A family of a visually impaired girl, who wants to pursue a mass communication course, is appealing to well-wishers to help her raise funds towards her dream.
Hellen Wanjiru Mwangi, 22, secured a chance to pursue radio and television production course at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) last month but has not joined because her parents cannot afford the college fees.
The residents of the Seventeen village in Tuiyobei sub location of Marigat in Baringo County have also in extension appealed to Kenyans of good will to come to her aid after efforts to fundraise her fees bore no fruit. “I am determined to go to school and pursue journalism despite the impediments. I appeal to Kenyans to help me raise my tuition fees amounting to Ksh 151, 000 a year,” noted the jovial Wanjiru.
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Wanjiru, who has been blind since birth and depended on well-wishers to pursue her primary and secondary school education, had at first struggled to get an institution that would offer a conducive environment for her learning until she landed a chance at KIMC.
The alumni of Thika Integrated School for the Blind told KNA that huge fees arrears at the school were her village’s first hurdle, pooling resources that allowed the girl access her result slip and certificate.
Her mother, Mary Chesire noted that the family struggled to even raise Sh10, 000 for her accommodation at the institution and hopes that help would get to the aid of her second born child whom she described as “the family’s hope.”
“We are working hard to secure a Brail Machine for her, but the ongoing drought offers no hope, as most of us are farmers expecting a meager harvest.
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“Wanjiru has the will power, I am certain that our efforts as a village will not go to waste, she is brilliant and has proved that,” noted Josephine Chebii, a community social worker, who is mobilising the community to pool resources towards her education.
KIMC had given her until end of September to take up the offer, an opportunity she feels will be lost.
She has also applied for a loan with the Higher Education Loans Board to help her ease the family’s burden but it is yet to be disbursed.
