Right now, Mercy is 11, in 4th Grade, and she is confident she'll reach the top results band, above 75%, in her next exams.
This year, her marks have already climbed from 62.5% to 72.5%, and she now reads and speaks confidently in both Kiswahili and English.
However, a few years back, school wasn't part of her days at all.
After her father passed away, her mother struggled to support the family and Mercy was sent to live with her uncle.
She spent her days herding goats without shoes or proper clothing, often getting by on a single small meal a day.
If an animal didn't make it home, she was chased away from the homestead and left to spend the night alone in the bush.
What Mercy needed then went well beyond a classroom.
She needed safety, food, and someone in her corner. And that someone was her mother.
A Mother's Choice
Determined to give her daughter a different future, she took Mercy out of that situation and made her education the priority.
Around that time, Mercy’s family became aware of a B1G1 project named ‘So They Can’, It works alongside communities and local governments in Kenya and Tanzania to help children get a quality education.
The team first met Mercy at a medical camp in her village. Through the Ambassadors of Hope program, she was enrolled in school, somewhere she could feel safe and supported while she learned.
The team also knew that a child's schooling depends on what's happening at home.
So Mercy's family received goats through So They Can's economic empowerment program. The herd has grown since then, helping her mother become more financially independent and able to keep food on the table.
Mercy knew all about goats, of course. This time, though, they belonged to her mother.
The everyday things that keep children learning
Getting a child into school is the first step. Staying, learning and growing in confidence takes good teachers, a decent classroom, and the simple basics many of us never think twice about.
That's the work So They Can does with its 10 partner primary schools in Baringo County, Kenya.
In the first half of 2026, 800 uniforms were supplied to students in need, and 1,468 children received hygiene materials such as soap and handkerchiefs.
Alongside this, teachers receive training and schools gain better resources and facilities. School kitchens and farms help make sure children are fed, which makes it easier for them to turn up each day and stay enrolled.
At Ng'ambo Primary, two newly installed cooking stoves mean the kitchen can now serve 88,800 meals a year for its 444 students, and two more at Lemuyek Primary will serve 58,200 meals a year for its 291 students.
A uniform, a bar of soap or a hot lunch might seem small. But for a child working out whether school is a place they belong, these things add up.
Where the B1G1 community comes in
Each time a business in the B1G1 community gives through So They Can, it becomes part of stories like Mercy's: a child in a uniform, a teacher with new skills, a school kitchen feeding hungry students. The impact happens in Baringo, and it's shared by everyone who helps make it possible, including children like Mercy who carry it forward.
If Mercy’s story stays with you, you can explore So They Can’s projects on B1G1 here and become part of what comes next for children like her.
Mercy still has exams ahead and a top results band to reach for. She has a mother who believes in her, a school that supports her.
And a herd of goats doing their part at home.
And wherever her next chapter leads, she's now the one writing it.
