Pursuing a father’s dream

The Mboya family continues its legacy of helping bright but disadvantaged Kenyans to get scholarships to American Universities. BILLY MUIRURI  digs up all about the latest academic “airlift” - this time targeting girls

Wherever the soul of the late Tom Mboya is, it rests assured that the man greatly shaped the future of this country shortly before independence.

He was the father figure to many poor African students he helped get an education in America in the early 1960s. A visionary,  Mboya had awakened to the reality that the country needed young educated leaders to steer the country after the colonialists left. That was in 1959.

The young graduates did not disappoint. After college, they came back in time to help in forming the new government. Mboya’s vision of young and educated leaders had started to bear fruits.

Many years later, Mboya’s dream has come back through his youngest daughter Susan. In 2002, Dr Susan Mboya rekindled memories of the 1960s “airlifts”, this time targeting rural girls. 

This is how Zawadi Africa Education Fund, a charity that helps well performing school leavers seek scholarships in American Universities and colleges was born.

Last week, the first batch of two girls returned home, all enthusiastic after finishing their undergraduate courses. Says one of the pioneer students of the programme, Miss Charity Wayua, “ It was a great opportunity. I thank God I am on the right track towards inspiring the bright girls out there.’’

With Miss Sheran Oradu, the duo were the first beneficiaries of the “inaugural airlift’’. They attended Xavier University in Ohio where they did their Bachelor of Science course in Chemistry.

Dr Mboya says of the graduates, “They did not disappoint. They impressed the university and earned themselves full scholarships for further studies. We are also motivated that they have come back to  act as mentors to those following them.’’

As they look forward to the official launch of the fund in Nairobi next Thursday, July 5, the girls, both in their early 20s, will be a source of envy for another batch of 10 girls who have secured  similar scholarships.

But they will not be staying in the country for long. Due to their impressive performance in the undergraduate courses, their scholarships have been extended and they will now be enrolling for their PhD courses at the prestigious Purdue University where they are both set to study Analytical Chemistry.

Dr Mboya, the founder of the fund, is optimistic that  the forgotten rural girl will now be able to access higher education. “Prospects of bright girls are inhibited by lack of resources to go past primary and secondary school level. We are attempting  to correct the skew against rural girls by giving them this chance.’’

Growing up in Kenya, she says, gave her experience of how effective girls can be as leaders. “ A vacuum still exists in higher education for girls. Sound women leadership traces its roots to good education,’’ she says.

Dr Mboya, whose career background is pharmacy and who had her earlier education in Kenya but who now lives in the US, told Saturday Magazine  that one way to improve life for Kenyan girls is to help the bright ones access opportunities for higher education. “The benefits they reap will definitely trickle back to society. Our policy is to have the girls we help come back and take part in nation-building,’’ she says.

Borrowing heavily from the airlifts of early 1960s initiated by her late father, Mboya says Zawadi Africa exposes good performing female students to sponsorship opportunities and assists them to apply to universities in the US. However, the sole prerogative to admit these students lies with universities that are giving the scholarships.

A member of the programme’s local advisory board says the body conducts seminars in schools and encourages students to apply. 

“We have been talking to institutions in the US. Those that have chances sort out the applicants they prefer and invite them. It depends on performance and courses applied for,’’ says the secretary to the  board, Miss Bella Omino.

Among the universities that have accepted to extend their sponsorship are Stanford, Cornell, Yale, Duke, Xavier, Antioch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  and the prestigious Havard University.

According to Miss Omino, 10 more students are set to join some of the institutions in August this year and arrangements are at an advanced stage for their departure. “We are happy that more colleges are heeding our cry to help the bright among our girls access higher education. We are hoping this figure will double next year,’’

Miss Omino, who is also the Customer service and Branding manager at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) says her board has not had problems processing the girls’ travel documents. “This is our highest number so far and they will be joining  their universities in August and September.’’

Among the girls is 18-year-old Jackline Wanjala. The former student of Precious Blood, Riruta will be joining Yale University for a course in Medicine. 

“I want to be a heart specialist and a cardio-thoracic surgeon at that. They are few in Kenya and I want to exploit that field,’’ she says. Jackline, who was born and brought up in Kitale has been doing voluntary work in some of Nairobi’s children’s homes since she finished school in 2005. 

She is elated that her dream of providing health care to society is already being nurtured by Zawadi Africa. “As young people, we have to make a difference to the disadvantaged among us. There is a reward  for this from God,’’ she said during an interview this week. She scored an A in her KCSE. 

For Grace Akinyi Jairo, 19, the prospect of an American education was too ambitious a dream. Growing up in Lambwe Valley in Nyanza Province, Akinyi watched many of her classmates drop out of school before they reached Class Eight.

Born to a peasant farmer, she points out that the new experience will expose her to the dynamics of higher education. ”I’m a rural girl and my life was destined for the village. This is my chance to prove myself and I’m yearning to go and come back to mentor my younger sisters in this region,’’ she says excitedly.

Akinyi, who now lives with her family in Rongo District, feels the programme will unlock the hidden ability of the girls. “Being confined to one region is like reading one page of a thriller forever. We need to sample what the academic world out there has to offer then bring the fruits to our people,’’ the former student of St. Albert, Ulanda in Awendo told Saturday Magazine.

As she takes her first flight ever, Akinyi will be forfeiting a chance at Maseno University, where she had been admitted to study Acturial Science. She had scored grade B+ in her 2005 KCSE exams. She is joining Antioch University for a course in Biochemistry. For Julian Kemunto Sitemba, an invitation to study medicine at Xavier university is just what will make her realise her dream of one day becoming a hospital administrator.

Though currently studying Accounting at Strathmore college, Miss Sitemba says her passion is to work in the health sector. ‘I’m able to manage things and would want to work and improve health facilities in the country,’’ she says.

Sitemba feels the sponsorship is a new challenge to remain at the top. “We have to maintain good performance. The best way to show our gratitude to the sponsors is by remaining at the top of the table. We would also want to get further scholarships,’’ says the 20-year-old former student at Alliance Girls High School who scored grade A in 2005. When the programme rolled out in 2003, it enrolled three students, two of whom, are back in the country. Currently, about 15 students are continuing with their courses in American institutions. “We have been double our intake steadily. This year we are taking 10 students. We are expecting 25 more girls next year,’’ Dr Mboya confides.

Spurred on by her father’s vision for an educated society, Mboya feels the 1960s airlifts benefitted far more  boys than girls. “Look at the girls who made it then. They continue to inspire young people, 40 years on.This is why we need to have a continuous cycle to nurture women leaders.’’

Among the female beneficiaries of the 1960s airlifts are professors Wangari Maathai, Leah Marangu and Pamellah Odede. Pamellah, who studied at Miami University was to later to become Tom Mboya’s wife. She is Susan’s mother.

Locally, the programme is run by an advisory board made up of experts in US-based education. It is chaired by Mr. Isaac Awuondo, the chief executive officer of Commercial Bank of Africa.

Criteria for selection borders on excellence in academics, exemplary leadership skills and inability to finance university education. The board assists applicants to fill the forms which they the send to the respective universities. The universities then do their shortlisting after which the board facilitates acquisition of travel documents for successful students.