Lucy was brought to Achungo in 2015 and enrolled in 5th grade by her grandmother who had learned about it from one of the teachers. Lucy’s father died from cancer when she was two years old and her mother died some time later in a car accident along with Lucy’s siblings. Lucy lives with her grandmother in Marindi (a few miles from Achungo). They survive from what they can grow in their garden as Lucy’s grandmother is too old to find work.
Lucy had attended Marindi Primary until the teachers went on strike. In any case, Lucy told us “the Marindi teachers didn’t teach well and students had to sit on the floor.” She would be sent home at exam time because she couldn’t pay the school fees. She appreciates Achungo because, “at Achungo there are no fees and the teachers teach well.”
She wants to become a surgeon to help others and to earn money to help her grandmother. “Too many people are dying of disease and I want to stop the disease in Kenya and other countries.”
During free time she likes reading storybooks, singing and taking exercise, and on weekends she likes to attend the Achungo church services and nearby Seventh Day Adventist church. On holidays she goes home to help her grandmother with chores, clean house, and such.
“Pray for me to pass my final exams so that I go to a good school and achieve my goals.”