“Life is what you make it!” These are the words that best describe the story of Jackson Maina; from Kenyan menial jobs to serving in the World’s most elite forces.

Jack went viral in 2022 singing a gospel song while donning a US navy uniform. He considers himself graced by utter luck when his life of struggle in Kenya took a 360-degree turn.

Having worked as a watchman and Colgate hawker, Jack is a living testament that the light can shine on anyone. Here is his story by Bizna Kenya.

Jackson Maina was born and raised in a small village in Njoro Constituency. He comes from a low-income family as his parents were employed farmers earning peanuts.

However, whatever his parents earned was enough to sustain him and take care of his basic needs.

His parents struggled to educate him through school and often relied on well-wishers for him to stay in class after being sent home over fee arrears. Jack completed his KCPE exams in 2011 and scored 243 marks.

Nonetheless, his parents could still not afford to send him to a secondary school.  He repeated class 8 to give his parents more time to collect high school fees.

This time around in 2012, he scored more than 300 marks.

There still was no money to send him to secondary school. Jack’s mom joined a merry-go-round Chama and received Sh. 20,000 from the group.

With these funds, Jackson was sent to a boarding school in Laikipia.

Given his parents and Maina’s plight, it was expected that he would put in extra effort to uplift his family from poverty. His father had no job and the mother was the sole provider.

However, this was not the case.

In form 2, school fees became a challenge and Jack left Laikipia for a nearby day secondary school. Like most teens, Jackson got a mobile phone and his studies deteriorated since. He failed his KCSE.

“I scored a D plain. My father was very disappointed in me and even broke into tears because he consistently told me to focus on my studies but I was always busy with my phone and girls,” he stated.

After high school, he got a sales and marketing job, advertising for Colgate and convincing people to buy the toothpaste tube.

“For each tube of Colgate bought, I would get a commission of Sh. 6,” he stated.

In a bid to make things right, Jack left home for Samburu to be his own man. Sooner, he realized that his dream of securing a well-paying job was all a facade without the papers.

In Samburu, he did several jobs including as a bar attendant before leaving for Nakuru. Here, he worked as a construction worker.

He received a connection to become the turnboy of a lorry ferrying goods from Nairobi to Uganda.

Jackson Maina’s life took a U-turn when he got a call from his area chief. He informed him of an opportunity to join the National Youth Service, which he did without hesitation. Joined in 2017, Jack graduated in 2020.

“I joined NYS and my hope was to join the plant operation contingent because  I always wanted to operate construction machinery. My prayer was answered,”  the NYS trainee said.

During his breaks, his father encouraged him to apply for a US Diversity Visa (A green card). He submitted his application but was unsuccessful.

READ: Jalang’o lied! 30 million Kenyans didn’t apply for Green Card – US data shows

His misfortunes grew as he failed to secure a job owing to the pandemic that swept the world.

He returned to Samburu where he applied for the Kazi Mtaani program. He got a job as a night security guard earning Sh. 8,000 monthly.

This was not enough to sustain him hence he did construction work part-time. Construction worker by day, watchman by night.

Meanwhile, he kept applying for jobs and even tried out for the National Police Service recruitment. In May 2021, he applied for the US Green Card and was among those successful applications.

Tragedy struck on the same day, as his father also died. This propelled him to work even harder and make his late father proud.

Jackson Maina needed Sh. 200,000 to process everything and go to the United States. He sold everything in his house amounting to Sh. 50,000.

“I applied for salary advances and loans, but I still did not reach the target.”

With the help of a few friends and a well-wisher, he began applying for the visa and looking for a host. He got one in Pennsylvania in March 2022.

Jackson Maina flew to the US. In America, he landed a job at a warehouse. Jack applied for the selective service, a requirement for all DV winners below the age of 25.

The American immigrant went through training in Chicago and was posted to the US Navy in August 2022. He graduated in November 2022.

“I also went to school for one month and graduated on December 2”

Today, he runs a YouTube channel where he motivates Kenyans going through the same plight as he did. He also provides guidelines on how to apply for the green card lottery.