- Damaris Njoki missed the opportunity of education after her mother passed away when she was five years old
- She later married Samuel Kimani Kamau, who sent her back to school and paid her school fees
- Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, Njoki and her husband narrated her journey to education and success
The woman of Kitale who sat the National Secondary School Examination (KCSE) with her son has happily opened up about her upbringing and how it changed her life.
Source: Original
The early life of Damaris Njoki
Damaris Njoki was brought up in a polygamous family, her late mother being the second wife.
Njoki was the last born of his mother's four children and he recounted the many challenges he experienced in his childhood.
Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, Njoki said that when he was five years old, he lost his mother, which deprived him of many opportunities in life.
“I missed many things. Among them, of course, was my mother's love, which I missed a lot. Another thing I missed was the chance to go to school. My half-brothers were going to school, but I stayed at home to do homework. They would come back with books, sit the table, and doing housework, which I missed,” he said.
Who paid Damaris Njoki's school fees?
Years later, she married her loving and supportive husband, Samuel Kimani Kamau, a move she took as a way out of a difficult life.
One day, she joked that she would like to go to school, and her husband took action to make her dreams come true.
“I went to a nearby primary school to ask if she could be registered, but I was rejected. I went to the education office, where I was instructed how to register my wife. She was registering for her first KCSE exam. I went back to the same primary school where I was rejected and submitted the paperwork. She was accepted .
“I remember he started studying on the night of the exam. I laughed at him and told him he would have been better if he had started preparing earlier. He took his exam and passed,” Kamau remembered.
Which high school did Damaris Njoki attend?
The couple started looking for a high school, and after a lot of effort, they got a place at Kapsara High School.
Njoki had to shave his hair as a sign of being serious and return to school, which he did with ease.
“I was very eager to go back to school, so there was nothing I wouldn't do. I remember after shaving, the principal and the teachers didn't know me. During introductions in class, I said I was 18 years old, and no one asked me questions. I mingled with the students and the school environment ,” he said.
He joined the boarding school in Form Two at the age of 33, while his son, Webston Kinmani, joined him in the same school.
Did Damaris Njoki join the university?
As mother and son, they faced many challenges, but ridicule did not stop them from working hard.
“Since the school was established, no one has ever scored an A in the subject of agriculture in the national exam, but he was the first, and until now that record has not been broken,” Kamau said proudly.
Njoki continued his studies, joining Moi University to study teaching, where he obtained a second class honors degree.
The mother of four is now a high school teacher, whose success has inspired many young people in her area.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
