Linus Kipkoech Students in the EASF-supported Education and Social Empowerment Program in Kenya have spent the past six months writing essays, and essays, and more essays— first, to practice for the SAT 1 exam, then for their college applications. Here are two excerpts from their college applications:
“The night is long, it seems like a whole year. I am very eager to see the dawn. It is cold, my tummy rumbles; it demands its right. Today it has not been satiated; the only handful [of] food is meant for the three toddlers, my cousins. I am sleeping on a bed made of a ground raised with soil above the level of the house. I am lying on one piece of cloth— I can feel the cold ground touch me. My blanket is a piece of jacket which used to be my uncle’s. My stomach has taken the better part of my brain. Though it is cold, that is negligible compared to the distress of the stomach.”
—Linus Kipkoech, Kiptogoch Village, Bomet County
“My face kept brightening as a new revelation sank deeper into my heart and mind. Reading The Myth of the Cave by Plato with my tutor [Paige Kouba] changed my entire view of the world of enlightenment as well as that of leadership…
“What a story it was! It spoke directly into me, and about me. I was considered a champion in my rural home, having gone to a national high school and obtained a grade A in my final examination. Looking at it, I have just begun my journey towards the outer space with a lot yet to learn. There is more to life than just following the common path that has left my neighbors wallowing in poverty. There is more to politics than the currently dividing strategies I see in my community and country today. Alcohol does not have to destroy our families as I see in my village today, if only we could get to the light.”
—Hepsiba Chepngeno, Kapkeregucho Village, Bomet County
“The night is long, it seems like a whole year. I am very eager to see the dawn. It is cold, my tummy rumbles; it demands its right. Today it has not been satiated; the only handful [of] food is meant for the three toddlers, my cousins. I am sleeping on a bed made of a ground raised with soil above the level of the house. I am lying on one piece of cloth— I can feel the cold ground touch me. My blanket is a piece of jacket which used to be my uncle’s. My stomach has taken the better part of my brain. Though it is cold, that is negligible compared to the distress of the stomach.”
—Linus Kipkoech, Kiptogoch Village, Bomet County
“My face kept brightening as a new revelation sank deeper into my heart and mind. Reading The Myth of the Cave by Plato with my tutor [Paige Kouba] changed my entire view of the world of enlightenment as well as that of leadership…
“What a story it was! It spoke directly into me, and about me. I was considered a champion in my rural home, having gone to a national high school and obtained a grade A in my final examination. Looking at it, I have just begun my journey towards the outer space with a lot yet to learn. There is more to life than just following the common path that has left my neighbors wallowing in poverty. There is more to politics than the currently dividing strategies I see in my community and country today. Alcohol does not have to destroy our families as I see in my village today, if only we could get to the light.”
—Hepsiba Chepngeno, Kapkeregucho Village, Bomet County
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