Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Edward - from street boy to undergraduate

Edward Makori - 2004
In 2004 Edward Makori was living on the streets of Naivasha. Neglected and hungry at home, he dropped out of school and ran away to fend for himself on the streets.
"Things were not good on the streets," he recalls. "I survived by eating leftovers from the garbage and rotten fruit in the market places. The streets were very cold at night and during the rainy seasons sometimes I lacked a place to sleep. The police were not also kind to us and could arrest us and beat us or lock us up for no reason.
Edward starts university
But Edward's life changed when he was offered a home at the Sunshine Centre (top photo). He remembers the exact date! "On 2 June 2004 Sunshine was opened and I was among the first boys to be registered. I was very happy to find a new home with plenty of food which I didn’t have to either work or beg for. It was also clean food not like the leftovers in the streets. There was also a good place to sleep at Sunshine - a bed with blankets unlike the cold street verandas. I could sleep well without fear."

Once back in school, Edward did extremely well at both primary and secondary school, and, in September 2015, his hard work was rewarded with the offer of a place to study a degree in Economics at Masai Mara University (bottom photo).