now developing links with one of Kenya ’ s universities that should enable our programme to form part of teacher training programmes in future .
The second way in which I try and help is by personal sponsorship and mentoring . Here are two examples of what can be involved .
I employ someone to man the gate at night and keep an eye on things while I sleep . Lash is from the Samburu tribe ( Samburu are very close kin of the better known Masai ; they live in the north of Kenya whereas the more numerous Masai live further south ). One day , Lash , who speaks no English and struggles to read and write , came to me and told me that he had a sister who had been offered a place at one of Kenya ’ s top 20 secondary schools for girls and , as her parents were in no position to pay her fees , could I help . That ’ s how Yustine ( below as she first went off to school ) came into my life .
middle of nowhere : three hours drive in a sturdy 4x4 along dirt roads from the nearest so-called town ) ready to be kitted out for school , books bought etc . We got to know each other well over the next 4 years as I helped her with her studies where I could . Not very surprisingly , given that she ’ d done well enough in the middle of nowhere to get into a very good secondary school , she got good grades in her university entrance exams ( the photo is of Yustine when she had completed her secondary schooling ).
Yustine after completing secondary schooling
Yustine before she went off to school
Very shy and not very self-confident , she arrived from her home ( literally , in the
And then an interesting thing happened : she was offered a scholarship to study in China ( China is investing heavily in Africa , building roads and railways ), who provide such scholarships as a way of promoting the country ’ s image . To cut a longer story short , Yustine is now studying medicine in a Chinese university – and having to do so in Mandarin . ( Like most Kenyans , she already spoke three languages : her mother – tribal - tongue , Kiswahili , the lingua franca , and English ). She sent me a message on WhatsApp recently letting me know that in her Level 4 language ( ie Mandarin ) paper ,
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