Meet Ann Arot, a philanthropist who is changing the lives of needy children in Olakaria ward, Naivasha

When Ann Arot scored 345 marks in the 2005 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam at Sher Moi Southlake Primary, she was thrilled.

Arot, as she is known, was even happier when she received an admission letter from Jomo Kenyatta High School, believing that her dream of becoming a lawyer would finally come true.

However, this happiness was short-lived when she and her family realised that they could not afford her secondary education. 

Her mother's income from working on a flower farm was not enough to cover her school fees.

Faced with the reality of staying at home until her parents could afford the fees, which never happened, Arot eventually began working to help her parents pay the fees for her four younger siblings who were still in school.

"My mother worked on a flower farm and that was our main source of income, which was not enough to support all of us," she explains.

It was at this moment that Arot made a promise to herself to work and help less fortunate children in her community get the education she had missed out on. 

In 2020, she took four students to Tumaini Brooks High School and negotiated with the headmistress to allow them to study there while she paid for their fees and upkeep.

"I explained the students' situation to the headmaster, who agreed to admit them even without full payment," she says.

Since then, Arot has sponsored 36 students, from grade seven to grade four. Some of these students had dropped out of school but wanted to return.

The 30-year-old supports the students' education through her finances, help from friends and scholarships.

"Most of the support I get is for school fees, but the students need more than that. They need maintenance, which I usually cover with my income. I also house some of the orphaned students during the school holidays," she explains.

Arot draws strength and encouragement from her husband, who supports her work and praises her for a job well done. She has also become a mother figure to many of the students.

She hopes to see more students get the education they need and to see those she has helped succeed and achieve their dreams.

"Nothing will make me more fulfilled and happy than to see these children succeed in whatever they do because I was there to give them a chance," she says.