Mother of Eight Returns to Class to Fulfil Her Childhood Dreams

Nairobi — A mother of eight has gone back to school hoping to re-invent her childhood dreams. Denied education by poverty and early marriage at the age of 16, Catherine Kiyeng has opted to give the dream another try by going back to primary school.

But the journey back to class has been another struggle. Her attempt to join school in Muchongoi, Baringo Central constituency, was frustrated by two schools, forcing her to try her luck in the neighbouring Laikipia West constituency.

“One school gave me hope and I had even bought uniform only to be given a negative answer after seven months,” she said. Kiyeng blames her rejection by the two schools in Muchongoi on cultural beliefs that have little regard for women. She was finally allowed to join Kirima Primary School in Gituamba Location of Nyahururu District — but not without conditions.

A teacher at the school, Ms Susan Njeri Waweru, said: “After she told us about her past tribulations we agreed to admit her on condition that she places herself at the same level as the young pupils”. Kirima Primary School fraternity is not regretting since Kiyeng has exhibited leadership roles among the pupils and inspired many at the school to take studies seriously.

“She ensures her class is not idle when a teacher is late. She takes other pupils through revision as they wait for the teacher to arrive,” said Ms Waweru. Ms Waweru said they also use Kiyeng to counsel other pupils or as an example of the need for hard work.

Ms Kiyeng, whose first born son sat for KCSE last year at Ayebo Secondary School says her return to school has also inspired her other children in primary school to study hard. “They are working hard to achieve better results than their mother,” she said adding that her daughter who is in class five in Tenges was not happy at all after she managed only position nine while she (Kiyeng) came first.

She has been top of her class ever since joining Standard Four last year. She is also among the top flyers in Gituamba Division. The 36-year-old pupil and school games enthusiast says mathematics, science and social studies are her favourite subjects.

Kiyeng hopes to become a lawyer and fight for a just society. Perhaps it’s because she has experienced abuses in her marriage. Born in a polygamous family in Tenges, Sacho Division of the then larger Baringo District, she briefly joined school but dropped out in Standard Two due to poverty.

She married and was a mother at age 16. The marriage turned out to be abusive and she had to walk out of it with the permission of her in-laws. She then worked as househelp and uprooted tree stamps to raise money for her son who had been threatened with expulsion due to lack of school fees.

“I uprooted three stamps at a farm in Kerenoi in Muchongoi and made Sh27,000 which I used to pay the fees for my son,” she said. Kiyeng attended a peace sporting event sponsored by the Administration Police Commandant, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua, at Kabel AP post recently, where she was a fatigue official for female athletes.

She was in the Kirima school choir that entertained guests and later joined other women to serve meals and drinks to guests. She said the urge to go back to school started in 1994. “I started feeling great admiration whenever I saw pupils in uniform and the urge to go back to school increased once I divorced,” she said. She struggles to raising money for rent by doing menial jobs.

-Daily Nation