Hilary Ogutu: the pioneer, ten years on

Every project has a first cohort, the students who take the risk before there is any proof it will work. In 2015, Hilary Ogutu was one of them. "I am a pioneer sponsor kid from 2015," he says. "Being sponsored by Siaya Project has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life." Back then there were no graduation photos to show sceptical parents, no alumni to point to. There was a small group of supporters in the Netherlands, a handful of families in Siaya County, and a promise that fees would be paid on time. Hilary chose medical engineering, a field almost nobody around him could name. It sits in the quiet part of healthcare: the oxygen concentrators, the theatre lights, the incubators. When they fail, patients do not get a second chance, and someone like Hilary has to make them work again. He graduated ten years after that first sponsorship cheque. His degree is, in a sense, the project's own report card. The pioneer cohort is now the proof. Every student sponsored since walks a path Hilary helped clear.