Jimmy Tune was one of our first AiduFellows who was awarded a scholarship by Aiducation International. We checked in with Jimmy to find out what he has been up to since graduating from secondary school.

And he had a lot of great news to share, like the fact that he himself has been elected this spring to chair a board that supports needy tertiary students financially. We were curious to find out how Jimmy accomplished this success, what drives him, and what he aims to achieve in the future. The following postings summarize Jimmy’s story and thoughts he was willing to share with us via email. This first posting is about his life in school, a second one which will follow shortly will cover more about his future, studying at University and his strong commitment to helping others.

Life before Aiducation

Jimmy Tune had always enjoyed school and was dreaming of going to the best secondary school in Kenya and thus worked hard to achieve his dream. When his English teacher, Philip Kenga, talked to him about a project he might join, Jimmy decided to work even harder: “He emphasized on the importance of maintaining my high scores and put extra efforts because only then I would be able to join the program that was yet to start.”

excerpt of Jimmy’s application form

Jimmy’s efforts were soon to be rewarded, he topped in his school on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education. However he still was unsure of his future: “It was a moment of celebration for a while but there was the question of joining high school and the incoming high school fees that my family would have to provide.” His parents promised him to do all things necessary to provide the school fees.

It was then when Philip Kenga told Jimmy that he should apply at Pwani Education Welfare Association (later to become Aiducation), an organization he had cofounded to support bright and needy students financially. Jimmy, meeting the requirements, got a scholarship that changed his life: “…the scholarship program would completely transform my life positively, forever. It was an honor that put me always on my toes in my studies besides providing a conductive platform for me to pursue my secondary education without a fees problem anymore.”

Being an AiduFellow

Aiducation not only provides kids with school fees but it also fosters their entrepreneurial spirit and sense for citizenship as well as helping them form a network with like minded students. “The mentorship academy of 2009 was a truly life changing event for me. I got together with students from all over the country to participate in workshops that motivated and energized us in a way none of us had ever experienced before.”

One talk had a particularly remarkable impact on Jimmy: John Olusula’s a speech on how to unleash one’s full potential “…brought out this ‘real me’ that has always been inside of me. This was one of the most inspiring and empowering moments of my life and I will never forget it”. When the academy came to it’s end, Jimmy thought of himself as “…a totally different person ready to follow all his dreams in life”.

This is part one of Jimmy’s story, part two will follow in a few days – stay tuned.

A video right at the beginning of Jimmy’s scholarship

Text by Simon Wüthrich and Jimmy Tune