Lawrence Otieno Olum

8th Grade Graduates of 2015 (Rodi)

Lawrence, 15,  joined Achungo last year, for 7th grade.  Lawrence lived in Pap Ndege (about 44 miles from Rodi)  with his mother.  His parents are separated and his father is apparently in Nairobi, but Lawrence has no memory of him.  His mother is sickly and very poor and struggles to provide for her 5 children.  In order to help the family Lawrence had dropped out of school for a year before coming to Achungo.

Prior to that he attended Pap Ndege Primary but “the standard of education in my village was poor.  I am happy here because you are given lunch and supper and before, at my school, you were forced to go home for lunch and sometimes there wasn’t food.  At that school some teachers would not attend lessons.  When I came here I found the teachers were teaching well.”

His favorite subjects are Math and Social Studies: “learning about countries of the world and political leaders.”  His dream is to become a pilot “My mother told me it was a very good job.”  Soccer is his favorite sport.  When he is home he helps his mother in their subsistence garden plot and with other work.

Lawrence attends Homa Bay High School.