' phone to access Zoom and at community libraries. His mom confessed that during school holidays, he would worked short-term construction jobs in order to cover his pocket money and shopping needs while at school without having to burden his parents. Such an awe-inspiring story! " I will acknowledge that it was a tough journey with new sets of challenge in 2020. However I normally take all the challenges as an opportunity to learn and be a better person in life" confessed Norman.
Bravo Norman! We are all so proud of your achievement and wish you all the best for University. A special thanks to the Rusakova family.
