Elijah’s mother took her four children and ran away from his abusive father, who has not supported them in any way, and has even remarried. His mother moved them to her parents’ home, and practices farming to feed the children but finds it difficult to make the tuition payments to keep them in school.

Elijah and his three older sisters have all had some schooling and their mother digs in other people’s gardens to make more money but she has never got enough to keep them in school for a whole year at a time. They keep having to drop out for a term when she cannot afford it. The children would love to regularly attend like other children. Elijah would like to become a mechanical engineer in the future if he gets a chance to finish his education.