There is a common saying in Africa that says, “If you educate a girl, you have educated the whole village.” This is exactly what we had in mind when we went to Shanice Asere’s home for a visit. We are optimistic that she is going to get her fundamental right which is education and that is what she really wants too. She loves school and going there every day makes her feel empowered. She looks forward to being a successful woman in the future so that she can have influence in the society. She sees education as the best tool to achieve this.
Shanice’s humble beginning has been a great motivator to her love for education. She wants to be a successful doctor and be able to transform her life for the better, as well as help the sick in society, including her mother. Her mother has been a great pillar to her wholesome progress and she is grateful. They reside in the Wanyee area which is part of the Dagoretti slum. Her home situation is wanting and we agree that success in education would play an important role in her getting a job and help come out of the home situation. She would like to build her parents a big house, compared to the single room house that they currently live in once she is done with her education. It’s so small according to her but there is nothing that she can do at the moment. Both her parents work to ensure that she gets at least a meal at the end of the day. The mother does casual work in the community like doing laundry and any other job that might be available in the community while the father is a security guard in one of the security firms in the community. In most cases, they lack enough money to maintain the house but they continue to hope for the best.
Shanice is a student at Kinyanjui primary school. She is in grade three and will be joining Jagiet Academy when she gets a sponsor. She scored 551 out of a possible 700 in her recent selection interview.