Fredrick Odiero
A Non-Governmental Organization in Muhoroni Sub County, Kisumu County has come to the rescue of some 12 bright but needy students who were in dire need of school fees.
The organization known as Stars Children Africa-Africa chapter paid the fees for the students totaling 250,000/- for first term
The Chapter Director, Missionary Joshua Atieno Auko, the Sh.250,000 was paid for 1st term for the beneficiaries in various schools in Muhoroni.
Atieno said Almost 100 students have so far benefitted from the program adding that the body has strived annually to assist needy but bright students
‘I started it to increase enrolment to secondary School of learners who are coming from poor families’ he said.
He said the organization has stood among many in offering education empowerment to the vulnerable.
“We have religiously done this since 2006 and many students have passed through our hands,” he said.
Auko, a one time Member of county assembly (MCA) for Ombeyi ward said they received a heap of applicants from needy students pointing at the vulnerability of the students and parents in accessing education.
He said the chapter managed to sieve through the bulk applications and managed to pick 12 serious deserving students.
“This was a hard choice to make. Application of more than 200 and we managed to narrow down on 12 students after doing proper ground work,” he said.
Auko said the selected students will be walked through a four year program that will also include bible teachings during holidays.
“We have done it before and we will continue doing it every holiday, whereby we converge the students for three to four days to teach them about the teachings in the Bible,” he said.
Speaking in Ombeyi, Muhoroni Sub County during the handing over of the cheques to the students, Auko said the program also entails supporting the students to colleges and universities.
“We are proud of our former students, they come back and help us pay school fees for the needy, that is the spirit and we encourage anybody benefiting from our program to always come back and help,” he said.
It was a sigh of relief for twelve students and their parents drawn from various sub counties in Kisumu County after a charitable organization stepped in to pay for their four years of secondary education.
Most of the program alumni are now doctors, lawyers, clinicians, teachers and other professionals.
The students who received the cheques were all smiles and they poured out their joy and happiness.
Seilampa Kwanique who is proceeding to Nyakach girls’ high school says she now has a new dad, Missionary Auko, who is spearheading the program.
“Missionary Auko is now my dada as I start my journey in secondary school, I am grateful,” she said.
Others too described the support as God sent promising to work hard in school and realize their dreams in future.
The program’s hallmark mission is to ensure needy students do not miss out on education because of lack of school fees.
Head of Stars Children Africa in the US Ken Prussner who visited Kenya in November 2019 had promised to partner with Missionary Auko to ensure the needy get access to quality education.
