Big test for candidate in hospital

Sitting any exam is no cup of tea, and for KCPE candidate Wanjala Jonathan Wanimu of St. Joseph’s Academy, it was even worse as he had to write the exams days after an operation at the Kakamega Provincial Hospital. And even that did not take away the need for security. Photo/ ISAAC WALE

The stomach pains got worse as 13-year-old Jonathan Wanjala — a candidate in this year’s Kenya certificate of primary education (KCPE) exam — prepared to sit the first paper.

For five months, the pupil at St Joseph's Academy in Kakamega was in and out of hospital. Each time he visited the hospital he was given medication which took away the pains that would recur.

Continued studying

Determined to perform well, Wanjala continued to study hard until the last week to exams, when his condition deteriorated and he had to be admitted at the Kakamega Provincial Hospital. His anxious relatives who included his grandmother Mary Ashioya, watched helplessly as the boy was wheeled into the theatre for an emergency operation.

His father, Mr Morris Wanjala, works in Nairobi. And so does his mother, so could not be there to comfort him. Mr Wanjala, a prison officer, had to contact relatives in Kakamega to attend to his son after his condition got worse. But the soft spoken boy did not the let the illness dampen his spirits.

Memories of schoolmates bustling in good health as they prepared to sit the exam kept recurring. An X-ray examination indicated that Wanjala was suffering from a perforated duodenal ulcer and he had to undergo the operation six days to the exam. Although his father was away in Nairobi, his grandmother, a retired administration police officer, decided to do everything to help the boy recover in time for the exam.

After a two-and- a-half-hour operation, Wanjala was wheeled back to the ward looking frail. He could hardly speak. “The doctor and nurses told us that everything would be fine and Wanjala would recover in time for the exam,” said Mama Ashioya.

By the first day of the exam, Wanjala was still bedridden but had regained some energy and was ready to tackle the first paper. The pains had subsided and he did to want to skip the exam. A visit from his teachers and school mates gave him courage to write the exam from his hospital bed.

An Administration Police officer and an examination official sat in the amenity ward to ensure there was no hitch. “I had expected the exam to be tough but after taking my first and second paper, I became confident,” said Wanjala when the Nation visited him at the ward.

He said he put in his best effort and hoped to emerge among the top candidates in the province. He would like to do better than his elder brother, Samuel Comfort Wanjala who scored 440 marks to emerge the eighth best from the province. A nurse at the hospital, Ms Eunice Chelagat, said Wanjala was in stable condition and would be discharged from hospital by this week.