Circumstances that has shaped my life!

byOKOYOPETER

91 followers

Updated 9 years ago

Peter Okoyo Owe here! I am looking forward to turning forty years old soon. I am second born in a family of 10 children. In my culture children are a blessing and so my parents a really blessed. We could make a football team (in my family) my mum and dad joining either as player or a coach. However along the way my dad as past on and two of my siblings.

I am born in a village called Kanyakoo- Asembo on the shores of Lake Victoria in the Western part of Kenya. During my early childhood I spent a lot of time fishing in Lake Victoria since it was one way to fend for the family. This later turned out to be a hobby!

I am excited to mention my life in the slums of Nyalenda- Kisumu. Kisumu being the third largest city in Kenya. We lived here with my father who worked as security guard in one of the companies in this town. His earning was not that much so we lived below the poverty line. However the sense of belonging, the communal life, people taking care of each other, the social life within the slums was great! I made lots of friends during this time. Crime is rampant in this slum, I am still proud of myself that I was never swayed into it. Some of my friends later were brought down or to be plain killed as a result of indulging in crime.

My father retires from his work (I am only 14 years old), and goes back to the Kanyakoo-Asembo and I have to live with a cousin for the next six years in Kisumu in pursuant for high school and college education. Two years later my father would then pass on, when I was 16 years old. My mother left with 10 children to take care of. This was not easy and we had to join many times in finding means of bringing food on the table. We had to go fishing, work for other people in the farms or building sites to get food home. This is a journey I won’t forget and cherished since it shaped my ambitions and desire to do better in life and get out of poverty. I knew I could do this by going to school. So I strived to remain in school even though sometimes I was in school hungry. Some of my siblings dropped out of school and became street children. They never went through school. Something that is difficult to live with to date.

I like to belong to a community bearing in mind circumstances that has shaped my life. Here at Wealthy Affiliate I am beginning to enjoy that communal sense, people empowering each other. Thanks to all those who have dropped me a line even though we haven’t known each other that long!!!