Help Brian go to university in The Netherlands
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Hi everyone,
My name is Marieke van de Weg. I am from The Netherlands . I am organizing this fundraiser to help my friend Michael go to university in The Hague, The Netherlands. Having been accepted by the university, Michael is in need of financial support to help him realize his dream of going to University. He wants to be the first one in his family to go to University and get a bachelor's degree.
My husband and I had the pleasure to meet Michael during our vacation in Kenya two years ago Michael is a very kind, honest, and open minded young man. He also helps a lot of tourists in his home town Nakuru,Kenya. He is multilingual and his ability to speak foreign languages like Spanish and German was a big surprise to us. He helped us during our holiday along with others who had visited his hometown that time. Since then we stayed in touch with each othe. We communicate regularly sharing about our lives and what is happening around the world. He is interested in a career in finance and investment and solving real economic problems both in his country and beyond. He has studied diploma in business management and is seeking to further his studies with bachelor's degree at The Hague University of Applied Science (THUAS). He participated in an entry test and was successful. Given his language skills, friendliness, open-mindedness and understanding of diversity, I have no doubt he will make a good fit at an international environment and be an asset to the university and the community around him.
My husband and I are not in the position to help Michael as much as we would love to. That is why we are organizing this fundraising to help Michael, and will appreciate your kindness. Feel free to read his story below, thank you.
To help Michael go to THUAS for his further education he needs money.
The university will cost €20.000,- for the first (and most expensive) year.
There is a big chance Brian will get a scholarship. He has to write an essay on one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. students with the best essays get this special scholarship.
Read Brian's own story.
Hello everyone! I am Michael Oduor Ochilo,and Brian is my nickname.
Ever since I was a child, I've always seen education as an important aspect of my life. Born in a little village in Kenya and where education was never regarded as an important aspect of life, it was very difficult for me to pursue my goals without any support from my family. I wanted to go to school as a child but there was nobody to listen to me, everything in the village was traditional, especially in my community/tribe, people followed traditions and rites of passage, as a boy I was to be educated by grandfather or a village elder, taught how hunt and to becoming a warrior, everyone did all these,I still have the memories,but I chose a different path. One morning I woke up and decided to try my luck,I followed students on their way to a local school,most of them came from a well to do families,had uniforms and bags on their backs,I wanted to be like them,so I followed them slowly until they reached school,I had no uniform,shoes or anything in my hand.i could not get in so I stayed outside the fence for three hours thinking of how to get in,at sometimes I felt like going back home, suddenly I heard a bell rings and everyone got out and went to the field and they were so many and played happily and some run and scream,I wanted to be like them,I knew going home would not do me any good since nobody would listen to my needs of going to school,nobody went to school so it was almost impossible for them to understand. Before the break could end, I sneaked into the school compound,I went straight to one of the classes as I had no friends or uniform to join others on the field and play with them,then the bell rung again and everyone ran back to class,this time I was already,some sat down as there were limited seats. Everyone started laughing at me, and making fun of me, believe me it was a horrible experience,I had no uniform nor shoes not even a book. I recall one of the teachers walking into the class in response to the noise that was going on,he then looked at me and asked me where I came from, I had just walked into the classroom, nobody brought me to school, I cried instead of answering his question,he then asked me to put my head up and follow him to his office, while at his office I explained to him how nobody at home was willing to take me to school, and told him my entire situation, after listening for awhile he told me a short story about his education and how important education was and how he loved my decision, he told me it was the only way he could think of out of my situation, he then walked me back to class and gave me one A4 book and a pencil and wished me well. He told me take education serious, I took his advice seriously, I strived to stay in school from that day, it was tough to be honest,I would go hungry all day, because at home if you didn't work, fetch firewood or helped with the chores like others, then there was no food for you, I'd collect fruits after school since the village is full of bushes and no development at all, I survived on this most of the time, honestly I'd rather not go deep into this as I'll end up crying here and not finish writing,sorry for this it's too embarrassing. I did my best, passed exams and went on to sit for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and came third in the class of 2012,this was beyond expectations from anyone at home, it still didn't mean anything to anyone except me, when you think you perform well, going home with reports so excited hoping everyone is going to show the same energy and it doesn't go as you expect,you are told good that you've finished school now get back to doing the right things, traditions,the normal, going to school wasn't that important,but I was not discouraged.
