Student battling Sickle Cell Anaemia beats odds, scores A in KCSE 

Lavendar Awuor (center) shaking hands with Mercy Juma, principal Uasin Gishu High School, as her father, Pius Ouru, holds her in celebrating her A grade in 2022 KCSE results. PHOTO/Edmond Kipngeno, The Scholar Media Africa.
Lavendar Awuor (center) shaking hands with Mercy Juma, principal Uasin Gishu High School, as her father, Pius Ouru, holds her in celebrating her A grade in 2022 KCSE results. PHOTO/Edmond Kipngeno, The Scholar Media Africa.

Despite going through difficulties during her examinations, Lavendar Awuor beat insurmountable odds and scored an aggregate of A Grade in the recently-released Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results of 2022.

Awuor has been battling Sickle Cell Anaemia for a very long time, a condition discovered after birth. This, however, did not dwindle her vision of achieving the best in academics.

Her excellence never began at Uasin Gishu High School, where she sat for her KCSE exams.

Four years ago, she was the leading pupil at Victory Springs Academy with 404 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results.

She had to do some of her examinations at the hospital after falling ill, and her condition worsened.

“I am very grateful to God for the good results,as I have excelled. For sure, I did not expect this high because I had to do my Biology theory paper and the Practical paper at the hospital,” said Awuor.

She remains grateful to her support system for being reliable and warm shoulders to lean on throughout her journey, especially during the examinations. 

“I am very grateful to everyone who has supported me: my teachers, who were there by my side, and my supervisors for being good to me and giving me a humble time. And most of all, I thank my parents. 

They have always been there for me, struggling to pay my fees. We are all the winners in this,” she added.

During examinations

Awuor narrates that she regularly went through stressful situations, and sometimes she could end up unconscious in class.

Uasin Gishu High School administration block. PHOTO/Edmond Kipngeno, The Scholar Media Africa.

“During exams, I was stressed because I was still thinking about how I will manage to go about the exams since it is demanding that you do thorough revision in every paper, and here I was battling with anemia,” she recounts.

The secret to her success 

Her resilience and determination kept her dreams tall. She remained unwavering. She says no challenge will stop someone determined to achieve.

Awuor says that she worked closely with her classmates in groups while seeking teachers’ assistance when she encountered school challenges.

She was anticipating a stellar performance but not to the extent of scoring an A grade.

“Since I did my exams while sick, I was not anticipating performing to that extent, I expected maybe A-,” she added.

Dream career

Her dream career is to be a doctor so that she can be at the helm of fighting diseases and seek a cure for sickle cell anemia in the world where it has disturbed her for a long.

She wants to pursue a medicine course where she narrates that this way, she will be at the helm of fighting diseases and seeking solutions to ailments that have been giving her sleepless nights and the family.

“I want to join Kenyatta University to pursue medicine in efforts to get myself acquainted with the medical field and get the cure for the Sickle Cell Anemia which I have been battling with since birth,” she said.

Awuor in hospital. She battled the disease while still doing her examinations and emerged victorious. PHOTO/Courtesy.
Awuor in hospital. She battled the disease while still doing her examinations and emerged victorious. PHOTO/Courtesy.

Her favorite subject was Biology.

“I want to discover some more medicine. Maybe someday, I will find a cure for sickle cell anemia,” Awuor anticipates.

Her parents, Pius Ouru and Caroline Adhiambo narrated how her situation worried them during her learning and examinations period. 

Most of the time, they were on high alert since their daughter’s condition could worsen at any time. 

However, they are happy that their efforts were rewarded.  

“I am very excited about the results of our daughter. Life has not been easy as the parent raising this daughter,” said Adhiambo.

“We endured all as a family and in all circumstances, we thank God for the stellar results posted by our daughter,” the mother appreciated.  

They have been praying for good results, although they sometimes worried their daughter might not excel well due to her condition.  

Awuor’s mother says their daughter is a light of the family and a living testimony that one can excel despite the circumstances in life.

Pius Ouru, father to Awuor, could not hide his joy for her daughter’s excellence. 

He recounts several times he could be engaged in other activities but could not go for a day without inquiring how her daughter was faring on with her studies. 

“I used to encourage my daughter not to worry and that she was going to sail and excel, and indeed history has been made. She is among the candidates who score an A across the country,” said Ouru. 

The father registers their gratitude to the Board of Management of Uasin Gishu High School for their immense contribution to the daughter. 

Mercy Juma, Principal of Uasin Gishu High School, described Awuor as a brilliant student and well-organized in her work, resulting in her best results.

She says Awuor has been posting excellent results since she joined the school. 

“She has been a well-mannered and prepared student despite the disease-induced challenges she has been going through most of the time in school. All in all, we are glad she has done us proud,” said Juma. 

The school had a mean grade of 5.3, and 85 students attained university grades out of the 325 students who sat for the 2022 KCSE examinations.

The County Education officials, too, have been encouraging her to have resilience for her success.

Juma says the last time the school got a student scoring an A was in 2016, and it is a miracle that the scholar who scored that this year is a student who had challenges during a section of her examinations. 

Awuor posing for a photo with her principal, parents and the subcounty security personnel. PHOTO/Edmond Kipngeno, The Scholar Media Africa.
Awuor posing for a photo with her principal, parents and the subcounty security personnel. PHOTO/Edmond Kipngeno, The Scholar Media Africa.

“We are happy that the record has been broken. We are forever grateful to the County Director of Education and his Sub-county Education Director for their immense support to Awuor to attain such good grades,” the principal added. 

She noted that excellent life preparations give one courage, stamina, and ease in realizing stellar results.

“We were very sure that she could do best since we had prepared her very well. Very good preparation is essential for good grades because you do not know when you will encounter challenges during exams. It would be a noble thing that you had already prepared yourself adequately,” Juma noted. 

Appeal to the government

Parents and the school administration are asking the government to assist learners encountering challenges of chronic diseases while learning.

They say chronic diseases come with pain and expenses, and the learners regularly need further support, which the parents and teachers may not afford.

Uasin Gishu County Director of Education, Harrison Muriuki, said six students from the county did their examinations while at the hospital due to different complications.

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According to the Ministry of Education, a total of 881,416 students sat for the KCSE, where 1146 students scored grade A, a slight improvement from the 2021 group, where As were 1138.

During the 2022 KCSE results release, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu noted that 173,343 candidates secured university slots.

The Scholar Media Africa congratulates and wishes Awuor good luck as she pursues her higher education.

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