I am very glad that UNICEF came through for me

Memory Matewere

My name is Memory Matewere, am 16 years old and am in form three. I was born in a Family of four Children both of us are girls and am the second born girl. The first and last born lives with my father, the last one with my mother and l live with my grandparents since I was a child up to now. This is so because my parents got separated long time ago and my mother does not work while my father who works at a Hospital in Malindi does not like me and whenever he is drunk he usually beat me and he comes home very late and this makes me not to stay with him.

When I wrote my Leaving school Primary Certificate education I was selected to Mpondasi Community Day Secondary School, this really worried me a lot because I did not know where my mother will get fees for my school and my grandparents agreed that they will be paying for my school fees. 

Then when school opened  my mother started a small business of selling Mandasi, but it was very tough for her. The money she earned from the small business was not enough to get some of the requirements for example school materials. I had no school bag and I stay 5 kilometers away from the school so money for transport was not found.

 After knocking off from school I was helping my mother to do business but this did not change anything. I never had my time to read nor write my homework and sometimes I was absent from classes due to the distance and school materials which makes me fail my terminal exams.

Though I passed through the hard time but hope came for me when UNICEF included me as one of the beneficiaries. my parents and grandparents were very happy and they knew that everything will change and indeed things have changed in my life now. 

I am very proud and grateful to UNICEF for the support  they are giving me, they provide me with basic needs such as; school fees, sanitary pads, books as well as pens which my parents failed to provide for me and most importantly am now a boarding scholar from day scholar which makes me to work hard because l have enough time to study. Nowadays l no longer miss classes and am able to do discussions with friend at the hostels.

When l grow up I want to be an immigration officer because I want to be a role model in my community and help my relatives to pay for them school fees.