MaxShimba
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- Apr 11, 2008
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Father of six in high school
Kayian Lengete, his wife Gladys Kayian and two year old daughter Eliza Kayian during the interview with the Daily Nation. Photo/CHRIS OJOW
By KIBIWOTT KOROSSPosted Wednesday, September 16 2009 at 21:25
At 41, one would expect Mr Kayian Lengete to be busy looking after his cows in Kajiado plains, the way fellow Maasai villagers do. But he is a student. With six children.
Mr Lengete is a Form Two student at Thomas Fish Secondary School in his Mashuru village in Sultan Hamud, Kajiado Central District.
Born in Rangau Village in 1968, Mr Lengete enrolled in 1983 as a Standard One pupil at Mashuru Primary School before transferring to Elnamen Primary School in Konza in 1985 after his parents migrated to the area looking for pasture. Drought had ravaged his village the year before.
He sat the primary national exams in 1989 and scored 421 marks out of the possible 700. This saw him admitted to Olkejuado Boys High School, but he dropped out in 1990 at the beginning of Form Two; his father had died and there was nobody to pay his fees.
"Several relatives shunned me. One told me to choose between selling the three remaining cows - and driving my family into poverty - and looking after them to increase their numbers".
"My father lost a substantial herd in 1984, and this forced us to move from Rangau," he said. He was sitting his weekly exams when the Nation went visiting last Saturday. His school uniform, coupled with his lean body, belied his age. He had returned to school after 19 years.
"I have seen what it means out there without a certificate," he said after sitting the chemistry paper where he hoped to score an A. "Without education, life is difficult and no one can respect you. We must shift from our cultural beliefs and face the fast-changing world," he said.
When he dropped out of school, he was employed as a watchman in Mombasa for three months before shifting to Nairobi after life became "so expensive". He then earned Sh600.
Politicians promised
After 2007, he vowed not to be involved in politics. "Every politician promised me a job after the elections," he said. "Even in 2007, they promised me a job. I told them I was not interested in a job. I wanted to go back to school. They laughed."
The post-election violence almost ended his dreams. But after the Grand Coalition Government was formed, he went to see the headmaster of Mashuru Primary School - then the head of Thomas Fish Secondary - for admission.
"I had consulted with my family members. Nobody believed me. My father-in-law came and asked to know what was happening. He had only heard it from friends."
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/659278/-/umw0q1/-/index.html
Kayian Lengete, his wife Gladys Kayian and two year old daughter Eliza Kayian during the interview with the Daily Nation. Photo/CHRIS OJOW
By KIBIWOTT KOROSSPosted Wednesday, September 16 2009 at 21:25
At 41, one would expect Mr Kayian Lengete to be busy looking after his cows in Kajiado plains, the way fellow Maasai villagers do. But he is a student. With six children.
Mr Lengete is a Form Two student at Thomas Fish Secondary School in his Mashuru village in Sultan Hamud, Kajiado Central District.
Born in Rangau Village in 1968, Mr Lengete enrolled in 1983 as a Standard One pupil at Mashuru Primary School before transferring to Elnamen Primary School in Konza in 1985 after his parents migrated to the area looking for pasture. Drought had ravaged his village the year before.
He sat the primary national exams in 1989 and scored 421 marks out of the possible 700. This saw him admitted to Olkejuado Boys High School, but he dropped out in 1990 at the beginning of Form Two; his father had died and there was nobody to pay his fees.
"Several relatives shunned me. One told me to choose between selling the three remaining cows - and driving my family into poverty - and looking after them to increase their numbers".
"My father lost a substantial herd in 1984, and this forced us to move from Rangau," he said. He was sitting his weekly exams when the Nation went visiting last Saturday. His school uniform, coupled with his lean body, belied his age. He had returned to school after 19 years.
"I have seen what it means out there without a certificate," he said after sitting the chemistry paper where he hoped to score an A. "Without education, life is difficult and no one can respect you. We must shift from our cultural beliefs and face the fast-changing world," he said.
When he dropped out of school, he was employed as a watchman in Mombasa for three months before shifting to Nairobi after life became "so expensive". He then earned Sh600.
Politicians promised
After 2007, he vowed not to be involved in politics. "Every politician promised me a job after the elections," he said. "Even in 2007, they promised me a job. I told them I was not interested in a job. I wanted to go back to school. They laughed."
The post-election violence almost ended his dreams. But after the Grand Coalition Government was formed, he went to see the headmaster of Mashuru Primary School - then the head of Thomas Fish Secondary - for admission.
"I had consulted with my family members. Nobody believed me. My father-in-law came and asked to know what was happening. He had only heard it from friends."
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/659278/-/umw0q1/-/index.html
