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When I walk through our school and watch our students at work – in our classrooms and our laboratories – I see our future shifting. I see education and employment lifting us permanently out of poverty. I see education becoming a human right, no matter how humble our beginnings. And I see the people of Nyamboyo taking positive control of their lives.
Education is my personal story. It changed the trajectory of my life. I was one of the lucky ones.
I was born one of 8 children to peasant farmers. My parents worked their entire lives, earning just enough to survive. When I was 6 years old, I was sent to work, full-time. I was hired to graze cows in a nearby farm where I worked 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. As payment, I was given food and clothing. While I wasn’t contributing financially to the family, I was no longer a burden.
Six years old and a man.
My employer was generous, appreciated my work. He saw potential in me. So, when I was 8, he offered to finance my education. We struck a deal: if I passed my exams every year, he would pay for school starting with Standard One all the way through university. In payment I would work for him 4 hours a day, 6 days a week – 2 hours in the morning and 2 at night. Although I was only 8, I recognized this opportunity. He had committed to 16 years of financial sponsorship. It was unheard of generosity.
“People save their own lives. Our job is to provide the opportunity.”
So, I started school. Life was more challenging than I expected. I would get up before daylight, tend the cows for 2 hours, walk 2 kilometers to school and then return to the fields in early evening. Lunch wasn’t provided at school, so I ate only breakfast and dinner. As a growing boy, I lived every day with intense hunger. I stress this because it is the degree of poverty that still afflicts too many in my community.
I passed all my undergraduate exams and went on to university in Nairobi where I studied Information, Communication and Technology. After university, I had opportunities but something drew me back home. This is where, for the first time, I saw clearly the degree to which many of our young, talented, caring men and women are trapped by poverty because they lack education, work skills and, ultimately, employment. In Africa, where there are many intractable problems, I recognized that these problems could be solved in our community. And I, as one of the lucky ones, had an obligation to lead.
In 2016, I set out to build Nyamboyo Technical School, a vocational center, which opened with our first cohort of students in January 2019. This school, which I hope will be the first of many, is finding a sustainable way to bring general education, high-level vocational education, and business training to our beautiful but poor communities. We are educating, feeding and teaching skills for economic self-reliance to our youth.
We are at the beginning of our journey. In our case, it literally does take a village – leaders, village elders, teachers, business partners and students. Together, we are building a dream, taking our future into our own hands and paving a highway to economic independence for our youth.
People save their own lives. Our job is to provide the opportunity. I hope you will join our journey.