From Kenya to Tiffin Via the Internet
In the two years she has been at Heidelberg, she has become known for her ready smile and infectious laugh. Sometimes she wears a kerchief around her closely trimmed head and always, large unusual earrings, hand crafted in Kenya. Muthoni Kimemia is studying for a Master’s Degree in Counseling and helping incoming foreign students adjust to their new surroundings.
Muthoni taught English and Swahili in a private high school in Nairobi for eight years. Usually there were forty students in her classes, and students were respectful of their teachers. When the teacher entered the room, they were silent unless called on to recite. She often advised students who came to her for counseling. This led her to seek more training in counseling.
She already had a Bachelor’s degree from the Kenyatta University so she searched the Internet for a school that offered a Master’s Degree in Counseling and found that Heidelberg’s program fit her needs. She is delighted that her younger sister, Njoki Kimemia, also enrolled as a freshman this fall.
She laughs about it now, but the change in climate from equatorial Kenya to Tiffin in the winter was a shock. She says, ”The sun is never far away from us in Kenya.” “Winter” in Kenya is the rainy season in March and April and a shorter rainy season in October and November. In the highlands in the dry seasons, the temperature can reach a low of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Indian Ocean is to the east of Kenya and Uganda is its neighbor on the west. To the southwest is Tanzania and on the north are Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. The Great Rift Valley formed by past volcanic eruptions is flat and very fertile. It extends from Lower Egypt south through the length of Kenya. White farmers in the Valley produce coffee, tea and sisal to make ropes. These are the main export crops along with flowers and fruit.
Tourism is also an important source of income. Safaris are popular. Safari is a Swahili word for journey. Lake Nakuru is famous for its pink clouds of flamingoes. Mount Kilimanjaro, made famous in Hemingway stories is in the south of Kenya.
Muthoni comes from a small village in the hilly section of the country. She could see snow-capped Mount Kenya, the country’s highest mountain from her home. Muthoni is the oldest of seven children, five sisters and one brother. She went to the village elementary school until she finished seventh grade. Then, at the age of eleven, Muthoni went to Loreto High School in Limuru, a national boarding school and graduated from high school, and then from university and became a language teacher.
English and Swahili are both taught in school. Kenya has several tribes who speak their own language. Best known among them are the Kikuyu and Luo, but there are many others spoken by smaller tribes.
In the villages men still struggle to acquire enough money for a bride price which is paid to the bride’s parents. Even though Muthoni’s father works in Kenya Commercial Bank, he is still in debt to his wife’s family. Her mother is a nurse, and families ask higher prices for an educated daughter.
Women still do all the work on the small farms and their money is turned over to the husband. Husbands oversee the work and tend to village business.
However, many parts of the economy are technologically advanced in Nairobi. Many businesses use computers and the government has begun to install more systems. Many people have cell phones. Kenyans are able to buy Coca-Cola and Wimpie (a British McDonald) and recently Pepsi. Some homes have televisions where they watch American TV programs like The Bold and Beautiful, E. R. and Ally McBeal.
Wealthy people have computers in their homes and are connected to the Internet. Others use small Internet cafes, which have a dozen or more computers. Users pay five shillings for each minute of use.
Kenyans celebrate Madaraka, Freedom Day, on June 1st the day in 1963 that they achieved independence from Great Britain. They also celebrate October 20th the day that Jomo Kenyatta, their first president was released from prison. Their second president, who is also their present president, has October 10th as a day in his honor. Muthoni says that Kenya had a one party system until 1992. She looks forward to the day when opposition parties will speak with one voice.
Muthoni plans to continue studying after she completes her Master’s degree. She is thinking about returning to her country as a professor or even a politician.
Heidelberg’s educational experience is made richer because of opportunities to exchange views with students like Muthoni and other students from Japan, Nepal, Germany, and other lands. We who know Muthoni wish her much success in her studies and her career
– Mary