Many who have traveled to Kenya on Tumaini vision trips have met Nicholas. Nicholas has a calm demeanor and a ready warm smile. He is a Tumaini alumni who now works for the organization as the Coordinator for Donor Services & Monitoring and Evaluation departments. Nicholas is always on the run. By his own admission, Nicholas has come a long way, but he is careful to always return thanks to God who has paved his arduous journey to this point. I recently e-interviewed Nicholas on an array of topics and below are a few excerpts:
Q: Briefly tell us about your background:
"I come from a family of two, my brother and myself. Our mother passed on in 1998 when we were still young, my brother was in 8th grade and I was in 7th. Unfortunately, since our mom was the breadwinner, we could not proceed with high school education. My brother gave up and got married in 2000. But I pressed on believing that one day God will answer my prayers and provide fees to pursue high school education. My grandparents were traditional brewers and everybody in my extended family was involved in drinking and I was no exception even as a teenager! In 2001 I got so depressed that I started indulging in drug abuse. Fortunately, any drug substance that I tried did not work for me. At some point, the situation forced me to work as a house help in the of Nairobi City and later in Kiambu County. In 2003, a friend of mine from church reminded me that I was quickly approaching cut-off age to enter high school and that if I did not join in 2004, I will never be eligible! It was at that time when I began saving some money from my house help job. By the end of 2003, I had saved almost 10,000 Kenya shillings ($100). That money enabled me to start my high school journey in 2004 when I was 19 years old. Of course, I was the oldest student in the whole school. Because of my age, some of the family members thought that I was under the influence of marijuana to join freshman class at 19 years. But I was determined."
Q: How did you get sponsored by Tumaini?
"In high school, I struggled to pay fees, and many times I was forced to do day labor during weekends and even during weekdays after school so that I can raise the school fees. It was during that time when I met Japheth who was by then sponsored by Tumaini International and after sharing with him my plight he promised to introduce me to the C.E.O. , Stanley. I remember there was a Christian camp at Masii boys at the time. I presented myself the same day at the camp and met the CEO. Stanley confirmed my sponsorship through Tumaini. I could not hide my joy knowing that I now I had a sponsor, her name was Pat.
Because I had missed a lot of schoolwork, my first attempt at the 12thgrade national exam did not go as well as I had hoped. So, in the following year, I repeated 12th grade class at another school, Makueni Boys, and this time round, I performed very well. Tumaini paid my high school fees as well as at the university level. I attended Egerton University where I graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Statistics. "
Q: Could you share some of your experiences as Tumaini staff?
"I first joined Tumaini in 2016 as an intern and a year later joined the fulltime staff.
Working for Tumaini is such a privilege for me to accomplish God’s work here on earth .There are challenges, of course, but the joy of it is that every challenge that I come across and I am able to resolve, it turns to new hope given to a child that is in needs. In my current position, one of my responsibilities is to recruit needy kids for sponsorship. In that process, I have seen families’ hope get rekindled through Tumaini sponsorship. Kids are gaining self-esteem and confidence to face life challenges. I have some specific kids I can think of whose lives were totally changed as I watched then. There is this girl Elizabeth, who was working as a house help in the City of Nairobi after she successfully completed high school. Then one day when we were holding an alumni meeting, I encouraged her to join Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and train as a nurse. Since she had academic qualifications, she heeded to my advice and now she is working as a Nurse Intern at Tumaini Medical Clinic. There are others that I have also encouraged and watched blossom, such as Felistus and Mary, among others. These girls are determined in life. We have walked together through many challenges as Tumaini alumni but soon they will be graduating with Diplomas and Certificates in their respective fields of study and realize their God-give dreams."
Q: Any final thoughts?
"I am grateful to the sponsors for choosing to change the lives of vulnerable kids through Tumaini. I want to assure you that your resources are not lost or in vain. A life is changed every time you choose to sponsor a kid through Tumaini.And to my brothers and sisters who are already in the program my plea to you is that you stay focused and trust in the Lord….He rescued me from drug abuse and truly He can rescue you from any situation you are going through. To the Tumaini Alumni out there, kindly let us not forget where God rescued us from through Tumaini. Let us remember that we were blessed to blessed others."
Thank you for supporting us to produce such stories of hope, such as Nicholas. He is not only a story of hope but is now mentoring and helping others to create more stories of hope, both as staff and a key member of the Tumaini Alumni Association. If you have been praying about sponsoring a vulnerable boy or girl TODAY is a great opportunity to do so and begin another story of transformation. It costs just $38 a month to sponsor a needy child. You can go online or call us to start the sponsorship.
Eternally grateful for your generous support!
Stanley Mutunga
President & CEO