A Trans Nzoia school and a family-driven disability marathon are showing what community solidarity looks like in practice.
By Fridah Roktok and Daniel Kipchumba
Students at Bikeke Comprehensive School in Trans Nzoia County have received charitable support aimed at improving welfare and ensuring vulnerable learners have the resources they need to stay in school and succeed.
The initiative, driven by community stakeholders and well-wishers, has provided needy students with uniforms, books and essential learning materials — practical interventions that can determine whether a child remains in school or drops out.
Head teacher Ronald Francis Toili Wamalwa thanked partners for their sustained contributions, noting that the support had made a tangible difference to learners who would otherwise struggle to participate fully in school life. “These contributions help create an environment where every child can take part in school activities without being held back by their family’s financial circumstances,” Wamalwa said, adding a direct appeal to anyone willing to help: even small contributions to vulnerable students are deeply appreciated.
Central to the outreach is the Benard Juma Disability Marathon International, widely known as the Kitale Marathon. The initiative was founded by Benard Juma and his family after their son Francisco was born with complications that left him living with a disability. Moved by that experience, Juma built a platform rooted in a simple conviction: disability can touch any family at any time, and society’s duty is to respond with compassion and practical support, not discrimination.
Since launching in 2021, the Kitale Marathon has run annual campaigns bringing together persons with disabilities, needy children and elderly community members. The initiative raises awareness about inclusion, mobilises resources and extends its reach into schools and communities across Sirende and neighbouring areas. Juma has drawn support from business people, churches, families and entertainers — among them comedian Mulamwah — whose contributions have broadened the initiative’s reach considerably.
The partnership with Bikeke Comprehensive School reflects a growing understanding among education stakeholders that academic instruction alone is insufficient. A child who attends school without a uniform, without books and without a basic sense of dignity cannot learn effectively regardless of the quality of teaching in the classroom. Addressing those material gaps is not charity in the patronising sense — it is an investment in the community’s future.
The timing is also significant. As Kenya rolls out Competency-Based Education across its school system, the emphasis on nurturing practical skills, talents and individual potential makes community support more important than ever. Learners from vulnerable backgrounds need inclusive environments that affirm their abilities, not circumstances that remind them daily of what they lack.
The work of the Benard Juma Disability Marathon International demonstrates what is possible when individuals, families, businesses and institutions act together around a shared purpose. It asks nothing extraordinary of its partners — only that they recognise a need and respond to it.
Wamalwa has called on additional well-wishers to join the effort. Whatever the contribution, the school and its students will put it to use.
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