Majority of Lugari Ward residents live below the poverty line. Many of them depend on casual jobs to feed and educate their families. This causes a number of children to drop out of school to help their parents look for food and other basic needs.
Born to a peasant father and mother, Douglas Opijah has grown to know that the only way around this is by providing these families with a means of ensuring their children stay in school as the parents struggle to cater to other needs.
This prompted him to come up with a foundation in 2015 to acquire bursaries and learning materials for hundreds of needy learners in both primary and secondary schools to help them maneuver the rattling poverty.
The leader has touched the souls of more than 1000 learners in six public primary schools in the ward: Lugari, Kiwanja Ndege, Locho, Lumama, Manyonyi and Kilulu.
This year’s KCPE 2021 results alone paint a success story of Mr. Opijah’s relentless efforts toward a community that is empowered academically. Three candidates at Lugari Primary School alone can attest to this through the good results they have recorded.
The three are Annate Vulinga who topped her class with 380 marks, Leah Ondiso who had 348 marks and Graca Michael who scored 327 marks. The aspiring MCA picked on them while they were still in Class Three and has been supporting them.
Madam Phidelis Sikinyi, who teaches at Lugari Primary School, is a witness to Opijah’s actions of goodwill (check video below).
“He has the qualities of a good leader, he has been helping learners through acquiring bursaries and donating books to them,” she said in a past interview with the Western Kenya Times.
- Listen to Douglas Opijah’s radio clip by Tom Lutali below:
In 2021, Mr. Opijah chipped in in an initiative by the Western Kenya Times to help Peter Shazara, a student who was herding cattle for a living, raise fees for his secondary education.
Opijah did not only acquire a bursary for Shazara but also donated a school bag and books to him and the boy is happy at St. Paul’s Boys pursuing his secondary education.
Watch Madam Phidelis Sikinyi’s comment about Opijah’s work below.
Sam Oduor is the editor-in-chief at the Western Kenya Times who leverages the power of the Internet in telling stories that shape opinions.