The Story of Phanice ~A Cry For Help

Names have been changed to protect the family.


Phanice came from a family of five.  Her parents are peasant farmers from Western Kenya and One of her brothers is the sole financial support of her whole family; her parents, her siblings, his own family as he is married.  Her husband, J, is the first born son in a family of seven, and he is also the only working man in his family as well.  He supports his parents, and siblings.

Phanice and J have three beautiful children together.  Two daughters, R and E, and a 10 month old son.  J is a primary school teacher.  The income for teachers in Kenya even is more meager than here in the United States.  It is not enough to support their family, especially having to support J's parents and siblings as well.  They own a small piece of land that they garden for their own use, and Phanice sells any extra to supplement their income.  Their eldest daughter R is in form 3 which is the equivalency of the 11th grade in the United States.  She is only 15 years old, advanced and very intelligent, kind and sweet. She is eager to learn and excells at it.  Their second daughter, E, is 12 years old and passed her primary exams with flying colors, but has not been able to join high school because their familie's small income is not enough to pay they school fees.  Something that we take for granted here in the United States, is a free education.  To even provide enough for food, clothes and medication for their middle child who has chronic illness has been a struggle and it has forced them to take out loans just to get by.  And now they can not afford to send their two intelligent and kind hearted daughters to school. It is about $984 USD per year for high school, and $884 USD for their daughter in primary school and this is for a public eduation.  Nothing compared to the average $10,000 per year for a private school tuition in the United States.  They are already in the middle of the term for school, and have missed so much of their lessons, that they would have to catch up very rapidly just to stay with their class.


Most people in Kenya do not finish a formal education.  The low salaries paid to workers and high school tuition fees makes it difficult to impossible to go to school.   Most of the people in Phanice's community live in poverty, fighting just to find access to clean water.  A lack of education, poor farming methods and poor roads causes an economic downfall, making it impossible for the people to ever get up, much less get ahead.  Local farmers are forced to sell their products at or below cost because of poor roads making it impossible to transport to a higher paying market.  Due to HIV/AIDS, poor health facilities and a high unemployment rate, there are many orphans left to survive on their own.  The weather in Kenya affects food production.  Their dry weather drives high fuel and power costs affecting all aspects of commerce, from manufacturing, raising prices in the market, corruption, tribalism and insecurity.  Land Title Deeds are hard to get and affects the borrowing capacity of families and businesses who can use the titles as collateral.
Kenyan laws make it difficult to find funding from other countries.  They have a bill waiting to be passed that limits foreign funding to 15% of their total annual budget.  They have local and national taxes that all residents have to pay.  Education is supposed to be paid by the government in Kenya, but broken promises and teacher strikes lead to the financial burden of tuition for many Kenyan students.  Teachers will often go on strike, they will reach a negotiation with the government, but the new agreement will not be honored past the first payment.  Their annual stipends in their schools are as low as $12 USD per student, not even enough to cover the cost of supplies for only the classroom, much less that of the students.  During long teacher's strikes often times the elder students will strive to teach the younger.  Teachers salaries are as low as $190 USD per month and does not include any medical coverage or any of the benefits that teachers are accustomed to here in the United States.

Phanice and her family have dreams.  She dreams of a better education for her children.  For them to have a college education, a brighter future and easier life.  She dreams of acquiring land to start a large scale commerical farm that will enable her to export her produce and employ her fellow Kenyans providing much needed economic growth to her area, to help her fellow Kenyans to prosper.  She dreams of having a successful business in cell phones and accessories, or possibly cosmetics.  Her husband is a teacher with a dream of starting his own school.  With a passion for the orphans who are left all alone, with no one to pay their school fees or to even provide a meal.  As the government pays teachers very little, he dreams of having his own school where he can help even the helpless to get in education and change the lives of the people in their community for a better future.


If you or anyone you know can assist Phanice's family, please share and contact Phanice via Twitter @phanice07