There are moments in life when difficulties arise, and hope is lost, that moment, for 19 years old Jentrix Muhavi, was when she had completed her primary education final examinations back in 2018.
Jentrix had maintained a high level of discipline throughout primary school. She also loved school, and her efforts had paid off, she had recorded excellent results and was to join a good high school. The buzz kill however, was lack of school fees. She felt demoralized.
When United Kenya Rising came through to sponsor Jentrix’s high school education, the dimmed hope her family was going through was revived. The family’s first born proceeding to high school brought some sense of pride to the family. As Jentrix’s mother Eveline puts it, her girl could be the game changer of the family’s status if she got educated.
Going through high school seems to have done good to Jentrix. The small, quiet and reserved girl has grown into a confident cheerful youth. Her discipline is still there and the knowledge of what she wants in life brings to Jentrix’s face a glow. She wants to be an accountant.
Jentrix explains that her high school would organize motivation talks where speakers from various professional fields would talk them into pursuing a specific career, and what it takes to be a certain professional. It is from the talks where Jentrix found a mentor, a young woman who was an accountant at one of the banks in Kisumu city. Falling in love with how the woman expressed herself and described the nature of her job, Jentrix vowed to try and follow her steps.
The journey towards acquiring the grades needed to qualify to pursue accounting in Kenyan universities, for Jentrix wasn’t a tough one. She was already good at the key mathematics, and wore the mathematics badge throughout high school. The bigger task she had was polishing her languages, which with several consultations and extra study periods, she was recording spectacular grades.
As expected, Jentrix performed greatly in her high school final examinations. She has qualified to pursue Bachelors of Commerce at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. She is thrilled. “I have not only qualified to study accounting, but also finance, taxation and Insurance management. I could as well study Business law,” shares Jentrix with a laugh.
Jentrix’s family was however in a state similar to the one they were in when Jentrix was to join high school. Despite having been made proud by their daughter, Jentrix’s parents are worried that their child’s dream of getting into university could be in jeopardy. The grave reason being lack of enough funds to facilitate her tertiary education.
The money Pilot earns from his local mechanical shop cannot be enough to get Jentrix to the university on the set reporting date and see her through campus. Everlyne’s income as a casual labourer is also merely peanuts. She can only afford the family’s daily bread.
Jentrix holds a high belief if supported to advance to university, it will be a great chance to transform her family’s status and be an instrument or agent of change in her community by uplifting others’ social status.