A Kenyan student based in Finland has shared some of the last conversations with the deceased student.
The late Rodgers Kipruto, was reported to have been depressed and had attempted to return to Kenya but had been discouraged by several friends, according to the student who attends the Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
This week, it was announced that Mr. Kipruto, who had enrolled at Laurea University for a nursing degree program, had died by suicide there.
The student explained the deceased initially entertained the thought of travelling back to Kenya in June 2023. His decision was arrived at owing to the tough times and challenges he was facing in Finland.
The chat shared by one of the students in Finland shows that the deceased had planned to travel back home.
“Hii mambo ya Laurea nayo . . .. Mimi damu yangu inaniambia nirudi Kenya sijui mbona (my guts tells me I need to go back to Kenya),” the WhatsAPP chat dated February 23, 2023, reads in part.
Another student responds: “Take your time and make your own decision and don’t include people,”
In another chat, the deceased inquired about the cost of the flight and wanted to know when they could book a flight.
“Sasa (hello) did you manage to book the plain (sic)?” shows a chat seen by Nairobi News.
“We have gone through a lot . . . Rodgers had been depressed and sick since October last year (2022), we were to come back to Kenya with him early this year, but was convinced by his friends and he canceled the flight . . . But depression is real out there, I thank God I have very understanding and supportive parents, maybe I would be the victim now,” he said.
The deceased was one of 202 Uasin Gishu County students who were flown to Finland as part of a contentious study program agreement between the county government and three international colleges—Laurea, Jyvaskylla, and Tampere universities. Although they had continued their studies since two weeks ago, a student noticed that the majority of the pupils believed the county government had taken advantage of them.
“Life is hell out here, I wish the county would have told us the truth, we resigned from well-paying Permanent and pensionable (PnP) jobs in Kenya thinking we are going to be trained as professional nurses in Finland as promised by the county.
“We were also told that we will complete our degree course within one year, only to be shocked when we were told that the course will take 2 and half years, and the county had paid a fee for only the first semester and accommodation for 4 months, yet we had paid a fee for the all year and accommodation for 6 months,” another student stated.
