Simon Mukiria
Simon Mukiria is 15 years old. He comes from a family torn apart by poverty. Despite this, he remains very close to his mother and wants to complete his secondary education so he can support her in her old age. “I love my mum so much and she has worked so hard, I just want to make her proud and get a good job so I can look after her as well as she looked after me.”
Although Simon’s father lives in the same area, he no longer lives in the family home and has abandoned his responsibility to support his children. Unfortunately Simon’s father is mentally disabled and this is exasperated by extreme levels of poverty and hunger. When he does visit, Simon’s father terrorises the family, wrecking the house and abusing his children.
All this has added to the extreme difficulties for Simon’s mother, Rose, who is fighting for the survival of her family on only 60-80 ksh a day which is below the internationally recognised poverty line of $1 a day. Three of Simon’s brothers are fully grown and neither contact or support Rose who is ridiculed in her village for failing her children. Now Rose is trying desperately to do the right thing for her two remaining children and set them up to succeed in life where she has only struggled.
“I want Action to help my children so they are able to get themselves out of poverty and the predicament I am going through myself. I wish the best for my children and want a sponsor to help them be able to stand on their own feet.” –Rose Muthoni, Simon’s mother
Despite living on such a minute budget, Simon’s mother was determined her son should get an education and worked hard as a farm labourer to ensure he received a primary education. Simon seized this opportunity and strived to achieve high grades, he has developed a passion for Science and hopes to become an engineer. However, Rose is unable to afford the costly secondary school fees, as a result Simon is repeatedly sent away from school and his grades are now suffering drastically.
Sponsorship would enable Simon to complete his secondary education and equip him with the skills and knowledge to work his way out of his family’s extreme poverty. By attending a boarding school, Simon would be away from home during term-time and provided with three meals a day, alleviating the pressure on Rose to supply food on a daily basis.
“I love my mum so much and she has worked so hard, I just want to make her proud and get a good job so I can look after her as well as she looked after me.”
The future of Simon’s family depends on his academic success; if, like us, you would like to help enable him to achieve his humble goal of supporting his family, please contact the sponsorship co-ordinator at sponsorship dot actionchildren dot org
