Truphena Muhatia: KU’s Mathare Student Graduates After 4 Years of Commuting
It is an unspoken habit for me to scroll through social media pages before beginning my day at the office and today, 26th July 2019, I came through a post that got my attention and could change a life or two, who knows maybe even thousands.
It is a story of determination, focus, and zeal shared by Abel Muhatia on his twitter handle celebrating his small sister, Truphena Muhatia, set to graduate today at the Kenyatta University’s (K.U) 46th Graduation.
My mum,dad never made it to the Uni.Dads demise abt 12 yrs ago was a big blow to us! Mum,our rock could hardly earn Sh300 a day! She never gave up. Today, @truphyshila , you refused to be defined by your past! and emerged among KUs finest. Congratulations! #KU46thGraduation pic.twitter.com/0bslB34ZLS
— Sir Abel 🇰🇪 (@muhatiaa) July 26, 2019
Abel’s post depicted a story of a sister who had faced it all to join KU’s 2019Graduation class that it had us reach out to him to enable us to share the story with our audience.
She commuted daily to KU from Mathare. Some days she would go without food. At some point, unlike some of her peers , she doubled up as a photographer to get that extra coin to survive. We are proud of you @truphyshila Congratulations & all graduands. #KU46thGraduation pic.twitter.com/z4zIm2arSm
— Sir Abel 🇰🇪 (@muhatiaa) July 26, 2019
A finance student at KU pursuing BSc. Commerce, Truphena’s time at the institution represents the hardship university students endure to attain their certificates.
Truphena’s Background
Truphena, born in a family of four, is the second born following after her brother Abel.
The four siblings lost their Father, the breadwinner then, 12 years ago after he succumbed to a Tuberculosis infection throwing their mother into the duty of providing for them as the sole living parent.
It was a struggle as the family that resided in the slums of Mathare could barely afford a single meal per day, leave alone the three basic meals a day. Life became most difficult with the death of Truphena’s father but the mother who for years earned a living as a hawker kept the family together.
Truphena struggled through secondary school and managed a spot at the Kenyatta University where she got an opportunity to pursue BSc. Commerce, the Finance option since as she tells us she enjoyed calculations.
“Joining Campus was fun until you realize most of the time as a full-time Student you waste a lot of hours doing nothing, I joined the campus in 2015 to do B.Com,” Trupena says.
“This was because I loved calculations and was excited about being in the university. I was still naive but campus life has a way of exposing one class only run for two to four hours a day leaving you with so much time in your hands,” Truphena informs us.
Truphena compares University life to hell for broke students who come from poor backgrounds as she had to commute from Mathare to KU to be able to attend her classes and asking for fare money was not an option in her situation then.
Truphena Runs #20bobforShila campaign to Enable Her Buy a Camera
