As Form One learners prepare to report to school on Monday, a family in Kisii County is considering having their daughter repeat Class Eight after failing to raise funds for her to join secondary school.

Martha Gesare scored an impressive 409 marks in the 2022 KCPE exams, a feat accomplished under the harshest of circumstances.

Her efforts saw her get a near-clean sweep of grade As and got her into her dream national school, Asumbi Girls.

But now she is staring at what appears to be a bleak future. Her humble family cannot afford to raise the money needed to cater for her needs in her new school.

She barely managed to make it through primary school with the help of her benefactor, a local MCA who did not make it back to the assembly in the last elections, leaving her exposed financially.

Her family is now stuck without a way of actualising Martha's academic dreams.

Abel Getange, her father, says “mii nimejaribu sana nikalemewa, ata barua kwa CDF tuliandika mpaka saa hii bado, sasa tunaona afadhali arudie Class Eight mpaka tupate namna.”

The 14-year-old, whom neighbours describe as ‘a light’ to the village, has high hope of actualising her dreams of becoming a doctor, but her path to that career is littered with financial challenges.

Still she keeps that hope alive.

“Familia yanugu iliweza tu kunipatia hii box ni kutokana na umaskini wa famili niko na malengo ya kubadidli taswira nyumbani siku za usoni licha ya changamoto,” she says.

That one item on the list of requirements to join Form One was acquired after her family felled and sold some trees, but the money raised was just a drop in the ocean of the high school needs.

Her neighbours and family are keeping their hopes alive for Martha, they believe that her success will rub off on not just her family, but the entire village as well, as she fights to keep her dreams alive.