We first published Musa’s story in the Spring of 2020 and he wants all his supporters to know that he is well and continues to be a successful and very grateful ACCES recipient.

Musa is now in his final year undertaking a diploma course in Building and Construction.

He was born into a very poor rural family, with both of his parents being illiterate and mostly unemployed, barely surviving on a few dollars a day from casual, menial jobs, when they could get them. Musa and his family suffered many times with malnutrition, jiggers and malaria. During primary school, Musa struggled to stay in his classes, and eventually dropped out in class 6 due to his parents inability to pay desk and security fees. It was only through the intervention of ACCES during an OOSC (Out Of School Children) enrollment project that he was able to join a Non-formal Education Centre (NFE) known as Elufafwa, supported by ACCES, thereby enabling him to complete his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KSCE).

After primary school, Musa’s good grades qualified him to become the beneficiary of an ACCES sponsorship at Emulakha secondary day school. This happened at a crucial time for him, as he had already lost hope of ever continuing with his education after all the difficulties he had gone through just to complete his primary school. There were no sponsored non-formal high schools, and thinking of his family’s economic background, with of all of the struggles they endured, it didn’t seem possible that he could go any further. It was a struggle just to survive in their day-to-day life.

But Musa worked hard, and after completing secondary school, joining a tertiary institution was the next obstacle for him to overcome. He was determined to become a building tradesman. Musa pondered what to do next, and decided to take odd jobs in order to help provide for his family’s daily needs and save some of his little earnings for his future education. It was not an easy task but he managed to not only improve his family’s home, but he saved enough to gain admission into college. He also applied for, and was successfully selected as an ACCES beneficiary to a post-secondary technical institution. Finally, after more than a few years of hard work and saving, Musa was able to continue with his studies.

Musa says that when all is said and done, he is incredibly grateful for ACCES, especially the donors who carried him through so many difficult times. He says his journey would have been much harder without support from ACCES, and wonders if he could have ever gotten this far. He gets emotional trying to explain his experience in life. Musa says that his burden has been lifted by ACCES and he hopes to be financially stable in the future in order to help others.

He says, “Thank you for walking the journey of life with me, it isn’t because of my ability but because of you. You are worth a treasure to keep. Thank you again”

Musa, and others like him are the reason ACCES exists. These determined, hard working students deserve the opportunity of an education, and thanks to donors like you, ACCES can give that opportunity to them.