With my drive and desire to get a good education, I asked my grandmother to take me to high school, this was tough, asking someone who never even went to school to take me to school, to be honest I have never seen my father ever since I was born and my mum left when I was still very young and got married somewhere far, so I grew up with my grandmother thinking she was my mother,I came to discover later that she wasn't my mother but my grandmother. I have never been told the entire story of my parents to be honest, therefore nobody cared about whether I was okay or not. My grandmother refused my request and had other plans,I was to become a herdsman, look after herd, practice traditions and become a warrior like others. This made me cry knowing all my potentials and wanting so much to excel in academia ,that I could not continue with my education even after doing well in the national exams. I had to refuse, I really had to go against traditions if I wanted to continue pursuing education and this would normally be considered a blasphemy or a disrespect of the highest order and had serious consequences, I had to flee/escape, I went to a small town which was a little bit urbanized, there I lived with my aunt who helped me get to a local high school, public, she had no plans of supporting me either, she didn't have a job and only worked casually. I had to take care of myself. Sometimes I would stay at home for weeks even months not going to school because I couldn't afford to pay school fees, I would collect scrap metals and plastic bottles and sell them to save money and go back to school,I could study theory subjects like Biology, English and History at home but maths was not possible as I needed to be in school, in class to follow concepts from the teacher, at some point I wanted to quit school like others and play soccer as it used to be and still is very popular and boys my age would quit school to play and make money,this money was nothing to me given my dreams,it was not worth giving up my education on,everyone thought they would make it to Europe as professional footballers and still today a large group of teenagers think so. I had a different point of view to this narrative. While footballers do make it to professional level and go abroad, I asked myself a lot of questions, how many people play football/soccer? And what are the chances that I would be scouted? How long can I play and what else after football? Besides these questions, I felt like I would really need to be exceptionally good to be able to make a living out of soccer/football,there are challenges too, like long term injuries to mention a few,that could jeopardize my career. I have personally seen many local professional soccer players having rough life after their careers abroad, some begging on the streets and these reasons made me put education first, I really did not want to go down that road. I knew with education I could still live a better life without having to run after a soccer ball in order to make a living, education means so much to me,I had done the most embarrassing things , walking into school with no shoes and no uniform just to get education and now I have to quit because of the little money soccer earns people? I strived really hard and finished high school, with one uniform for four years. In 2016 I sat for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and passed the national exams, I got good grades with the exception of maths which I was not certified with my grade, all in all I did well and qualified for university, however, university was too expensive, way beyond my reach in terms of fees and was only a dream for someone in my situation, my aunt got married and moved on with her life, normally people follow traditions, you get married and go back to the village, get your share of a piece of land and start farming and raise a family,however I am not into this, I want a modern life where I can study, get a job and have a good career,one day marry a good girl,have three kids and a nice dog,a poodle . It is hard breaking away from traditions and the norms in my tribe but sometimes it is necessary, I respect everyone and what they believe in, I just feel like some traditions should not be there in 21st century, they hinder development and lag people behind in life.
The life after my aunt left was extremely difficult, I did not have any income. And as I continued to help tourists navigate my town with translation, hotel recommendations, best sites to see and cheap restaurants to dine, I would meet nice people, Australians were nice,Spaniards were way nicer when they could speak their language away from home, some hardly spoke English and meeting me change the course of their holiday here,I made sure every tourist I came in contact with had a stress free holiday onwards and left my country with a positive experience. Of course not every one I met was friendly, some were quite introverts and we never became friends, but for most part I enjoyed helping visitors and not letting them fall into traps or rip offs, I got some backclash from the locals for being too honest and not taking advantage of tourists,surprising people think if you are white "it's all money",having interacted with many,I knew this was never the case, some were students and were on budget and the best I could do was to help them instead of ripping them off. I got some help with college in 2018 and enrolled for diploma in business management, I graduated in December 2019 with a credit and I have never been so grateful in my life, this was paid for by my Australian friend, who was also one of the tourists I met,unfortunately he struggled with cancer for a long time and passed away, I could not thank him enough, I just wish his soul to rest in peace.
In 2021 I made an application to join a university in the Hague, Netherlands, after coming across some scholarship advertisements online, I participated in the University entry test and successfully got an offer,however, unfortunately the scholarship application did not work out, I have been offered a spot to study bachelor of science in Finance and control english trail European track. The course goes for four years and costs €20,000 for the first year,which including, travel, students health insurance and visa which the university will apply for me. I am therefore required to have at least €20,000 to be able to relocate to the Netherlands for my undergraduate studies. After graduation I will be allowed to remain in the Netherlands for another extra 18 months for work experience which present and opportunity to gain invaluable work experience at an international environment. One may be asking why I cannot continue with my studies here, it's a different story. In my tribe any boy or girl at my age is supposed to be married now, if you are a boy you are given a wife and a piece of land to start a family, I'm in my early 20s and and I'm required to go back to the village and follow these traditions, it's an order from the elders,this was supposed to happen last August luckily the covid situation saved me. I really don't want to go back, I have worked so hard to get education, and to just put everything I've achieved so far aside and go back to a life I don't want is painful, it's excruciating, I just want to study, and have a career and live a free life,build a future of my own so that I don't struggle again in life, I don't want to go to bed hungry ever again if I can work hard and make things different. I have no desire to get married any time sooner, I am not in the position to raise a family, it hasn't crossed my mind yet.
