Rosemary is very quiet with downcast eyes. She lost both of her parents before she was old enough to crawl, so her grandmother is the one who makes sure that she attends school and pays for the things she needs for her studies. She tells us that her older sister gave her her uniform, which she picks at nervously. The school gave her another one which keeps as brand new and will wear it when her current one is too old and tattered. She likes coming to school but had to stay home for the last two days as she was sick. Her health insurance is in the process of being renewed so she self-medicated with painkillers in the meantime.
Rosemary sometimes eats once a day at home but when she comes to school she always takes lunch. On days when she comes to school hungry she feels weak and looks unwell. She says that “the feeding programme has an impact on my life, I am very happy to get a school meal and it encourages me to study more”. Her challenge in coming to school is the distance. She passes a school on the way which was built after she started at Karbo but she won’t transfer because of the support she is benefiting from at Karbo; free health insurance, uniform and books which she wouldn’t get at another school. Rosemary says “Thank you to the NGO for the support, and for helping to take up her grandmother’s work in caring for her”.
By Leela Shanti and Diedong Eric