The scholarship opportunity has drawn me closer to my dreams

“I appreciate KCDF and the Chandaria Foundation Education Scholarship programme for their great help in contributing to who I am today and who I am going to become in future”.

“The scholarship really helped me a lot and drew me closer to my dreams. If it were not for the scholarship grant, I would not have joined high school’, shares Remnant Mumo, a student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology undertaking a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.

Born in 2002 in Kitui County, Remnant is a last born and has two other older siblings. In 2007, at the tender age of five years Remnant together with his mother and siblings had to shift to Makueni County brought about by a separation between their parents. Life began afresh at their maternal grandparents’ home. Since then, Remnant has always lived with his mother, siblings and grandparents and does not have any close contact with his father. 

“My mother is very hardworking and has single handedly brought us up. Since my childhood, my mother has never had a permanent job. She has been a casual worker. Back then, I remember the maximum amount she could earn in a day was Kes. 200 which sustained us at that time, the cost of living was not very high compared to how it is today”, shares Remnant. 

Luckily Remnant attended Utaati primary school, a public school in Makueni County, meaning he was not required to pay school fees. The only amount he needed to provide was Kes. 400 per year which catered for the activity fee required at the school.

Remnant enjoyed school and was always top of his class since he joined class one until his completion in class eight. “What made me top of my class was the good interaction I had between myself and my teachers. They were supportive and went over and above what a teacher is required to do. I remember in class six, during the cold weather in the month of July I had no sweater and one of the teachers volunteered to give me one. This kind gesture coupled with the interactions with my teachers gave me no choice but to perform well and give my best. In addition, the struggles I saw my mother go through drove me to work hard too”, says Remnant.

In 2015, Remnant scored a total of 385 marks out of 500 marks during his Kenya Certificate of Primary School (KCPE) examinations and was invited to join a school that he had longed for, that is, St. Charles Luanga School in Kitui for his secondary schooling.

“After getting the admission letter, that is when the real trouble began. Looking at the fee structure and comparing it to what my mother was earning, things were not adding up”, shares Remnant. Remnant made scholarship applications to various institutions and unfortunately, they did not yield.

A week to reporting to school, Remnant visited his area chief to see how he could get help and that is when he learnt about Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) as the organization that offered the Chandaria Foundation Education Scholarship grant, and he quickly made an application.

“That was the last option of getting a scholarship that would assist me to join secondary school. My mother had told me if I do not get the scholarship, I would have to repeat classes and you know during that time, there was a policy that one would go back to class eight if one was to repeat. In my mind, I did not think repeating classes was going to add value”, explains Remnant.

As Remnant was growing up, there was an engineer called Jackson Ndolo who lived around his neighborhood who  always inspired and made him grow an interest in becoming an engineer in future. Remnant approached Engineer Ndolo concerning his struggle with school fees and assisted him in catering for his school shopping.

Time was now moving, and Remnant was only armed with his school shopping, but a moment came where he now had to go to school regardless of the circumstances.

“I remember I was given the last admission number as I reported to school two weeks after the rest of my classmates had already reported. I went by faith with my shopping only. My mother assured the school management that she would pay the school fees soon, as she had reached out the local leadership to get assistance through the constituency development fund who promised that they would cater for the fees”, shares Remnant.

After some time, Remnant received part of his school fees from the constituency development fund (CDF) and during his second term of schooling, Kenya Community Development Foundation in partnership with the Chandaria Foundation Education Scholarship programe came through too. From then on, the funds from the CDF coupled with the funds from the Chandaria Foundation Education Scholarship grant catered for Remnant’s schooling until his completion. Remnant enjoyed mathematics, sciences, and geography, and while on a school trip to Daystar University, Remnant met a student who was pursuing civil engineering and that is when his interest in narrowing down to civil engineering at the university level grew.

In 2019, Remnant scored an A- (minus) of 78 points during his Kenya Certificate of Secondary School examinations (KCSE). “My mother was really longing for me to score an A (plain) but for myself, I was so happy with my result as I did all I could to get there”, reminisces Remnant.

Remnant received his invitation letter to join Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology to pursue a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering but there came another school fees hurdle like what he faced as he was joining secondary school.

Remnant decided to visit the Kenya Community Development Foundation offices with the hope that they would cater for his university education similarly to how they assisted with the Chandaria Foundation Education Scholarship in his secondary school education. At KCDF, Remnant was advised that it was not a guarantee for him to get any assistance as the needs were many but as chance would have it, an opportunity presented itself and he transitioned to the tertiary scholarship programme.

“I’m so happy that I still continue to receive scholarship support.”, shares a jubilant Remnant.

With a combination of a student loan from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) coupled with the scholarship catering for his upkeep and school fees, Remnant is hopeful that he will be able to complete his civil engineering degree in the year 2025.

“I appreciate KCDF and the Chandaria Foundation Education Scholarship programme for their great help in contributing to who I am today and who I am going to become in future. It is through the help that my future is still bright, and I am still chasing my dreams. May God grant them much more”, says Remnant.