My Father’s Love, by Daphrone Lucheli
Many thanks to Patty S. and her family in Westchester County, New York for their donation to Lift the Lid, supporting our students at Lenana Girls High School in Kitale, Kenya. Their contribution will go towards our scholarship fund at Lenana, which offers room and board to orphaned and impoverished girls who have proven their desire to learn in writing or by passing the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam.
Daphrone is one of these special girls at Lenana and she writes about the love and support her father has given over the years, when there was no one else to help. She writes in her essay below, “I am so proud of him. He did what most fathers would not have done. Others would have had another wife to raise their kid but he did not do it.”
Every year Lift the Lid holds a writing competition at each of the schools we support. Daphrone was awarded Second Place for her essay My Father’s Love. Please take a moment to read her writing, which shows her heart and hard work.
Daphrone, I’m happy and proud to share your essay about your father with our donors. You write with honesty, detail and clarity, especially in describing your emotions. It must have been difficult feeling rejected by your community first and then, of course, your own mother. Equally difficult, I can tell from your essay, was finding the forgiveness to reopen your heart to your mother, after the pain of closing it when she left. I admire your father for his discipline, loyalty and ability to forgive. He sets a strong example for you, which you obviously know and appreciate dearly. Keep writing and striving with your heart open. God will show you the way.
Sara