All I want is to work hard and one day when I have a job and a decent income, and in a position to take care of someone's daughter then I can give marriage a shot,for now I just want education first.
During lockdown, I took the time to work on my English with free online courses on google, downloading PDFs and YouTube videos. I also took my time to work on my Ms Excel modeling skills, powerpoint for finance such as building pitch books for investment banking since I'm interested in finance and investment,mergers and acquisitions. I also participated in several investment banking and M&A virtual internship experiences that helped me upskill and strengthen my understanding of the industry. I also improved my spanish and german skills and can communicate well,I joined LinkedIn and connected with like-minded people,with common interests and who share the same passion for success like me. One thing I am proud of is how I have struggled learning english, spanish and german to a point I can communicate with natives well,even though my grammar is not good and I hope to continue learning for the betterment of life.
With restrictions easing gradually, I have to move faster to secure a way to go to university in the Netherlands, start my semesters and chase my dreams before things can go entirely wrong for me here. With the current situation and how it has impacted my life, which is now heading south,I refused to give up on my dreams of getting a good education, I should be asking favours to get buy,it's tough every day here but I can deal with that,I have gone through a lot already, I just want education so that one day I can stand for and support myself, education means the world to me, all I want is to go to university, study,make friends, spread love, work hard and become a good individual in the society. I have deferred my semester with the university to try and raise the money and could possibly commence in winter semester if I manage to raise the money required.
Therefore, I am humbly requesting for your support, and given everything I have gone through and I am very much aware that there are many of us out there, if you support my education,I will not take it for granted,not a chance,I will not let anyone down,I will work harder as I have always done to achieve my desired goals. Any amount you contribute will be appreciated with the highest degree, thank you all very much in advance.
With all due respect and thanks
Michael Ochilo
My name is Marieke van de Weg. I am from The Netherlands . I am organizing this fundraiser to help my friend Michael go to university in The Hague, The Netherlands. Having been accepted by the university, Michael is in need of financial support to help him realize his dream of going to University. He wants to be the first one in his family to go to University and get a bachelor's degree.
My husband and I had the pleasure to meet Michael during our vacation in Kenya two years ago Michael is a very kind, honest, and open minded young man. He also helps a lot of tourists in his home town Nakuru,Kenya. He is multilingual and his ability to speak foreign languages like Spanish and German was a big surprise to us. He helped us during our holiday along with others who had visited his hometown that time. Since then we stayed in touch with each othe. We communicate regularly sharing about our lives and what is happening around the world. He is interested in a career in finance and investment and solving real economic problems both in his country and beyond. He has studied diploma in business management and is seeking to further his studies with bachelor's degree at The Hague University of Applied Science (THUAS). He participated in an entry test and was successful. Given his language skills, friendliness, open-mindedness and understanding of diversity, I have no doubt he will make a good fit at an international environment and be an asset to the university and the community around him.
My husband and I are not in the position to help Michael as much as we would love to. That is why we are organizing this fundraising to help Michael, and will appreciate your kindness. Feel free to read his story below, thank you.
To help Michael go to THUAS for his further education he needs money.
The university will cost €20.000,- for the first (and most expensive) year.
There is a big chance Brian will get a scholarship. He has to write an essay on one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. students with the best essays get this special scholarship.
Read Brian's own story.
Hello everyone! I am Michael Oduor Ochilo,and Brian is my nickname.
