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Author: Inspire_Spaces

Caro Kivyatu’s Story

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In 2015 when the first cohort of students joined our scholarship program, most were too timid to say anything beyond their name. However right now, the students have grown to become these admirable adults who are taking up spaces and changing narratives. One of those students is Caroline Kivyatu; our pride and joy, and the epitome of what a scholarship can do. Currently, Caroline is the program assistant at Inspire Spaces: “Being part of the staff is such an honor. It makes me feel loved, accepted and treasured by a family that chose me at my lowest and continues to do so.” Caroline hails from Kibwezi, where Inspire Spaces started. She was part of the first cohort of students to get the Inspire Spaces scholarship in 2015.

Her childhood was one of the most traumatic periods in her life, which although shaped who she is today, deeply affected her psychologically. Growing up, her now late dad was a high school teacher employed by the Teachers Service Commision, the Kenyan Government body responsible for deploying teachers in Kenyan public schools. As a result, she spent most of her childhood in the teachers’ quarters of the school her dad was working in. Despite
the school being an environment where she could interact with many children, her father, as she states, loved a caged life and so he prohibited the family from visiting and interacting with the neighbors. Besides, her dad was an alcoholic who in spite of having a well paying job spent all his money on alcohol, leaving the family without basic needs.

In an attempt to step up and provide for the family, her mom would take up menial jobs, something that her dad was against. Her dad’s realization that her mum was doing jobs, which he deemed low ranking, would lead to a lot of domestic violence. Hence, Caroline grew up witnessing her parents’ perpetual fights: “I got used to this life where every night dad would come home drunk and beat up my mum.” She says. Seeing what her mum went through broke her heart but fortunately, her talent comforted her. And so to cope with her difficult circumstances she found
solace in singing. By the age of 10, she was already singing in church and a part of the team that led worship.

Although most of her childhood was difficult, she remembers periods when her dad would at some point quit alcohol, in turn, giving her hope that she would join the highschool of her dreams. Only that as misfortune would have it, after a short while, he would relapse and the drinking would get worse. One such moment was when she was in class eight preparing for her final national examination. Her dad’s drinking got so bad that he abandoned his teaching roles, and as a result, got fired. At the same time, her mum lost her job as an Early Childhood Education
teacher, leaving the family with no source of income. When this setback befell her family, a dingy verandah in a shopping center in Kibwezi was the only place they could call home.

Even with the difficult circumstances, she successfully completed her primary school education. However, she had no hopes of furthering her education because she knew there was no way her family would afford it. In her state of
despair, Mr. Rajab, the headteacher at Kibwezi Township Primary School, the school where she did her primary education, informed her mum about the Inspire Spaces scholarship, which she applied for and qualified. When she was informed that she had been accepted into the program, it was about the same time when her dad was admitted to hospital due to liver cancer. As such, the period between getting the Inspire Spaces scholarship and joining highschool was particularly difficult because while on one hand she was happy she was assured she would join
highschool, her dad was battling cancer.

Hope Restored

Nonetheless, on 10 th February 2015, she joined St. Bhakita Kiangini in Makueni, under our scholarship. What she did not know on the day she was admitted to Form one was that on the previous day, her dad had passed on. So the first year of high school was characterized by constant mental turmoil because even though her dad had caused her trauma, he was still her dad and she loved him.

After she overcame the loss, she started molding herself into the person she is right now. From 2015 to 2019, Caroline successfully went through highschool and then joined Cooperative University in 2020 to pursue a diploma in Community Development and Social Work. “Through the Inspire Spaces mentorship and leadership camps, I learned leadership skills and took up various leadership roles in school. Besides, the building infrastructure program (now known as the Jenga Outreach) made me develop an interest in community development and no wonder my choice to pursue a career in community development and social work.”

In future, Caroline hopes that she will still be a part of Inspire Spaces and that she will also start an organization dealing with the youth, women and people living with disabilities. Looking at where she has come from, Caroline believes her life is led by divine power and that all her dreams to help her community will soon become
reality. Just like her, we look forward to seeing what the future has in store for her, her family and her career.

Our resident Priest

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“I did what I saw was good”. These were the words spoken by Joseph Mwendwa’s stepfather, given as the reason for committing the (heinous) act that Joseph now describes as having changed the trajectory of his life forever. 

