From Illicit Brew to Global Boardrooms: My Journey with TWWP – Eva Kathomi

CPA Eva Kathomi shares how TWWP lifted her from poverty and gave her the chance to change her destiny.

In 2012 when I was supposed to join Form 1, my life was at a crossroads. I had performed well in my KCPE and earned admission to Naromoru Girls High School in Nyeri, but poverty almost stopped me from proceeding with my education. Our family’s only source of income was selling local brew, a trade I was deeply involved in from a young age. If abject poverty were a family, we were the very definition.

By then, I was already entangled in a risky lifestyle. From age 12 to 17, I was surrounded by drug and alcohol abuse. I narrowly escaped dropping out of school and even missed going to juvenile detention by a whisker, having been arrested more than five times while selling illicit brew. With my parents separated since I was in Standard 2 and no one to support my education, I had nearly given up hope.

But on 2nd May, 2012,on a Wednesday, everything changed for good.

Driven by a last flicker of hope, I walked alone into Tharaka Women’s Welfare Program(TWWP) offices to explain my situation.I met Madam Aniceta and Madam Rael. They were deeply moved by my academic performance and personal determination. Without hesitation, Aniceta said, “Let’s have this girl in the program.”

That moment marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

being admitted into the TWWP program gave me two lifelong goals:

To make TWWP proud of me.

To become an accountant.

I held on to those goals with everything I had. I went on to score a B+ (73 points) in my KCSE and was unconditionally admitted to The Technical University of Kenya to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. I later graduated with Second Class Honours, Upper Division.

I have worked with Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority(UFAA), The National Treasury, VIZX International and currently, I am the Head of Data Management at an American-based company. I have travelled the world, sat at decision-making tables, dined with dignitaries, and contributed to policies that are making the world a better place. None of this would have been possible without education which was as a result of TWWP’s timely intervention.

To me, “education is the greatest equalizer” is not just a cliché. It is my lived truth. I am a proud alumna of TWWP, a testimony that this program rescues, empowers, and transforms lives. Had TWWP not planted the seed of education in me, I would likely still be in the village, stripped of dignity and direction.

As a way of giving back to my community, I am now a passionate advocate for tertiary education. Poverty continues to rob many children of their dignity. Dignity that only education can restore. TWWP restored mine, and for that, I will be forever grateful.