Ever since I was a child, I've always seen education as an important aspect of my life. Born in a little village in Kenya and where education was never regarded as an important aspect of life, it was very difficult for me to pursue my goals without any support from my family. I wanted to go to school as a child but there was nobody to listen to me, everything in the village was traditional, especially in my community/tribe, people followed traditions and rites of passage, as a boy I was to be educated by grandfather or a village elder, taught how hunt and to becoming a warrior, everyone did all these,I still have the memories,but I chose a different path. One morning I woke up and decided to try my luck,I followed students on their way to a local school,most of them came from a well to do families,had uniforms and bags on their backs,I wanted to be like them,so I followed them slowly until they reached school,I had no uniform,shoes or anything in my hand.i could not get in so I stayed outside the fence for three hours thinking of how to get in,at sometimes I felt like going back home, suddenly I heard a bell rings and everyone got out and went to the field and they were so many and played happily and some run and scream,I wanted to be like them,I knew going home would not do me any good since nobody would listen to my needs of going to school,nobody went to school so it was almost impossible for them to understand. Before the break could end, I sneaked into the school compound,I went straight to one of the classes as I had no friends or uniform to join others on the field and play with them,then the bell rung again and everyone ran back to class,this time I was already,some sat down as there were limited seats. Everyone started laughing at me, and making fun of me, believe me it was a horrible experience,I had no uniform nor shoes not even a book. I recall one of the teachers walking into the class in response to the noise that was going on,he then looked at me and asked me where I came from, I had just walked into the classroom, nobody brought me to school, I cried instead of answering his question,he then asked me to put my head up and follow him to his office, while at his office I explained to him how nobody at home was willing to take me to school, and told him my entire situation, after listening for awhile he told me a short story about his education and how important education was and how he loved my decision, he told me it was the only way he could think of out of my situation, he then walked me back to class and gave me one A4 book and a pencil and wished me well. He told me take education serious, I took his advice seriously, I strived to stay in school from that day, it was tough to be honest,I would go hungry all day, because at home if you didn't work, fetch firewood or helped with the chores like others, then there was no food for you, I'd collect fruits after school since the village is full of bushes and no development at all, I survived on this most of the time, honestly I'd rather not go deep into this as I'll end up crying here and not finish writing,sorry for this it's too embarrassing. I did my best, passed exams and went on to sit for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and came third in the class of 2012,this was beyond expectations from anyone at home, it still didn't mean anything to anyone except me, when you think you perform well, going home with reports so excited hoping everyone is going to show the same energy and it doesn't go as you expect,you are told good that you've finished school now get back to doing the right things, traditions,the normal, going to school wasn't that important,but I was not discouraged.
With my drive and desire to get a good education, I asked my grandmother to take me to high school, this was tough, asking someone who never even went to school to take me to school, to be honest I have never seen my father ever since I was born and my mum left when I was still very young and got married somewhere far, so I grew up with my grandmother thinking she was my mother,I came to discover later that she wasn't my mother but my grandmother. I have never been told the entire story of my parents to be honest, therefore nobody cared about whether I was okay or not. My grandmother refused my request and had other plans,I was to become a herdsman, look after herd, practice traditions and become a warrior like others. This made me cry knowing all my potentials and wanting so much to excel in academia ,that I could not continue with my education even after doing well in the national exams. I had to refuse, I really had to go against traditions if I wanted to continue pursuing education and this would normally be considered a blasphemy or a disrespect of the highest order and had serious consequences, I had to flee/escape, I went to a small town which was a little bit urbanized, there I lived with my aunt who helped me get to a local high school, public, she had no plans of supporting me either, she didn't have a job and only worked casually. I had to take care of myself. Sometimes I would stay at home for weeks even months not going to school because I couldn't afford to pay school fees, I would collect scrap metals and plastic bottles and sell them to save money and go back to school,I could study theory subjects like Biology, English and History at home but maths was not possible as I needed to be in school, in class to follow concepts from the teacher, at some point I wanted to quit school like others and play soccer as it used to be and still is very popular and boys my age would quit school to play and make money,this money was nothing to me given my dreams,it was not worth giving up my education on,everyone thought they would make it to Europe as professional footballers and still today a large group of teenagers think so. I had a different point of view to this narrative. While footballers do make it to professional level and go abroad, I asked myself a lot of questions, how many people play football/soccer? And what are the chances that I would be scouted? How long can I play and what else after football? Besides these questions, I felt like I would really need to be exceptionally good to be able to make a living out of soccer/football,there are challenges too, like long term injuries to mention a few,that could jeopardize my career. I have personally seen many local professional soccer players having rough life after their careers abroad, some begging on the streets and these reasons made me put education first, I really did not want to go down that road. I knew with education I could still live a better life without having to run after a soccer ball in order to make a living, education means so much to me,I had done the most embarrassing things , walking into school with no shoes and no uniform just to get education and now I have to quit because of the little money soccer earns people? I strived really hard and finished high school, with one uniform for four years. In 2016 I sat for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and passed the national exams, I got good grades with the exception of maths which I was not certified with my grade, all in all I did well and qualified for university, however, university was too expensive, way beyond my reach in terms of fees and was only a dream for someone in my situation, my aunt got married and moved on with her life, normally people follow traditions, you get married and go back to the village, get your share of a piece of land and start farming and raise a family,however I am not into this, I want a modern life where I can study, get a job and have a good career,one day marry a good girl,have three kids and a nice dog,a poodle . It is hard breaking away from traditions and the norms in my tribe but sometimes it is necessary, I respect everyone and what they believe in, I just feel like some traditions should not be there in 21st century, they hinder development and lag people behind in life.