Growing up in Kibwezi, a craggy semi-arid town located towards the Kenyan coast; 192 km away from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Joseph, the second born of seven siblings, spent most of his childhood under the care of his grandmother. After spending the first three years of his primary school education living with his mother and his step father, mistreatment by the latter became unbearable, and despite the strong bond with his mother, moving in with his grandmother at the time seemed like the quickest way to lasting peace. Joseph describes growing up with his grandmother as quite relaxed, without the usual strictness of a traditional African household. This relaxed atmosphere allowed him to indulge in his then two favorite hobbies, watching movies and playing soccer. His primary school education was also quite smooth as he went to government sponsored schools where the only thing his grandmother had to pay was the ksh. 30 required for meals. While life as a primary school boy seemed relatively uneventful for Joseph, as he approached the end of that phase of his life, an earth shattering event threatened to disrupt everything in Joseph’s realm of existence.

One fateful Friday towards the end of the second term of his final year of primary school-class eight, Joseph woke up with an eerie nudge that something malevolent was looming in the air. Feigning illness, he skipped school that day and stayed home perhaps in a subconscious attempt to avert whatever evil he could feel lurking. It was only hours later when the news was broken to Joseph, that his mother had been brutally stabbed by his stepfather, putting an abrupt end to her life. Joseph’s world was shattered:

  “I had lost the only thing I loved and treasured in my life; the most important part of my life”. 

This event, accompanied by the lack of remorse by the perpetrator, sent Joseph spiraling into depths of despair, anger, and grief previously unbeknownst to him.  

Having to sit for his national examination barely three months later, Joseph had lost all interest in his academics and sat for his exams as mere formality. Scoring 268 marks out of a possible 500 marks, Joseph was convinced that his academic journey had come to an end, 

“I knew that those marks could not take me to secondary school, and considered mechanical work to at least make a living”. 

Devine Intervention

Divine intervention is described as, “ the involvement (intervention) of a deity (divine) in the affairs of humans, popularly extended to any miraculous-seeming turn of events.”  This term is what Joseph used to describe the day his childhood friend Salome asked him to submit his documents for a scholarship, which he did at the time without really considering the implications. On 24th of December 2016, Salome informed Joseph that he had been selected for an Inspire Spaces scholarship, which would fund his secondary education. That moment was the first semblance of joy, peace, and hope Joseph had felt since his mother’s passing. Describing this turn of events as “ miraculous”, Joseph began to consider that perhaps there was a God who was looking out for him. 

In 2017, Joseph therefore joined St. Peter’s Thange Boys’ High School in Kibwezi against all odds. He was determined to make the most out of this miracle that had come his way in the form of Inspire Spaces. However, although his scholarship gave him a sort of new lease on life, life at home for his siblings was getting tougher by the day as his grandmother was struggling to make ends meet. As a last resort, four of his siblings were sent to local orphanages, and one more was sent to boarding school where Joseph used his pocket money to provide the necessary provisions. Joseph was willing to sacrifice anything for his siblings and himself to have a better life, to the point of even working at a mjengo during the school holidays to earn whatever little he could. He had been given a second chance, and by God he was not going to waste it.

However, despite our best intentions and most noble desires, life can sometimes throw in an unexpected spanner in the works. In his second year of highschool, Joseph began struggling with bouts of depression. He began losing interest in his academics and struggled to cope with everyday life, to the point of being suicidal. Although he was the YSC chairman at the time, Joseph found it hard to share his struggle with his peers and fell into negative coping mechanisms with the wrong crowd at school. Noticing his silent struggle, Father Genesus Budebo, their school chaplain, called Joseph aside and encouraged him to hold on because God had a bigger plan for his life. Joseph took these words to heart and pushed through. Although things were not perfect, Joseph held on to the promise that He had a Father in heaven who had a future and a hope for him. 

Through the continued support and mentorship from the Inspire Spaces family and the priests both at school and at home, Joseph was able to successfully complete his high school education. Currently in his second semester of seminary, Joseph is finally seeing his dreams of joining priesthood become a tangible reality. Although his journey was a tumultuous one, Joseph believes that God sent people his way to make sure he did not fall through the cracks. One of this people, he says, is Fred, 

“Fred has changed a life. I would not be in this world were it not for his mentorship and support in my life. He has been a great source of inspiration who moves people with his words. Fred has been a father to me, and only God can repay him fully”. 

