At 32 and mother of two, Cecilia Kwamboka keen to excel in KCSE

Cecilia Kwamboka Ayako is no ordinary high school student. 

She is 32 and her physique is unlike that of any other student at Senior Chief Musa Nyandusi Secondary School, Kegati, in Kisii.

And she is a mother of two children from a failed marriage.

The Star caught up with her in school yesterday. She exuded confidence as she revised for her Kenya Secondary School Examination.

Kwamboka was forced to go back to school by circumstances ranging from a troubled marriage to poverty.

“It all began when I approached a potential employer who, despite admiring my intelligence, asked that I present even a form four certificate before he could give me a job,” she told the Star.

Earlier, Kwamboka had fallen head over heels with a young man, green from college.

“I was at Bishop Mugendi Nyakegogi where I met this 24-year-old man. He had already finished college.

"I was in form three. He asked for my hand in marriage. I fell into his arms, oblivious of the danger that lurked ahead.” She declined to name the man.

Her troubles started soon after she became Mrs. The husband began mistreating her.

 “I think it had to do with my level of education because I had dropped out at form three while he had finished even college,” states Kwamboka.

“He always told me I was a fool whenever I failed to grasp some things quickly, saying it was because I did not finish school."

Her husband could bring women home, forcing her out of the matrimonial bed. She used to spend the night on the cold floor with the children.

“It was getting into my nerves. I bottled up with anger. I had the option to cause them (husband and girlfriend) harm as they slept but the civility in me told me no. At some time, I walked out,” she said wiping away a teardrop.

That was in 2006. “It had been seven years of pain and, like the prodigal son, I decided to head back home to my parents. By then they had realised that the marriage would not survive even if I soldiered on.”

There have been countless interventions to save the marriage.

“We had tried arbitration with the local chief and the villagers several times. Finally, I picked my luggage and left. By then I was determined to improve myself academically. My worry was finance," Kwamboka said.

 The rebuke that she was not educated remained edged in her memory.  She wanted to remove it by going back to school.

“I did not have money. I had children who also needed to go to school but I walked out,” she said.

“All I could do with my education then was to do mundane jobs in the neighbourhood. The more I did them the more I felt that the rebuke that I was the fool would be cemented in my mind if I did not do something to disabuse it.” 

Her option remained going back to school.

“I was not a dullard but I  needed money to help me to go back to class. Luckily, I met Kisii Woman Rep Janet Ongera who volunteered to fund my education. This is something I will eternally remain grateful for,” Kwamboka told the Star.

For the two years, she has braved nights to read so that at some time she will start an agency to fight for the rights of women in the region.

She talks about being taunted in school.

"Such acerbic comments really hurt but I have decided that they should not be ingrained in my psyche to demotivate me from achieving my goal,” she said.

Balancing studies and taking care of her two children- who are in grade 5 and  6 respectively - is not easy. It takes a toll on Kwamboka's reading time.

 “It’s really a big struggle since I get little financial support from relatives and parents. This forces me to leave school earlier than other students and thus miss out on revision,” she said.

 Kwamboka advises young girls to avoid sexual relationships and concentrate on their studies. She would not wish any girl to go through her experience. 

 Woman Rep Ongera says there are many women who lost direction through early marriages.

“There are so many and a solution should be found,” she said.