HARD WORK NEVER GOES UNREWARDED(Jason Otieno) The morning was crystal clear without the accustomed mist that welcomes the daybreak hours. On waking up... everything was already set for my cherished sweet sister. It was to be her favourite day as she was to celebrate her victory in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (K.C.P.E). The results had been announced the previous day and took people aback with surprise. Although everyone knew her as a hard working lady, no one imagined her topping in the National Exams, not even her closest teachers. This was a real bolt from the blue. She quickly prepared herself and ensured she was spick and span. Outside a battery of journalists was waiting for her. When the results were announced, she wasn’t accessible as she was travelling back home from Mombasa, where she had spent her Christmas holiday putting up at my aunt’s abode. The journalists’ efforts to reach her were therefore rendered futile. No sooner had she stepped outside than she became engulfed by the expectant reporters who choked her with microphones and flashes of cameras. They desperately needed to interview her.

“How did you feel when your name was mentioned as the best pupil this year?” one of them coughed. “Oh no, for one I never heard it one to one. By the time the big announcement was made, I was travelling. However I got a call from my loving and devoted mother informing me of the occurrence. I couldn’t believe my ears and asked again telling my mom to stop that big joke as it wasn’t ‘a fool’s day’. Hardly had she confirmed to me when I had spasms of joy burst within me. I could barely put up with the pleasure gnawing within me. In fact I almost jerked out of my skinny body with electrical excitement.

Forgetting I was in a bus, I let out a stentorian yell that cut through the bus like a hot knife through air rendering the passengers deaf and in a quandary. All eyes in the vehicle were on me with an inquiry look perhaps asking, ‘What’s wrong beautiful girl?’ They looked at me as if I had a plastic nose. The driver himself almost lost control of the bus. “I am the best pupil in K. C. P. E.” I shouted in an as loud as an atomic bomb voice. Rounds of applause rent the air as they instructed the driver to stop the bus.”

“Did you expect it?” another beautifully looking lady interjected. “No. I never at anytime imagined of topping the country, though I coveted it.” She said overwhelmed with tears of happiness and disbelief. “I knew I would perform better, thanks to my dedicated teachers who made me to know, build confidence and work harder.” She smiled as she wiped off traces of tears on her soft face that was glowing with contentment. “However, what I never knew was that I would become number one in the whole country…”

“How did you do it?” another question rose. “It’s God! It’s God!” she said shaking her head in disbelief as she became overwhelmed with immense exhilaration. “Okay, I put God first. As the common saying- the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom. I prayed all the time before doing anything. I revised every corner, made teachers my best friends and consulted whenever need be, held discussions in groups, woke up early and slept late just toiling. Thank to the ancestors who never combed our hair with fishbone when they said ‘hard work never goes unrewarded’.”

“What are your plans and your advice to the learners?” One fat man with a thick moustache and stomach hanging between his legs asked. “I would like to be a brain surgeon.” She confidently answered adding that ever since, she had been dreaming of the same. She said that she knew many young girls fear the profession but she was ready to pursue it through thick and thin. “I would tell the learners that there is no shortcut and nothing is impossible. Everything is possible for we all can. All they need is confidence. They need to have courage and realize their potential and weak points. Then work towards the indispensable. They should remember to put God first for good minus God is zero. Yes, they will stumble upon the challenges, but they must have down pat that the roots of education are bitter but the fruits are very sweet indeed.”

The interview looked like a long road that never came to an end. When it finally came to a halt, she was blissfully carried up chaotically but cautiously as her photos were taken by the media who would later air them on various TV stations in the country or maybe the world. We were full of electric excitement and our faces glistened with joy on seeing my only sister successful. We all shook her hands with much admiration and appreciation as ululations went up in the sky. For sure she had made us as proud as peacocks and as happy as an Arab king who had seen pregnant clouds in the sky waiting to give torrents of icy raindrops. She was invited for further interviews with the famous KTN TV channel later during its 7:00 and 9:00 o’clock news respectively. We all left for celebration as she really deserved it. Surely hard work never goes unrewarded.

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