By Vostine Ratemo
Hillary Nyamweya Nyabaro, a teacher at St. Stephens Nyamware Secondary School, is a celebrated hero in his home village of Nyamache in Kisii South Sub-county of Kisii County.
Through an initiative he single-handedly started back in 2015, he has given hope to learners who were dropping out of school for different reasons.
First he offered free tuition to primary and secondary school children during school holidays, and then started a football team. This was after he realized they were engaging in crime, perhaps to fend for themselves and put food on the table.
Education News wanted to find out why he decided to start Nyamweya Foundation, the platform on which the two preoccupations were hinged.
“I grew up in a humble background and I have seen the benefits of education, so I felt there was need to create an avenue that can help eradicate poverty through knowledge,” he said.
Being only the second person from his village to ever go to university, he yearned for a time they would match other villages where going to university is a normal occurrence.
“Majority of parents in this village are illiterate and they know little of matters education. I personally went from house to house to convince parents to allow their children to come to me so that I could nurture them,” Nyamweya said.
After the parents obliged, he went on to move his own furniture to create room for lessons to begin.
“I started off with 10 learners from primary school who were handled by Sarah Nyabaro, Pauline Rhobi, and Adriano Moindi, all trained teachers. I had 10 secondary school students too and were taught by Jenes Masea, Pauline Rhobi and myself,” he added.
All these teachers have never asked for any compensation.
So far more than 30 children have been mentored since the initiative began, majority of them being natives of Nyamache and some from other surrounding villages.
Nyamache All Stars, as the soccer club is called, was built during the Covid-19 to keep the children off drugs and crime, Bildad Moindi being the captain.
“Refreshing the mind is also good for learners. Even in schools co-curricular activities are encouraged and that’s what we are trying to do here,” he said.
However, he points out that managing the activities has not been easy as he has faced a number of challenges, top among them being inadequate space that has forced them to teach under trees. In addition, they have had to dig into their pockets to buy the required learning resources.
Football space is also limited, forcing him to hire pitches as the one they initially used was ploughed by the owner for crop cultivation. Besides, they sometimes have to play without jerseys when they run out of luck from borrowing kits for tournaments.
Moreover, the children are young adolescents who sometimes forget the main objective of the establishment of the foundation.
At times, too, the learners miss lessons because their parents need them in the farms to help them do some of the activities like harvesting.
Nonetheless, with all the challenges , the initiative has borne fruit as more than five learners have joined university, among them Eugine Moindi (first year University of Embu), Victor Nyabaro ( first year Presbyterian University), Bildad Moindi (first year Presbyterian University) and Selina Martin (Second Year Maseno University).
Moses Mochama is yet to join university, and more than 15 learners are the star soccer players in their schools.
“I am looking forward to bringing in more members who will be willing to support the initiative. I also look for motivational speakers and those that can help in guiding and counselling to ensure that they grow psychologically,”Nyamweya concluded.
