I am a young man aged 29 years, born in a small village in Mt. Elgon district, which used to be called Roomromwet before all the village members were thrown out of the forest The community that lives in the slopes of Mt. Elgon are called Sabaot as for now but used to be called Maasai Elgon or Kong in the past. This community is made up of about four sub-tribes and many clans. The Kong’ used to be pastoralist before the coming of the colonialist. As a result, some ran to Uganda, or neighboring West Pokot district, Maasai land and some went to Tanzania. As per now, these people live as peasant farmers on the slopes of Mt. Elgon and are suffering from the consequences of colonialism because other people came to occupy their land.
I am the first born in the family of five. We are four boys and one girl. Both my parents are alive. We have four acres of land, but most of it is stony. All the four boys have finished form four level of education and performed well with the lowest getting a mean grade of B- (minus). We live in a small village called Matumbei in Trans-Nzoia district. Most of the villagers are farmers.
There are many challenges facing my community and most of Kenya’s rural community. There is poverty which is very high and people are not in the position to produce enough food to sustain them throughout the year. There is also a problem of water shortage. My village can get water direct through gravity but because of lack of funds they are not in a position to plant short season crops. Also most of the rural communities in Kenya do not have good health services. In my community there is also the problem of Female Genital Mutalation (FGM).
My scholarship was a blessing from God. Some years back Shana Greene of Village Volunteers was in Kenya and came to see our youth group members who were struggling to drill a borehole so that they could get some water to water tree seedlings. Shana saw the hard work of the Chepnyalil youth group members and was touched by their work. She took some photographs and promised to write about us on her web site and offered assistance when possible.
When I got an acceptance letter to join medical training college, we wrote to Shana through Village Volunteers and as she had promised, looked for another partner to assist in my college fees. She spoke with Kari Filmore of Angel Covers and now I thank God because I have finished my Diploma course in clinical medicine and surgery.
With my education, I will return to my community to help treat some of the common diseases in the community. I am also planning to continue with anti-FGM if we can receive some funds to hold seminars and offer necessary support to the victims.
My education was long over due. I did my O level of education in the year 1998 and since then I have been struggling to do various things, which included tree nursery, church activities, teaching in local primary school, anti-FGM campaign, HIV/AIDS prevention campaign. It was only in the year 2006 that I received this scholarship.
When I joined college, I had to overcome the issue of age from most of the classmate who had just finished their`O`level. I had to struggle hard for I had not been in school for eight years.
If I had not found this scholarship, I do not know exactly what I would be doing now. Maybe I would be continuing with the youths in replanting of trees and coming up of other income generating activities or I may have drunk myself stupidly as I have seen youths do in the area. Now I can help my community with health care.
I wish to thank God because of all of you. You have been a great help to me and I believe that God who grafted you big hearts will reward you abundantly. I want to thank my sponsor Laura, Peebles, and Bonnie for having denied themselves in order to see me realize my dream. I call upon other well wishers to come to the rescue of many youths who are getting lost in this community.
I hope and believe that my dream of becoming a pediatrician will be realized in due care.
I extend my sincere thanks to Village Volunteers Director Mama Shana and Angel Covers directors Kari Filmore and Beth. I also thank Joshua Machinga for being faithful who assisted in delivering my college fees.
Sincerely,
Julius Sakong Fentra