Looking
at Richard Otieno dashing along the pavements of Bondo University College to
catch a lecture, one would pass him for a blissful youth with a decent
upbringing and education. Hardly can one tell that he, at some point, was a misfit
and forced to become a cobbler to make ends meet. His past is now obscured by
the appearance of his new life.
Richard was born to a family of two. Their family
was very poor, living in a grass-thatched hut in Otange village, Homabay County.
They depended on subsistence farming on their small piece of land.Their father
who would drink himself to a stupor made their mother desert them. Richard and
his brother were left under the care of their grandmother. By then, he was only
four.
Having attended a local primary school, he could neither
afford a school uniform nor dream of shoes. However, hard work saw him clinch
top position in class.
Lack of finance denied him secondary education. Richarddecided to head to Nairobi in search
for greener pastures. He was housed by his uncle, a sole breadwinner, in lucky
summer estate.
As time passed by, the uncle fell ill and his
condition deteriorated very fast and he succumbed to death. This left Richard
disillusioned, numb and in despair. Through all these, one scripture
reverberated in his mind “The Lord does
not give man a challenge that is beyond him, He makes a through way.”
Richard with no secondary education became a
cobbler. Since he could not pay the rent, he sought refuge under the stairs of
one of the tall buildings. Going back home was not an option. This place became
his house has he had did his work.
As days passed by, it seemed like life was coming to
a standstill for him. All life brought to him was pain, misery and suffering.
Every time he saw expensive vehicles and elegantly groomed pedestrians going
past his stall, (a stone on which he sat on and a makeshift stool for his
customers) the agony of his pathetic life ate away his strength. Happy moments
seemed to last for secondsbut then he could not even do away with the stony
face that had now become part of him. Utter
misery, where was God? Were there any second chances in life?
One day Richard heard of private candidates who had
sat for KCSE and passed. Being bright and having nothing to lose, he decided to
study on his own. He started buying second-hand textbooks and reading them
whenever there were no customers. “Every
time I picked a book to read, Iwas filled with new hope and inspiration”, he
says. It was not long before he was fully engrossed in his studies,
sometimes reading till late using the building’s security lights.
After a year, he had completed the secondary school
syllabus. He then sought the help of private tutors to tighten up before he
could sit for the KCSE exam, bearing in mind that he had never stepped in any
high school class. God granted him happiness that lives on to this day. He scored
a mean grade of B-(minus). Richard did not have much problem asking for a
fundraiser as many were inspired by his story.
He was enrolled into a Teachers’ Training College
and completed with a P1 certificate. He got a job at one of the local private
academies and worked there for three years before being promoted to be the
deputy head teacher.
He is now a part time student at Bondo University
College and the future has never seemed brighter. He has a beautiful wife and a
proud father of one daughter. Giving inspiration and hope through his story to
his students and others has become part and of his life. When asked how he
managed to overcome the despair, he simply smiles and says “Only the Lord has the answer. All I know is
that He lives and I can attest to that”.