The life after my aunt left was extremely difficult, I did not have any income. And as I continued to help tourists navigate my town with translation, hotel recommendations, best sites to see and cheap restaurants to dine, I would meet nice people, Australians were nice,Spaniards were way nicer when they could speak their language away from home, some hardly spoke English and meeting me change the course of their holiday here,I made sure every tourist I came in contact with had a stress free holiday onwards and left my country with a positive experience. Of course not every one I met was friendly, some were quite introverts and we never became friends, but for most part I enjoyed helping visitors and not letting them fall into traps or rip offs, I got some backclash from the locals for being too honest and not taking advantage of tourists,surprising people think if you are white "it's all money",having interacted with many,I knew this was never the case, some were students and were on budget and the best I could do was to help them instead of ripping them off. I got some help with college in 2018 and enrolled for diploma in business management, I graduated in December 2019 with a credit and I have never been so grateful in my life, this was paid for by my Australian friend, who was also one of the tourists I met,unfortunately he struggled with cancer for a long time and passed away, I could not thank him enough, I just wish his soul to rest in peace.
In 2021 I made an application to join a university in the Hague, Netherlands, after coming across some scholarship advertisements online, I participated in the University entry test and successfully got an offer,however, unfortunately the scholarship application did not work out, I have been offered a spot to study bachelor of science in Finance and control english trail European track. The course goes for four years and costs €20,000 for the first year,which including, travel, students health insurance and visa which the university will apply for me. I am therefore required to have at least €20,000 to be able to relocate to the Netherlands for my undergraduate studies. After graduation I will be allowed to remain in the Netherlands for another extra 18 months for work experience which present and opportunity to gain invaluable work experience at an international environment. One may be asking why I cannot continue with my studies here, it's a different story. In my tribe any boy or girl at my age is supposed to be married now, if you are a boy you are given a wife and a piece of land to start a family, I'm in my early 20s and and I'm required to go back to the village and follow these traditions, it's an order from the elders,this was supposed to happen last August luckily the covid situation saved me. I really don't want to go back, I have worked so hard to get education, and to just put everything I've achieved so far aside and go back to a life I don't want is painful, it's excruciating, I just want to study, and have a career and live a free life,build a future of my own so that I don't struggle again in life, I don't want to go to bed hungry ever again if I can work hard and make things different. I have no desire to get married any time sooner, I am not in the position to raise a family, it hasn't crossed my mind yet.
All I want is to work hard and one day when I have a job and a decent income, and in a position to take care of someone's daughter then I can give marriage a shot,for now I just want education first.
During lockdown, I took the time to work on my English with free online courses on google, downloading PDFs and YouTube videos. I also took my time to work on my Ms Excel modeling skills, powerpoint for finance such as building pitch books for investment banking since I'm interested in finance and investment,mergers and acquisitions. I also participated in several investment banking and M&A virtual internship experiences that helped me upskill and strengthen my understanding of the industry. I also improved my spanish and german skills and can communicate well,I joined LinkedIn and connected with like-minded people,with common interests and who share the same passion for success like me. One thing I am proud of is how I have struggled learning english, spanish and german to a point I can communicate with natives well,even though my grammar is not good and I hope to continue learning for the betterment of life.
With restrictions easing gradually, I have to move faster to secure a way to go to university in the Netherlands, start my semesters and chase my dreams before things can go entirely wrong for me here. With the current situation and how it has impacted my life, which is now heading south,I refused to give up on my dreams of getting a good education, I should be asking favours to get buy,it's tough every day here but I can deal with that,I have gone through a lot already, I just want education so that one day I can stand for and support myself, education means the world to me, all I want is to go to university, study,make friends, spread love, work hard and become a good individual in the society. I have deferred my semester with the university to try and raise the money and could possibly commence in winter semester if I manage to raise the money required.
Therefore, I am humbly requesting for your support, and given everything I have gone through and I am very much aware that there are many of us out there, if you support my education,I will not take it for granted,not a chance,I will not let anyone down,I will work harder as I have always done to achieve my desired goals. Any amount you contribute will be appreciated with the highest degree, thank you all very much in advance.
With all due respect and thanks
Michael Ochilo
Fundraising team: Inzamelingsactieteam (2)
Marieke Van de Weg
Organizer
Michael Ochilo
Team member
