Dont waste your opportunity, Uhuru tells students

Your personal background should not keep you from succeeding in life, President Uhuru Kenyatta said as he hosted a group of students for a mentorship program at State House.

The President and First Lady spent the evening interacting with the 49 students undergoing the Pupils Reward Scheme (PURES) program. They told them that it is not where they come from but determination and discipline that will determine their future.

“The future is not dependent on your past, but we use lessons from our past to build our future. The future is not determined by who your parents are but it is the efforts you put in what you do that will shape your ability to become what you want to be” he said.

The Head of State said the reason the PURES program was started is to motivate the youth to have ambition to play more prominent roles in the society.

“The purpose of this program is to make you work harder. Life is short but it can be fulfilling when you are the master of your destiny. Do not waste your opportunity to succeed and do not sit on your laurels,” the President said.

President Kenyatta exhorted the students, drawn from all the 47 counties, to be patriotic and to appreciate each other.

He advised them to use the experience they gained during their tour of top Government offices to also inspire others.

Before the President spoke, the students shared their experiences but it was a statement by a student from Garissa that was the most outstanding.

Mohamed Yusuf from Garissa High School spoke on a patriotic theme that elicited a prolonged ovation from the President and the First Lady as well as the rest of the students.

The student urged his fellow youth to be proud of their country and never to be swayed to think that there is a better alternative than being patriotic.

He used a story of a fish that always complained of being surrounded by water and vowed to look for a place to live away from water.

After making its vow, the fish ended up being caught by a fisherman who went ahead to cook it. Every time the fish and water came into contact, the water would ask the fish “Oh I thought you said you never wanted to see me”. This question was repeated until the last stage when the fish went into the man’s stomach.

“Just like the fish could not run away from water we cannot run away from Kenya. Let us love our country because we do not have another country,” said Yusuf as the audience burst into prolonged cheering.

Other students who spoke said the exposure they got gave them motivation to work harder at their academics and to aspire for bigger roles in life.

The 49 students are the sixth in groups of similar numbers who have gone through the PURES program since it was launched earlier in the year.

The mentorship program was initiated by President Kenyatta and the First Lady to expose students who excelled in their examinations to the workings of the highest level of the Government of Kenya.

The exposure is meant to make the youth to aspire for leadership roles in society beginning at their current stage in life.

The mentorship is an ongoing program and other criteria besides academics like talent in arts and sports will be used to identify students in later stages.