Once a cobbler, yet to graduate

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”.