Reflecting living in a single room in the ghettos of Nairobi with my parents in the year 2012 reminds me a lot. More of economic hardships and an abusive father rings into my mind. Despite my mother being the breadwinner, he would still assault her physically. Sadly, he would ground her not to leave the house the following day regardless of whether it was a working day. It happened one day my elder sister was sent home for tuition fees.

Consequently, my mother went to negotiate on her behalf in school. After she was accepted back, my mother left for work where she arrived late. It made her get fired sauced by frequent absenteeism arising from being grounded earlier before.

After my mother was fired, life knocked hard at our doorstep. My father separated from my mother. My mother could no longer pay the rent. Our house began to have two padlocks- that of the landlord and one belonging to my mother who eventually got evicted. My undergraduate studies have had challenges too. During weekends since there are no classes scheduled, I visit construction sites where I ask for manual work- window fitting, floor scrubbing and more.

I could say more but of importance is the life lesson learnt- that nothing good will ever come to you barely because you are disadvantaged. It begins by sheer hard work. Financial constraints among others are the main reason as to why I am applying for the OFID scholarship.

During my undergraduate, I pursued a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Programming with a bias in statistics. My primary goal now is to further my education and become one of the topmost statisticians not only in my country but worldwide. In the next two years, I want to study masters in statistics and become very conversant with areas like standard tests, inference, data science and research methods. As part of my goals, I want to become so familiar with questionnaire development, research, data analysis and presentation, carrying out projects, monitoring and evaluation of surveys and any projects be it by the government or not.

With my masters’ experience, I will aid in making evidence-based decisions through a keen analysis of the key factors at hand. Various resources will also be investigated to determine whether my country can consider a more economical approach that yields better results saving a lot of expenditure. I’ll be available for consultation taking the lead in projects like the census, elections and checking the standard of goods. If I get the opportunity to be a tutor, I’ll deliver the content and approach the coursework most appropriately to ensure students grasp the concept well which will be a great plus to my country’s education system.

I stand for the poor, and I have the responsibility and obligation to give back to society. I will remain ever indebted to OFID should I be considered. I will forever pour my sweat and blood for the poor.