Eunice was brought to Achungo by her grandmother in January 2018 to join the 8th grade. She says that day was the best day of her life. She had been living with her grandmother about 20 km away from Achungo. Her mother died in 2008, shot defending the family. Eunice never knew her father. She has an older brother who lives with her uncle and a younger sister who is “learning at home with her grandmother.” She also has two brothers and a sister in school and another sister who is a housekeeper. On holidays she likes to visit her grandmother and help her with chores and also likes to read.
Before Achungo she attended St. Matthews Primary School but she couldn’t pay for bus fare and had to walk an hour to school each day. That felt scary and unsafe. She is happy to be able to board at Achungo—”that’s much safer”. She told us that it is much better at Achungo because at home her grandmother cannot afford to feed two children and would often go to sleep without eating. It feels good to know that her grandmother can now survive. Her grandmother often comes to visit.
Eunice told us, “What I like about Achungo is that it is a school that takes care of the needy and is a school that contains children who are hardworking. The best thing at Achungo is that people surrounding you are friendly. They make you feel that you are not alone. And when you go out of the gate, you walk out as a successful person.” And she told us that Achungo performs much better than her previous school.
Her favorite teacher is Mr. Elijah – “he talks about moral values, how to pass tests, life lessons, and is very kind.” Her favorite subject is math – “math makes you become great.” In her free time she likes to listen to music and to dance. She also likes the storybooks in the school library because they are “very educational” and present “moral values.”
She wants to learn as much as she can about the human body and to become a surgeon because “I like things which are done practically.”