An Unwanted Child, by Tabitha

Twelve-year-old Akhutu Lynn Kayabe tells her story in a personal essay of how she got married to help her family, and particularly her younger siblings so that they could attend school. She is happy to share “Hard Work Never Goes Unrewarded” with Amran Hussein and Lift the Lid for Amran’s significant donation to Lenana Girls High School in Kitale, Kenya.

One of the key objectives of Lenana is to become 100% self-sufficient within 5-10 years. The school hopes to achieve this by developing businesses that will generate enough income to cover all the running costs. Such projects include a dairy business selling milk, a solar power battery charging business for people to charge their mobile phones, fruit tree production, crafts, sewing, beekeeping, etc. Members of the school and local community are involved in these businesses, and during the school year, the students contribute to the work as part of their curriculum, which is acknowledged at the national level. Plus, they learn the practical skills necessary to plan and run a successful business. The overall aim is the empowerment of the girls and a self-sufficient school.

Lenana would like to use Amran’s donation to buy the wood and labor to build a structure for the first major income-generating food project at the school. The building will store cereals/grains, which will be food for the students and for sale. Thank you, Amran! And thank you, Akhutu, for the time and courage you put into your writing!

Below is Akhutu’s personal story “Hard Work Never Goes Unrewarded.”