Joseph found out about ROTH in June 2009 from our website. He was researching his own Kabianga campus at Moi University, where David Kimani, a ROTH Scholar since 2007, was also enrolled until our intervention moved him to a campus with better infrastructure (Kabiaga campus is where many of the subsidized Kenyan students are placed; without a library or laboratory, its infrastructure is not suited to a good education, let alone the science degree which David is pursuing). When Joseph began his studies, though, he didn’t have our help, and so worked hard despite the campus’ limitations; as he wrote to us, “Today’s perseverance is worth [it] for a better tomorrow”.

That is Joseph’s motto for life. Coming from a large family-he is the second youngest of 11 children- with parents eking out a living from a subsistence farming on less than an acre of land, Joseph had little reason to hope for a university education. When he did well in his primary education exams, though, he became determined to continue his studies, finding the fees to attend high school from his cousin, Dan Musuku, who was not only paying for his own three children’s education but also for three others at the time he took on Joseph’s fees. Though the fee payment was often delayed, forcing Joseph to miss out on a lot of school, he graduated second in his class with a B+ mark on the national examinations, and was accepted to two universities, choosing Moi University.

Then, in 2008, Joseph’s cousin finished his job at Mumias Out-growers Company (Moco, which collapsed in 2010), and couldn’t find another one, making him unable to support Joseph’s university education. His parents struggled to pay his tution, forcing them to take out small loans from neighbours and organizations; in 2009, they sold their only cow to pay Joseph’s fees, pushing them farther below the poverty line. That’s when Joseph began searching for another source of funding for his education, and found us.

In his first email, Joseph wrote of his parents: “There is no more they can do and their debts are growing semester after semester in the name of educating me. Their effort to have me complete this level of education is almost hitting a hard rock. It is my wish to have them relieved of this responsibility.”

Joseph also wrote that “Education is the only solution to poverty”. We are proud to sponsor Joseph’s university education. If you would like to contribute to his sponsorship, please consider making a donation to ROTH.