Francis - An Upper Classman

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 1 Corinthians 13:11

Francis, 15, is a Class 8 student who will sit for the KCPE exams in November, qualifying him for high school in 2017. He lives in Mathare North with his father, a brick mason, his mother who stays home, and three brothers. When he started attending Mawewa School, then known as Kwa Watoto School, his family lived in the even poorer area of Jangwani. Francis remembers crying a lot back in those days – from hunger, want, and unrest in his home. He has good memories too, like visits from Director Adam Gould who would teach songs to the students and make them smile.Francis and his brothers continue to feel the effects of the constant crisis in their home brought on by poverty, quarreling, and alcoholism. Francis, the oldest of the boys, tries to shield his brothers from the worst of it, which means he does his studying long after the rest of the family go to bed. He longs for a different future – a close-knit family and a peaceful home life. Francis says it makes him sad that his parents care little about his classes, homework, and grades. Fortunately, he has the daily oasis of school and caring teachers to stand in the gap, and he looks forward to boarding school next year. He hopes to score 350 points or above in the KCPE exam and attend the Mawewa Boarding School.Francis is an outstanding athlete, and he looks forward to Tuesdays and Fridays when the students spend 45 minutes in PE class in a nearby field. He enjoys being an upper classman because it makes him feel grown-up. He credits his education at Mawewa School for helping him to mature and teaching him to become an independent thinker and decision maker.