Regarding his future, Joseph’s main desire is to successfully complete his seminary studies and become a priest. Not just any priest though, Joseph’s strongest desire is to become a beacon of hope. He says, 

“I  want to improve the lives of other children so that no one will go through what I went through. I want to mentor the youth just like I was mentored. I want people to feel my presence everywhere I go”. 

Just from the brief moments I spent conversing with him, I can testify that Joseph’s presence is indeed one I will never forget. 

Mima’s Story

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Inspire Spaces organization was a light at the end of a dark tunnel for me. I was a young girl, 14yrs old, and I had just completed my primary school education with a pocket full of dreams but no fathomable way to make these dreams a reality. My name is Esther Mima Ramadhan and this is my story.

I come from a family of four: two parents and two children, both born and raised in Bombolulu, Mombasa. I am lucky to have been raised by both parents. My mother, who is a strong, bold woman- Monica Angode, and my father Ramadhan Juma who despite his personal struggles, has remained an important pillar in my family. Lastly but definitely not least is my younger brother, Juma Ramadhan, the family comic who ensured that no day was ever without laughter.

I went to school at the age of four, and by the age of 11, in 2012, the tension in my parents’ relationship had reached a breaking point, forcing my mother to move to Kibwezi, a town in Kenya’s Eastern province, with my brother and I. Life in Kibwezi proved to be more tumultuous than anticipated. Formal employment was hard to come by for my mom and she resorted to casual labor as a mama fua 1 . Her modest salary as a casual laborer meant that my brother and I had to wait for about two months before she could save up enough money to enroll us in school. Scarcity ensued. The three meals a day we were accustomed to suddenly became a luxury, and we lived each day unsure of whether we would have enough for the next.

Finally, at the end of our second month in Kibwezi I was enrolled into Kibwezi Township Primary School, albeit half a school term late. Nonetheless, I was determined to do my best because at the time, that seemed the only thing in my control. Everything else was slowly falling apart with my dad battling drug addiction, a losing battle which kept him from sustaining any job. My mother on the other hand was still dependent on her meager daily wages which barely kept us in school. Although I did not know what the future held; whether or not I would join high school, I knew that I had the present and I was determined to give it my all because in the end, the present is all we are ever assured of.

Hope restored

In 2014, in my final year of primary school, an event that would change the trajectory of my life occurred. We were called for a school assembly where for the first time I met Fred Ndavi. He spoke to us about an organization, Inspire Spaces, which he was starting to help fund underprivileged students’ education. The passion with which he spoke about Inspire Spaces told me that this was something special, and more than that, it was something I desperately wanted to be a part of. I applied for the scholarship, and after passing my KCPE examinations, I saw the culmination of all the blood, sweat, and tears- I was selected as an Inspire Spaces

1 Mama fua is an informal term used to describe a lady who washes clothes for others to earn daily, often modest,wages. scholar. It was like the first light of daybreak after a dark, stormy night. Dawn was here! The proverbial joy that comes in the morning was finally mine and I basked in all its splendor! Inspire Spaces has been a game changer in my life. Beyond facilitating my secondary and
tertiary education, they have molded me holistically, embedding in me key leadership skills
such as responsibility, confidence, and compassion.

The August and December camps they organized were particularly pivotal as they showed me the importance of giving back to our communities, and the inherent power in contributing to the lives of others. During these camps we would go to schools in Kibwezi, Emali, and Rongai and assist in renovating schools through painting classes and building desks for the students to create a more conducive learning environment. Through these exercises, I was moved and avowed to always look for ways to give back to my community and invest in the lives of others just like Inspire Spaces had invested in me.

I finally completed my secondary education in 2018 and secured a chance to study at one of the
best universities in Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). I joined JKUAT in 2019 to pursue a degree in Corporate Communication and Management, currently in my third year. The light at the end of the tunnel is finally within grasp and I now know that my dreams are valid. Inspire Spaces has also given me an attachment opportunity 2 to put into practice what I have learned in the past three years at university. I am ecstatic to be working for the organization, a
full circle moment because I am finally able to give back to the organization that has given me
so much.

God has been good to me, and I have seen this goodness shine in a special way through Inspire
Spaces. I am immensely grateful for everyone I have met on this journey, and my only prayer is
that I can one day be able to bless others the way Inspire Spaces has and continues to bless my life. Fred Ndavi, and the entire Inspire Spaces team, are truly the gift that keeps on giving.