A walk into the compound of Free to Be Academy ushers you into bright faces of young children playing.
The school located on the outskirts of Bungoma Town has for some time now been a home to Patrick Juma and Timothy Riziki.
The former street children scored 302 and 323 marks respectively in the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (kcpe) examinations.
Many of the candidates celebrated during the release of the examination results had scored 400 and above.
Patrick Juma has been a street child for the better part of his life. We found him sometime last year in town and dragged him here. We managed to register him for the exam and he has given us 302 marks
Pastor Kisembe
And as the dust settles on the examinations, and the over one million candidates await their secondary school placement, this duo is just beginning their celebrations.
As Lake Region Bulletin team made its way into the compound, Pastor Julius Kisembe was handy with his warm reception.
Street children
“Juma has been a street child for the better part of his life. We found him sometime last year in town and dragged him here. We managed to register him for the exam and he has given us 302 marks,” he says as he introduces the boys.
Riziki on the other hand lost his parents in 2019.
Juma and Riziki were part of the first cohort of the church’s education beneficiaries to sit kcpe.
This was an initiative supported by Senior Chief Joseph Ching’uli of Bungoma Township Location and the church through Pastor Julius Kisembe.
“We now have 55 children from the street with the youngest being a 4-year-old boy who is currently living with one of our church members,” narrates the Pastor.
Secondary education
Despite their encouraging performance, the two boys are unsure of their fate in post primary education as they await admission letters.
“Feeding these children has in itself been a problem. I am honestly worried what will happen when we eventually receive their letters of admission,” added the man of God.
If today we found selfless well-wishers and sponsors who would take up these children, especially these two and help educate them, it will be easier for us to focus on helping the rest meet their needs
Chief Chung’uli
Juma anticipates joining Bungoma High School and later pursuing an engineering career while Riziki wants to join Kibabii High School and later become a teacher.
“If today we found selfless well-wishers and sponsors who would take up these children, especially these two and help educate them, it will be easier for us to focus on helping the rest meet their needs,” said Chief Chung’uli.