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Фото автораНика Давыдова

Look at how far I have come

Catherine is proof that with determination and focus, you can achieve the impossible. PHOTOs | Hezron Njoroge


Were it not for her father’s death 16 years ago, her life would probably not have taken this course.

Catherine Omanyo was 14 years old and adored her father, a senior official in a local bank.

Hers was a charmed childhood. They lived in Milimani Estate in Kisumu, an affluent neighbourhood. They had everything that money could buy – fine clothes, expensive holidays, extravagant parties, good schools.

During weekends, the family would pile into the car and head to a prestigious club for a swim and an expensive meal.

“During school holidays, my siblings and I would dictate where we wanted to visit,” Catherine recalls.

Then her father died in 1995 and everything changed almost overnight.

First to go was their plush home because their mother, a housewife, could not pay the rent.

They moved to their father’s rural home in Busia, but soon found out that they were not welcome there.

“We were kicked out by my father’s relatives on the day we buried him because my mother refused to be inherited by one of his brothers, who already had a wife,” Catherine explains. “My father had bought several pieces of land in Busia, but my father’s brothers took everything, leaving us destitute.”

Suddenly, they had nowhere to call home. Catherine’s mother was pregnant with her fifth child. In desperation, the family sought help from one of her mother’s brothers, who generously gave them a small portion of his land to put up a shelter.

“My mother is a trained teacher and after some time, she was employed as a kindergarten teacher at a local school. The little money she made was barely enough to feed us.”

Her mother could not afford to pay their school fees. Catherine, desperate to get an education, would go to school and sneak into class, hoping that the teachers would not send her away.

“Most of the young girls, some barely teenagers, got married to try and escape the biting poverty. I had this option, but was determined not to take it. I wanted more out of life,” Catherine says.

And so she sneered at every man who came her way, determined to keep learning, even though she had no idea where school fees would come from.

“I was eventually allowed to sit my end of year exams at the local primary school. I exceeded all expectations by emerging the top student that year, yet I had not attended most of the classes,” she says.

Her good performance impressed the head teacher, who helped her to get sponsorship from the local Catholic Church. With the church’s assistance, she joined St Mary’s Mumias Girls. When she sat for her Form Four examinations, her impressive performance earned her a coveted ticket to university.

“My dream was to become a teacher, so when I was admitted to study for a Bachelors degree in education in 1998 at the University of Nairobi’s Kikuyu campus, I shed tears of joy. Finally, my dream was taking shape,” she says, wiping what must be tears of joy at that memory.

The church paid part of her university fees. A missionary family she had met while in high school pledged to help pay the balance.

“I arrived at the university wearing my old school uniform because it was the only presentable outfit I had. The rest of my clothes were so worn out, it would have been a miracle if they served me for a week before they came apart,” she says.

Since she could not afford accommodation at the institution’s hostels, Catherine rented a tiny room in Kibera slums. It cost her about Sh300 a month. Most days she went to bed hungry or walked part of the way to and from school.

She survived, learning ingenious skills along the way and making friends, fellow students who were willing to assist whenever they could.

“I started to make my own clothes as a way of saving money. I had befriended some tailors in the neighbourhood who would allow me to use their sewing machines when they weren’t busy,” she says.

With time, she became so good that she even started to sell dresses. She was now able to raise money for bus fare and food.

During the holidays, Catherine took up casual jobs like washing clothes and cleaning houses. She would make between Sh1,000 and Sh3,000 a month.

In 2002, she graduated with a degree in education.

“As I stood up to receive my degree, I realised how fortunate I had been. Had it not been for the goodwill of others, I wouldn’t have completed primary school, and university would have remained a dream.

“The least I could do was ensure that a needy child somewhere could get an education that would make a positive difference in his life and maybe in the lives of others,” she says.

Sponsoring a child or raising money to educate a needy child somewhere would have been an easy option, but she intended to aim for the sky, taking the road less travelled road, a road she was convinced would make a bigger impact. She decided to register a high school.

“On my way to the university, my attention would always be drawn to a rundown, old empty building which, for some reason, I thought would make a good school if spruced up,” she explains.

She approached the owner, who allowed her to rent it. She then approached some of her colleagues in college and a couple of them agreed to teach for free. She also sought assistance from the missionary friends who had helped pay her university fees.

“My vision was for the school to be self-supporting by taking in enough fee-paying students to cover the cost for those who could not afford to pay,” she explains. 

However, for this to work, the school had to be fully equipped and presentable. It had to have furniture, amenities such as toilets, running water, books, laboratory equipment, and furniture. The missionary friends were impressed with her vision and agreed to come on board.

In 2001, Imprezza Secondary School was born. Catherine explains that “Imprezza” is drawn from the Greek word imprez, which signifies a new beginning.

“We began with 100 needy and orphaned children and by the end of 2007, had registered 220,” she says, adding that many of the students from the school have received sponsorship to university.

As fate would have it, the school was looted and destroyed in the violence that broke out after the 2007 General Election, forcing Catherine to look for alternative accommodation for the 40 orphans under her care.

“It was a great setback and a traumatic experience for them, because the school had become a home to them,” Catherine says, adding that when the situation deteriorated, she decided to move the children to Western Province, to the village where she grew up.

The charity organisation she was partnering with bought land and the rebuilding of Imprezza High School started.

The school has adopted Syamakhanga Primary School, whose students proceed to Imprezza.

Don’t limit yourself

After the post-election violence Catherine and like-minded young people formed the National Youth Forum, an umbrella body whose aim is to empower young people to aspire and take up leadership positions in the country. She is the organisation’s secretary general.

“I look forward to a time when Kenya will get visionary leaders who will lead this country to the prosperity it deserves. We have this kind of leaders in the youth,” she says.

This go-getter is also the assistant secretary general of AFC Leopards football club. She has been a fan of the club since childhood.

“I love football. I used to play with my brothers,” she says.

Family life

Catherine has two daughters, 11-year-old twins.

“They are the reason I work so hard. I want to inspire them and ensure that they have the best in life,” she explains. Her husband died in 2006.

“I was confused and sad, I couldn’t think straight. However, I had to be strong for my children and not allow loneliness to take control of my life,” she explains, adding that she now appreciates what her mother went through when her father died.

Catherine’s mother, a trained nurse and teacher who recently celebrated her 54th birthday, works in the human resources department of a local sugar company.

“When the family stabilised, I encouraged her to go back to school and take short courses, which secured her this job,” Catherine explains.

Women, she says, should not just sit back and entrust their future to their husbands or any other person because “anything, like what happened to my mother, or to me, can happen to you”. They need to empower themselves by getting an education to secure their future.

Her siblings are also doing well.

Her brother Sammy is an engineer and works for an American company. He has one child.

Her sister Rose is a nurse working in Sweden. She has two children. Another sister, Christine, is also a nurse, and has two children.

Two other siblings are at the university, while the lastborn child will sit for her Form Four examinations this year.

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