• Wanjugu is the last born in a family of four siblings out of whom three live with albinism. They are from Thunguri village in Othaya.
• Despite the challenges that come with the condition, she passed her 2020 KSCE exam, scoring an A-(minus) of 78 points.
Image: EUTYCAS MUCHIRI
Caroline Wanjugu, 17, from Nyeri county has never viewed her albinism condition as an obstacle to achieving her goals.
Wanjugu is the last born in a family of four siblings out of whom three live with albinism. They are from Thunguri village in Othaya.
Despite the challenges that come with the condition such as name calling, stigma, bullying, and mistreatment by misinformed people, she passed her 2020 KCSE exam, scoring an A-(minus) with 78 points.
Wanjugu, who went to Mahiga Girls High School in Othaya, emerged position 13 in the special needs category.
"I was excited and delighted when I received the news. I really appreciate my parents, teachers and siblings for their support and especially God for the good results," Wanjugu said on Tuesday.
Education CS George Magoha released the results on Monday.
Wanjugu says although she expected to pass, her expectations were not that high, especially after schools were shut down for seven months following the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak last year.
She said her teachers did all they could to ensure they covered the syllabus and embarked on revision for the exam.
Her dream is to join the University of Nairobi to study law.
Wanjugu's role model is lawyer and Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr, whom she admires for being "articulate and courageous".
STIGMA
She said cases of stigma in her school were minimal as teachers and people who were ahead of her helped fight it by creating awareness.
She also appreciated her mentor, Jane Waithira, a young woman with albinism and a programme director of Positive Exposure.
Positive Exposure is an entity started by Waithira to challenge stigma, fear, discrimination and support positive social change in relation to albinism in Kenya.
She has been very supportive and encouraging to Wanjugu, the girl said.
"She has been with me all along despite the ups and downs in life".
She advised other students living with disability that it does not mean inability and it should not stand in their way of achieving their goals.
A jovial Regina Waithira described her daughter as an obedient and a God-fearing girl, who is also an active member of the church youth group.
"Their father being a Catholic catechist has always ensured they attend church," she said, adding that this could be the reason why God has blessed her family.
During the release of the 2019 KCSE exam results, the family was also in a celebratory mood after Wanjugu's sister Evelyn Wambui scored a B+ of 74.594 points.
Wambui also attended Mahiga Girls School and finished seventh nationally in the category of people with special needs.
But despite the good performance, her parents are uncertain whether she will attend university due to lack of resources.
Her father is a peasant farmer, while the mother is an ECDE teacher.
Waithira says it has been a challenge to provide children with protective clothing, sunscreen lotion and glasses among other necessities that come with albinism.
Her father, Francis Mwangi, called on well-wishers to help him educate his daughter.