- Enock Okong’o revisits a 2001 story showing how one learner’s choices affected another student years later.
- He argues that students and school leaders carry responsibilities extending beyond their own immediate interests.
- The story demonstrates how misconduct, silence and poor communication can damage opportunities meant for others.
Today I looked back at my inventory and found I had written this real story in 2001. Let the truth be told and we know it to set us free as the Bible states in John 8:32. What you plant now is what you will harvest later.
There is a common lie that young people believe in school. They believe that my life is my own and my decisions affect only me. They think that if I drop out, if I sneak, if I become rude, it is my business and nobody else will suffer. The story of two boys connected to Nyangori High School proves that this belief is false, and that one person’s misconduct can close a door that was meant to open for another person many years later.
A sponsorship opportunity wasted
Some years ago, a needy but bright student was admitted to Nyangori High School. His school fees were a big problem to his parents. By God’s grace, a well-wisher connected him to a Canadian lady who was willing to sponsor his entire secondary education. It was a golden opportunity that many children pray for. The lady sent money faithfully through the school, and the boy continued learning.
Without any genuine reason and without informing his sponsor, the student dropped out of school. He simply disappeared. He wasted the sacrifice of a woman who was thousands of kilometres away, a woman who denied herself to educate an African child she had never met. When the Canadian lady realised the boy was no longer in school, she wrote a letter to the Principal of Nyangori High School inquiring what happened to the learner she was sponsoring. The Principal, perhaps due to negligence or poor public relations, did not respond to the letter. He did not explain. He kept silent.
That silence was very expensive. The Canadian lady, who had a lot of goodwill, developed a negative attitude towards that school. In her heart she concluded that the school was not serious, that the student was impudent, and that the administration was irresponsible. She was hurt, and her hurt became a general judgment against the institution.
Another learner nearly pays the price
Years later, another needy boy from the same area was identified for sponsorship. A well-wisher tried to connect him to the same Canadian lady, hoping she would sponsor him also at Nyangori High School. The lady refused completely. She remembered the first boy who had dropped out without reason, and she remembered the Principal who never answered her letter. Her heart had been wounded by the misconduct of two people, and now an innocent third boy was about to pay the price. The misconduct of one student and one principal had indirectly blocked the future of another student who had done nothing wrong.
But out of human sympathy, the Canadian lady offered a condition. She said she would sponsor the second boy only if he joined a different school, not Nyangori. The boy was taken to Mang’u High School. There he excelled in his studies and later became a prominent scholar in the country. His success is good, but the lesson remains painful. What if Mang’u had not been an option? What if the Canadian lady had refused completely? The second boy would have lost his chance because of someone else’s carelessness.
Think about this critically. Your life is not an island. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:32, “Do not cause anyone to stumble.” In Romans 14:7 it says, “For none of us lives for ourselves alone.” When you wear a school uniform, you are an ambassador of that school. When you are sponsored, you are an ambassador of all needy students. Donors talk to each other. Sponsors share their experiences. One boy who sneaks out of school to go and drink, one boy who drops out to go and do boda boda, one girl who becomes rude to teachers, paints the whole school as bad.
Conduct can open or close doors
This is a caution to all students. Behave well, not because the teacher is watching, but because your conduct today is writing a recommendation letter for an unknown child tomorrow. Do not sneak out of school. Do not drop out without reason. Do not insult your sponsors and teachers with impudence.
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You may think you are only destroying your own life, but you may be destroying the bridge that others would have used to cross to their destiny. Let your conduct open doors for those who will come after you, not close them.
By Enock Okong’o
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