Anisa Moses Dzombo’s dream to be a lawyer is slowly turning into despair. Her thirst for secondary education is unquenchable as her hope of ever getting to university remains a mirage.
Although her former classmates will be in Form Four next year, Anisa, who sat her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2016 at Maziwani Primary School in Malindi Sub County and scored 355 marks, is willing to go back to school to achieve her dream.
However, her drawback is the lack of school fees. The 21-year old hopes that a Good Samaritan will one day come knocking and sponsor her education to enable her achieve the dream of helping people who are unable to afford legal fees.
“My mother was raped but did not get justice. She died two weeks after giving birth to me following a tragic road accident, but the killer driver went scot-free. All this happened because my family did not have the means to hire an attorney,” she says.
“That is why I hope to be a lawyer one day because many poor people are sailing in my late mother’s boat. These are the people I wish to represent when my dream comes true,” she adds with a measure of certainty.
She was offered Form One places at Gede Secondary School and Malindi Progressive School, both in Kilifi County, but her guardians could not afford the fees.
With no one to guide her on the next course of action, Anisa resigned to fate. She says she never knew anything about scholarships being offered to bright students from poor family backgrounds.
“I did not apply for any scholarship because there was nobody to guide me. My uncle and aunt, who I have always regarded as my parents, do menial jobs and can barely bring food on the table let alone affording my secondary education,” she says.
Anisa has never seen or known her biological parents. She is the product of the rape incident against her then mentally deranged mother, whom she has only seen on a photograph chained to a log.
“My guardians kept this a top-secret till a neighbor confided in me about my true identity. I confronted my aunt, who had no otherwise but to tell me the truth,” she says.
She says the realization that she did not have parents devastated her. This led her to seek comfort outside the home, a decision that had adverse consequences as she soon became a single mother.
Anisa says that after waiting for help to further her education to no avail, she decided to look for a job to supplement the family’s income, take care of her immediate needs and perhaps save for her education.
The KCPE dropout now works at a bead shoe workshop in Malindi Town, where she decorates sandals with beads.
She says that despite her age, she is willing to go back to school and calls on well-wishers to sponsor her.