Stacey's Story

Small Steps Forward is committed to getting bright students to secondary school by helping them with the compulsory school fees which many of them can not afford. Of course to be accepted for a secondary school place they must first complete a demanding primary school curriculum to achieve a high enough score in their Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).

Stacey was never able to complete her primary education. This is her story:

Stacy Ochieng comes from Kawere Village in Upper Nyakach. She lost both parents at tender age while she was in class 6.(She would have been about 14 at the time). This made her never to proceed with her education but drop out of school to work and take care of her 4 siblings. She started selling fruits during informal gatherings which introduced her to people of different characters, some of the negative people. Some of these people made it clear to her that as a young unsupported female there was only one way that she could make sufficient money to keep her and her siblings together. She had no options other than the unsavoury lifestyle they introduced to her. She needed to survive for her family's sake. .

However her love for her family never faded she quite improved her character. This was seen when she refused to allow relatives' desires to sell their only pieces of land .She used a local radio station to expose these land grabbers that wanted to take away the only thing that she and her siblings had left.

Her initiative to tell the local community of what was happening reached the ears of the local church group, Acts Of Mercy. This is a small but active group that is striving to keep the poorest in the local community together and functioning as family groups.

The first step was to rebuild the family house which was not fit for habitation. But vital funds would be required and the demands on AofM would be too much and that is where SSF could help. If AofM could do all the work and donate some building materials(locally grown timbers), then SSF donors can make sure that expensive roofing materials, doors and vital nails etc can be bought and this is exactly what has happened.

The new house is now ready due to a lot of volunteers supervised by one local fundi(craftsman). The fundi even reduced his rates to help the family. Tom Bilo: Hezekia Ogelo the Fundi has been doing SSF houses at very low prices, He accompanied me to Stacy's home to deliver food.

Stacey & Mary with Hezekia(Fundi) who is delivering food

Their new house is a blessing as the old house was weak and was about to collapse. Stacey was desperate to thank Acts of Mercy and Small Steps Forward so much for the coordination of the new house. The family is very happy because they now also have food and are now safe for the first time in about 4 years.

The result is that at 18 years, Stacey is staying and keeping her four siblings, Joy, Rose, Mary and Hassan together under one roof. She is amazingly resourceful and because of her, her younger siblings now stand a chance, particularly as the young family will be under the watchful eye of their 'guardian angels' - Acts of Mercy.

This account was put together by Martha Bilo and a large proportion of of the funds was provided by one single donor, D. She will remain anonymous but to D in particular both SSF and Stacey and her family are so very grateful. At the same time as this is happening the number of the SSF students has risen from about 44 to 55 so sponsorships are not being neglected either.

For this we must thank our small band of monthly sponsors but also for a new commitment by a very special community: Carlisle Christian Fellowship - they have contributed so much to monthly sponsorship that our sponsored student number has gone far above our expectations for 2024.

To all of you both here in the UK and those incredible people on the ground in Kenya, Thank You so much.

Footnote: Being a local politician in Kenya, is one way of forging a future so when one such local political aspirant decided that what Acts of Mercy is doing in his area needed his support, he donated money for doors and windows. Acts of Mercy may be small in number but their influence is difficult to ignore! It is an honour to work with them.