Anne Waithera Karanja, a mum of 5, has toiled hard to get her children through primary school.

Her two bright sons, Timothy Obaga and David Adika Machani aced their KCPE exams and received call-ups to national schools.

Timothy was admitted to Kakamega Boys High School in 2020 after scoring 359 marks. He joined the school late after well-wishers pooled finances since his mother was unable to procure the dees.

A year later, David Adika Machani completed his KCPE exams. Both students went to school at Eldorok Academy in Uasin Gishu County with the aid of sponsorship.

Their mother didn’t have to pay a cent to get them through primary education.

READ: Girl with 319 marks writes heartbreaking letter to dad refusing to educate her

In 2021, David Adika scored 402 marks and was called to Friends School Kamusinga.

Luck smiled at him when he also was able to join the school with the help of a women’s group that raised the necessary funds.

Unfortunately, both children were sent home for not being able to pay fees after their academic sponsors withdrew financial help.

“He is a very bright boy and it hurts me to see him on the verge of dropping out,” she wailed.

Their mother Anne Waithera has been jobless since the Coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. She worked as a housemaid in Baghdad, Iraq where she earned peanuts.

She was issued a temporary two-year ban from working in Iraq due to her employer’s delay in processing her work permit. This left her stranded and jobless, forcing her to return to Kenya.

“The initial woman I was working for died from Covid-19 and I was sent to a different family who delayed renewing my Ijama (residency paperwork). That’s how I was handed the ban,” she recalled.

The hopeful mother has knocked on numerous ‘shut doors of opportunities’ in Uasin Gishu County.

She says that she couldn’t get any help because she and her husband are from a different ethnicity from the dominant in Uasin Gishu. Her husband is unemployed.

Ms. Waithera, the family’s breadwinner, now stares at a mountain of challenges such as providing food and settling fee arrears for both her children.

She works her fingers to the bone but the remuneration is inadequate to sustain the family’s needs.

She now looks at the option of selling her kidney and becoming a surrogate mother, to get her family through their financial crisis.

She says that she is done having her own children. She will use the funds to get her two boys through Form Four.

“I am ready to sell one of my kidneys so I can pay fees for my sons. Or even be a surrogate. I don’t have options,” she said.