Poor Turkana Boy Beats Odds to Join Amherst College in Massachusetts

A once despondent young boy from Turkana County, who had given up all hope of attending college, now wears a joyful smile.

Starlone is now immersed in his studies at Amherst College, the same college attended by former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Accompanying him on this journey is the generous Engineer Michelle Boit, who supported Starlone through his high school years. A recent visit to the United States provided the opportunity for Ms. Boit to catch up with Starlone and share his accomplishments with the world.

Ms Boit expresses a sense of great honour as she celebrates Starlone's accomplishments. She terms it a blessing to visit him this past weekend at Amherst College. Starlone has been awarded a full scholarship to study in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. She proceeds to share the remarkable story of how Starlone overcame great adversity to secure this scholarship, despite initially facing a bleak future.

She narrates that she first met Starlone in Turkana while she was employed at Tullow Oil. His mother was in distress, unable to afford his school fees to enable him to join Kabsabet Boys High School. After reviewing Starlone's documents, she decided to fully fund his high school education. Ms Boit also offered words of encouragement to Starlone as he celebrates his 20th birthday, urging him to persevere in his endeavours.

“I reviewed Starlone’s documents and decided to pay for his full high school education. To cut a long story short, Starlone is now attending the same school that our former President H.E Uhuru Kenyatta attended. God is great. I am overwhelmed with joy and I want to thank each and every one who was involved in this process. Starlone, God has great plans for you and you are destined for greatness. I am so proud of you.” she says.