Peninah Shimuli, nurse in training

Taking a diploma program in Nursing, Kenya Medical Training College; beneficiary of the Leonard Wandili Memorial Scholarship

My name is Peninah Shimuli. I'm currently a student in Bondo campus, Kenya Medical Training College. I'm in my final year. I come from Kakamega, that is my ancestral land.

I was born to a single mom, I can say, because my parents separated when I was still two years old. So I grew up with my maternal family, up to age 11. And then I came to live with my paternal family at that age when I was in grade six, and I completed my primary education.

And then I joined High School in a school called Bishop Sulemeti Girls. But I was having challenges with school fees, I could not pay them, because my dad died in 2014. So I was only having my mom, who could not raise those fees, partly because I was one of four siblings. She had an illegal business, and money was a challenge.

So because of my good performance in high school, my teachers enrolled me in CES. And from there, I got a scholarship and they paid my school fees from Form One to Form Four. And then when I joined college, that was in 2021 March, I went again to CES, to ask for more help, because again, I could not find help from my mum because of her unstable, illegal business. So I talked to Malik and Madame Sarah, and they said they will talk to the CES fraternity.

And after which they enrolled me in the scholarship. I think that they had already paid my first year school fees, they have already paid my second year, actually, they have completed my school fees for my course. So currently, I was also given upkeep, which has really sustained me very well in my course. And I'm grateful for that. I'm looking forward to completion of my final nursing examination in January, and my licence and the exam possibly in March 2024, after which I plan to upgrade my study. This is because currently I'm doing a diploma course, and I plan to upgrade to BSN, maybe a PhD, to improve my knowledge and skill.