Amanya Lisa Adhiambo, 15, has dreams of becoming an aeronautical engineer in Kenya.
She is Coast region’s top girl in the 2021 KCPE examination with 420 marks.
She was studying at Amani Primary School, a public primary school in Mikindani Mombasa.
She tied at position two with Aman Wairi George of Nyali primary and Kelly Baraka of Almona academy in Malindi.
However, she is worried that her dream could be derailed by lack of school fees.
She does not want to end up like her elder sister, who scored 370 marks in KCPE exam but could not join the school she was selected to join for lack of school fees.
She ended up going to Kajembe High School.
"I felt bad because I could not take her there," Adhiambo's mother, Diana Akinyi said.
"I have struggled with my children because I don't want them to end up like me. I dropped out of school because of fee problems."
Adhiambo, a soft-spoken but confident girl, told the Star she used to wake up at 3am to study and sleep around 10pm.
Her class teacher Faith Kathure said she used to score more than 470 marks in her internal exams.
"We expected to hear her name being mentioned by Education CS George Magoha," Kathure said.
Being a bright, needy girl, her teachers had to contribute some Sh3,000 so she could not miss a motivational trip to Malindi.
"She used to come to school feeling sad and almost depressed. We later found out that her mother could not afford the trip," Kathure said.
"But we had to go with her because it would have devastated her if she missed it."
The teacher revealed that Adhiambo used to skip lunch so she could study.
"But we later found out it was because there was always no food to go home for at lunch," Kathure said.
Adhiambo said she has been sponsored to play Chess and learn German language.
She says she intends to apply for the Kengen scholarship programme and Equity's wings to fly.
She said a movie she watched inspired her to learn more about the cosmos and the universe.
"I became interested and after some research I chose aeronautical engineering as my career," Adhiambo said.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
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