Calvin Esekon: Needy Turkana Boy Who Scored A- Gets Full Scholarship to Study Medicine 2 Years Later

 

The 19-year-old was among the cohort of students who posted remarkable results in the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination. Writing his from Lodwar Boys High School, the young man scored a mean of A-(minus), a grade second to the coveted A, but his family's financial restraint would pose a challenge for him. A source privy to the development confided in this writer that all of Esekon's educational expenses would be catered for by the varsity throughout the six years of study there. . Uzima University deputy vice-chancellor Joe Okal confirmed that they were awaiting the student to report any time from Wednesday, November 15. This was as per the instructions of Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth who is the Chancellor of the said university. "Our chancellor contacted me and instructed that I look for the boy and enrol him to study medicine until he clears. We found him and were waiting for him to report anytime from Wednesday, November 14," said Okal. Unsuccessful efforts to get funding from CDF, HELB Two years after school, Esekon had been unable to take up his place at the institution owing to financial problems.  His efforts to secure funding from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) had proven futile. "I was offered a place at Uzima University to undertake a Bachelor's in Science, Clinical Medicine and Surgery. We tried looking for money to no avail, and my parents are unable to raise the money for fees. It therefore became a challenge to join the university. I have tried CDF and HELB but I have not been successful," he said in an interview. His pastoralist parents have been helpless as their livestock, which would have come in handy, were stolen by rustlers. Meanwhile, Esekon opted to partake in menial jobs, hoping things would ultimately look up in his favour. However, despite his upbeat spirit, his worried family and close relatives expressed their concern over his state of mind, saying depression would take a toll on him if no help were forthcoming.  They called on the well-wishers to help their kin institute the journey to his dreams. "If this year ends then it would be the third one for him to be at home. He is so stressed. He is the first person to get such a grade in this village," said one. 

BY KAI ELI