 Monika Mwoki, directora Kwaanakimu Higushinu, jomisha suki kako inistakisha maeliwa kutatu kututapa nazikaya, kutamia kutikava kaza kwewa kawe aa nyokirikia. Kusimia, hila kututapa káwa kila na na. Kwaanakimu Higushinu kaju zaama na 26, 2016, We started with the two lanas. By the end of that year, we had only seven children. We were focusing on children from the village and most of the kids in our village left disadvantaged. Most of them are orphans. Others have history that really calls for help. And they joined our school slowly and slowly by 2017 the numbers came up to 22. We stayed in 22 until 2019 when we admitted more children. And up to the time the pandemic started we had 44 children. For the first time this year we admitted more children. At least now we have 80 children. The admissions of this year are children who are capable of paying school fees. But the ones before were from the village and they cannot afford school fees. So we support them. After thorough investigation, Monika realized that poverty was the highest contributor of uneducation. I always had a burden for my village and in 2008 I started investigating why children are not going to school and why they are not really interested in learning. And I discovered some of them were actually poor. They couldn't afford school fees for secondary school. So I gathered all those children and took them to secondary school. Most of them had left primary school and they were just at home. So they went to secondary school and I remember I used to pay about 150,000 shillings per term supporting those children. Some of them I don't even know who they are but they managed to go up to secondary school, finished from 4. At the same time I looked around for those who had finished from 4 and they had done well. We took them to colleges and after a few years we discovered that these kids were graduating from college. So that gave me confidence that the kids of the village can learn and they have the potential to study and graduate with degrees. Since most rural schools are taught in Banakila, Monica embraced the arts of teaching her students in English to enhance communication and understanding. After realizing about 10 graduates, there was a gap. Kids were not going to high school and I called the children in the church scenario and I asked them why they are not going to secondary school, why they are not performing. They were a little shy and not telling me why but one braved and he said to me, How do you expect us to pass exam? We are taught in Banakila and all exams are in English and they shocked me. Instead making me think that something should be done so that we have a culture that children can read, understand English and communicate it. I saw the need to bring kids to school, help them learn and do it in English. We started teaching them in English and out of learning in English you could see kids gaining confidence. They are able to communicate, they are sure to respond to you and the fact that they can speak in English or they can communicate in English, this gives them confidence to talk. The villagers she sees are supportive of her initiative. They like our culture of learning in English but some of them just watch it because maybe they can't afford the school fees that we are asking for. They may not be able to do anything so we understand and we support the children, we take care of them. There is also a challenge, the fact that they cannot afford, they try to keep away from the school. We have also noted that there is such a disconnect between the children and the guardians or their families. There is such a disconnect that children would rather have us on board than having their parents. We love them, we feed them, we clothe them, we take care of them and they are more confident to confide to us or share with us their needs. Even during the pandemic I would go to the homes and take food to them, take care of them. They eat very well, they were taken care of here, they dress well and that gives us a lot of peace to know they are okay. It is very rare to see a child missing school, they are always in school every day. If a child is sick they come we take them to the hospital. Monica is thankful for the good support system she has had since it has aided in sustaining her. It wasn't easy because to run a school when you have no income is not easy but I really thank God for my family, my husband, my sons have been so supportive. We have had friends who have also been giving and sharing here and there to help us sustain the school. We are really young and growing, the school is operational thanks to a number of people that Monica works with. In the first place we have now the preschool to grade 4. We are still a very young school so every class has a teacher. We also have staff that take care of us, we have the cleaner, we have the catering team. They are also part of the staff that need to be taken care of, they need a salary, they need to be taken care of so that at least they are able to continue working. The eagle is a fascinating bird known for its power to fly its high altitudes in the sky, hence the motivation behind the school's name. There is a big difference between eagle and chicken and you have heard them say that when you think of an eagle you think of a bird that is wise, a bird that can focus, a bird whose battle is not just down here, when it catches something it takes it to there and I felt that having a principle of staying not in the state of poverty, accepting yourself as able and rising up to do what you can with your potential makes you an eagle. With godly principles deeply rooted in her, Monika passes on the same to her students. My belief is that it makes a difference when you know God and the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So if these kids get to know the Lord as a Pasadot savior, they also grow in the wisdom of God, we nurture them in the way of the Lord, we use godly principles to administer school and as they study they become different. In that they fear the Lord, they honor Him and they concentrate in learning. What they learn will bring transformation of our community and that is my belief. I am really grateful to God for giving us a chaplain on staff. He has really done so much, he has concentrated in teaching the children the way of the Lord. He will listen to their songs, their songs are telling, I am a Christian. Such kind of songs are telling and as a child confesses that we are sure when you have to approach on any issue and using all that, this child thinks about the life she is living or he is living and is different. The difference that child goes back home with can be something that can transform the mother, the guardian, the brother, the sister and hence the community. Though the journey might have had its unfair share of challenges, Monica is happy for the fact she is reached. Before we started the school, the kids in the village were timid, they were not free. You would not penetrate through a child, communicating with that child. They came to school and they started learning and they became confident. Some of the kids we went for them from their homes. I said earlier that some of the kids are orphans, pure orphans. Others have issues in their background. Some of them we can't come out publicly to share because they will be stigmatized if they get to know their background. But bringing these children on board and teaching them and helping them accept themselves as important because that's what God purposes for them has brought a difference. It's brought a difference to them in their lives, brought a difference in their families, hence the community. My prayer, even as we teach the children, is they get to know the Lord as their personal savior, confess Him as personal savior and also be able to reach out to others with the same. I would encourage everybody to get to know the Lord as personal savior, confess Him and also touch another life.