Nelphine Sofia is in her final year of her secondary education. It was so painful for her to hear that schools have to be closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It has been very difficult for Sofia and her mum even more so because the odd jobs her mum relied on have also been scarce during this period. Sofia has been trying to find ways to earn some money so as to help her mum meet their needs. She stands by the road and tries to get people who might want their hair braided (a skill she has taught herself) and would charge Kenya shillings 100 for the service.
When she was in school she was assured of meals everyday, but now, they have left it to fate. Sometimes they would go to bed without eating and at times they would eat porridge and sleep.
Reading from home is also very challenging for her because their house is near the road and that is where the Boda Boda operators wait for their customers. “They don’t know whether there is someone trying to read and are usually very noisy and have put very loud exhaust pipes in their motorbikes”. She explains. This forces her to read very early in the morning or very late in the night. She uses a candle to see as her mum has been un-able to pay the electricity bill.
Sofia doesn’t have access to a smart phone and hence not able to access the questions that the school sends via an online platform. She’s also not able to follow the lessons on television because they don’t own a TV set. So what she studies is past question papers and if there are questions that she finds difficult she would arrange to visit her classmate and they would try and solve them together.