CAMPUS LIFE AS AN AJIRI SCHOLAR.

Hello, Am Atuta Moses, Ajiri scholar, doing undergraduate course ‘Bachelor of science in nursing’ at the Presbyterian university of East Africa, located in Nairobi- kikuyu town in Kiambu county in Kenya.

My course duration till i graduate as a nurse is 4 academic years, am almost done with my first year.

Campus life shapes on how the rest of your life will be, it molds who you want to be. It is not that easy as we were used to be told back in high school, but its easy finding that we are equal to this life here.

What motivates me that am at the right place, is that I came alone during the time of admission. That time was when Covid-19 was at the peak but I received I message from my school that I had to get to school physically for the admission. I was not familiar with the location where the school was, all I knew was that the school was in Nairobi. I did not get any company from my family because by that time I was staying with my mum alone back in the village, my siblings had travelled to towns and there was lockdown in the country at the same time. I just told my mum I will be fine if all this was my destiny. It was add getting to the school but all in all here I am.

Temptations, bad friends freedom and drugs, all of this things and others are real in campus. All the kinds of lifestyle is avaialabe but what makes me who i am today, is that fact that i once what an ajiri student- which means alot to me, i was an poor orphan who at some point was choosed to be helped because i was in need- thus as an ajiri scholar, there are some things we done and others we do not.

I can openly say that freedom is one of the most challenging issue that affects us as campus students. We mismanage this frredom to an extend that we forget who we are. This has also affected me in one way, my best friend has been influenced to abusing drugs just because he is depressed by his lover. In this way he gets drunk most of the weekends and most of the times he comes to my house, i have to accomodate him in my house in the same bed with that oduor smell of drugs.

Due to covid-19, there has been increase in tax, which has caused increase in price of the products. This has really affected me that i can limit the number of my shopping so that I can have something tomorrow. It has also minimized my travelling, I can not travel to where my siblings are because of the lockdown. It has also affected my academics in that we have minimized the clinical areas to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

I had this dream of being a medical practitioner, more especially a doctor. But I was not lucky since I did not attain the grade required. Alternatively I had to go for nursing, i really like the process even at some point I challenge myself that its better than being a doctor. I cant say that its a calling for me but, nursing for me is my career course. Nursing focuses on helping those in need (the sick), as evidenced by Ajiri foundation which focuses in helping those in need (the orphans). I will make ajiri proud if I become a nurse.

Being an ajiri scholar, have learnt a lot about life, have learnt about hardship during the Kembu cottages- a trip we had together with other ajiri scholars. Ajiri exposed me to technology especially computers where I learnt blogging, it has made who I am today by making sure I lacked nothing during my high school life. Am so grateful of being part of the ajiri foundation.

“Little by little, a little becomes a lot” This all I have to work with since it was one of the few complex sentences that were said by Kate Holby, during that time that i was not familiar with English

EDITTED BY ATUTA MOSES- AN AJIRI SCHOLAR- (NURSE)