We caught up with Brian at his Mum’s business premises – a small shop where they are selling second hand clothes and backpacks. His is a sad tale of young man really trying to chase his dreams. The ‘stay at home’ rule fell when he had no smart gadget whatsoever. He was worried and a bit disturbed since he couldn’t catch up even with updates from their Cisco instructor via the class’s WhatsApp group. By amazing luck, he won a smartphone from Safaricom (Kenya’s largest national telcom) and immediately contacted Elimu’s Cisco instructor so that he could be able to continue studying.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
At first he didn’t really know how his phone would enable him to access the Cisco NetAcad site, but after a successful trial, he was very excited and has never looked back. This small shop has been Brian’s classroom since the pandemic began. He has adapted to the disruptions from clients and to hoots of vehicles and motorcycles. Between assisting his Mum with sales, with every slightest chance he gets to access the internet, he is back to his studies. He however does not read consistently since he cannot afford internet on a daily basis. ‘You can see here, I do not have an instructor to help me through my class, some chapters are a bit technical and hard and I think I can only understand them well with the help of our Cisco instructor” said Brian.
Using his phone, Brian has been able to complete two chapters and one exam – the best we noted, compared to all the students we interviewed. ‘My prayer is that this pandemic should be over soon, so that I can go back and finish my IT course,’ he concluded. He is thankful for the phone he won which keeps him moving forward.