Kenneth's story

Kenneth, P3

Kenneth Aramo is one of the new children who will be supported this coming year. He's 9 years old.

We followed Kenneth back to his classroom after I gave him his pencils, pens and sharpener. He kept looking up at me as we walked, kind of like he wanted to hold my hand but was afraid to do that. These children are very shy. I asked him his name and he ran into the classroom and pointed to the top of his desk, where his name was written in chalk. "Kenneth."

Kenneth lives with his older brother, Damian, who is in P6. They are orphans who live on their own in Turu, which is about 4 km from the school.  Their father died about 5 years ago and their mother fell from a tree and died last year.  Rather than live with strangers, Kenneth and Damian are trying to handle life on their own.

Every morning, both boys wake at 4:00 a.m. There is normally no breakfast, so they get some water from the the bore hole near their home and dress quickly because they have a long walk to school.

School starts at 6:30 a.m. with Assembly.  Kenneth says he likes Assembly and marching into class, so he does not want to miss it. His teacher remarked that Kenneth arrives to class looking very tired.

There is no lunch either.  Children who are more well off can buy a bag of peanuts for lunch from a woman who comes around. Some parents give send their children with some food if they can spare it.  Kenneth has no food most of the time and no money, so he goes hungry.  Sometimes, his friend Isaac shares some bread with him.  Sometimes, Isaac doesn't get bread.

When school ends at 1:30 p.m., Kenneth and Damian start the long walk home.  And then, when our children are settling down for a snack and some TV, Kenneth and Damian start farming their small plot of land.  They grow carrots, onions and an occasional watermelon, and there is a banana tree nearby. If the harvest is good, they eat for awhile after the harvest.  If not, they don't. If you have had a 10 year old and a 13 year old in your house, you can imagine what effective farmers they'd be, right? On the weekends, the boys walk into Turu town and pick up garbage in front of the merchants' stalls to earn a few pecawas (like our pennies). Ha! I can spell Ghanaian money but I am still having trouble using it! Bea saves me every time.

In spite of this existence, Kenneth is #1 in P3 at Kalsagri Primary.

Kenneth and Damian have no clothes other than the school uniform.  So as you can imagine, their uniforms wear out pretty quickly because of that, and because, in spite of the lack of food, they still grow as boys do.

Kenneth and I had some Jolly Ranchers and he told me he "wants to be something before he dies."  And I said, "Well what do you want to be? Because if you keep coming to school you can be anything."

Kenneth thought about this awhile. He would like to be an "airplane driver." His teacher chuckled and told Kenneth that person is called a pilot, and I wrote "PILOT" on the blackboard. And then we practiced saying "pilot" a few times. I asked Kenneth what his favorite subject is and he said "mathematics."  And I said, "Good, Kenneth - pilots need to like mathematics." And I got my first smile.

Fly high, Kenneth.