Geoffrey Kerosi is an economist, human rights defender and a public policy analyst with a mission for attaining a free and prosperous world without human rights violations. He was born and raised in Kitutu Masaba in Nyamira County.
Education
I joined Nyamgorora Primary School in 1992 at the age of six years. I joined that school out of boredom. As usual parents used to go to the farm with their young children. One day, his mother was weeding their farm which was bordering Nyangorora Primary School.
To me, the school was more interesting compared to idling at the farm as a child with no one to play with. At the nearby school, children were happy playing with each other while at the farm women were busy gossiping or sharing notes about what is happening in their lives.
I just crossed through the fence and joined pupils. I was not in school uniform and I had no books. This means that I was not invited, I invited myself into these academic spaces. That is how dramatic I started my schooling career. No preparation, no planning, no meditation, no admission was required. I admitted myself.
At that time, there was nothing like baby class, pre-unit or such other classification I hear nowadays. We joined nursery school straight and then class one the following year.
During my era, there were no exams or any academic qualifications needed to join class one. The teacher simply tested whether your hand was long enough to reach the ear on the other side. That was all that was required to earn you a promotion to class one.
At nursery school, we read under the wattle trees. These trees are called ‘Emetandege’ in Kisii, Muthanduku in Kikuyu or Black Wattle in English. Those were the trees that provided us a shade from direct sunshine while we acquired knowledge at the early stages of our quest for education. We interacted with nature right from the start. I remember the black wattle trees very vividly and I associated them with for the strong strings which were extracted from their stems. These strings were commonly used for constructions of huts. They were used to tie parts of the hut together and that bond would last for decades. The grass thatched huts were very common in our village as well as in all the surrounding villages. Tin-roofed houses or mabati houses were a status symbol. They were only found in wealthy homes.
The wattle trees were also known for their sticky substance (gum) which they produced from their stems. Even today I always associate the trees with amasami and amasiondokoro mioro. These two are some strange worms, I do not understand where they went afterwards. We all feared these creatures to the core. Especially when I remember us being told that we stop playing around them because they can jump into our noses. Naivety.
Since we studied under the trees, we had no black boards or chalk boards for teachers to write on. We had just one teacher who instructed us to sweep the ground clean and write using sharp sticks. He would then mark on the ground. Those who got the answers right, always earned their break time ahead of the rest. Our study routine was simple, we would repeat the numbers and letters which the teacher shouted like parrots. Numbers were usually 1 – 10, then recite the 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and then recite A to Z. Today’s pronunciation of these letters and vowels is quite different and leaves the old generation feeling cheated by our teachers. CBC parents can bear witness on this matter.
At exactly noon every day, our day would come to an end. We could all sing: “Nasikia Sauti, sauti ya mama, sasa ni saa sita, mwalimu kwa heri, watoto kwa heri …”
Singing this chorus was our most favorite part of the entire learning programme. I know some of us still would not understand the meaning of the words in the above chorus but we used to murmur some incoherent words along. We were happy that the boring studies taught in a foreign language had finally reached the end for the day. We struggled to understand English because the language was and still is rarely spoken in many rural homes. We only liked the games during break time and nothing else. Even kids who never participated in anything else were keen to end the day with active participation in singing.
I got promoted to class one at the end of my studies at nursery school. It was easy because it was a physical test whether you have grown enough to be in class one. I joined class one in 1993.
My lower primary education (classes 1-3) years were filled with a lot of adventure to say the least. My parents played an instrumental role in our education. Every evening my father would teach us Mathematics and English. Failure to get answers right meant you will receive slaps here and there. I was a very curious child but very short in height and innocent looking. I always admired good things in life. I liked electronics like small radios then known as Sony Walkman which were portable and would use radio cassettes to play music. These were very fashionable at the time. The other radio which were available such as Sanyo and National were too large to travel with. I remember my father loved reggae and Soukous music. He had several radio cassette for the Lucky Dube from South Africa and would listen to Congolese music from the masters like Franco and Soukous Star Aurlus Mabele. The latter was known as the “King of Soukous”. I remember we would listen to Mabele belt out his tunes as we did farm chores such as harvesting, plucking tea or tilling land ready for planting. We loved the fast pace of all Mabele’s songs such as Loketo which I consider as a work song.
My love for electronics and the accompanying curiosity led me to destroy my fathers Kodak camera. During that era, cameras used a film (some kind of tape dark in color) which was where raw photos were stored until processing is done to print the photos. Nowadays, we have DSLR camera which produce digital photos and videos which can be shared through WhatsApp so long as you have a smartphone. This was not always the case. Change is like rest. Back to my story, I removed the film from the camera not knowing that any exposure would destroy them in their entirety. Upon completing my inspection, I was unable to return it the way it was. I just threw the film into a dark room unused room in our house and returned the camera to where it was originally assuming that everything will be okay. When my mother was doing her chores, she thought she had seen a snake in the room. NO. It was the film. I reached a thorough beating that day. Strokes of the cane landed on me like a torrential rain. I was such a destructive child during those earlier days. I thank God that I survived the wrath of my parents. Just exploring everything not considering the harm which I was causing along the way.
Compulsory manual duties at school
I remember at games time (time after classes from 4 pm) we would be sent to the river to fetch water for the teachers or if it was Friday, we did cleaning. Cleaning means smearing the floors of the classrooms with cow dung, clay and water. A few grown up girls would be selected to clean the staff room and the Headmaster’s office. The latter was very tiny, I wonder how the headmaster survived in such tiny space.
During those times teachers stayed at the teachers’ quarters. Nearly, every school had set a side part of the school land where they constructed some mabati roofed houses with earthen floors and walls. It was a privilege to be selected to go and do some manual labor at the teachers’ quarters. The teachers houses had to be smeared too. After every few days we made trips to the water springs to fetch water for teachers.
Circumcision
During the 1990s, every December was a festive season. The month was special for us rural kids because that is the time when chicken is slaughtered or mandazi are deep fried and boys and girls got circumcised. I have to mention upfront that laws have changed in Kenya criminalising female genital mutilation (FGM). In the past this was a great event that was celebrated with food and drink. Later on, it was discovered that circumcision for girls is evil and had a negative outcome on the girls sexual reproductive health and more damaging on their education. This is because in the past girls were married off immediately after circumcision hence denying them a chance to continue with their studies. We condemn those who still engage in this harmful practice. DOWN WITH FGM!
Boys who were to be circumcised were required to prepare for the whole year in advance by rearing male chicken (cockerels) which were slaughtered for the young men who participated in the circumcision ceremony. It was quite elaborate and there were steps and traditions to be followed. Most communities have special songs for the occasion.
At least every boy was required to contribute three mature cocks for the ceremony. The ceremony started with boys receiving theory lessons about what will be expected out of them as adults. Basically, Circumcision was the transition from childhood to adulthood. That may explain why some boys when they get circumcised they feel they are ready to establish their own families through getting married.
After circumcision, boys were prohibited from entering their mother’s bedrooms. It is declared a taboo in rural areas. In urban areas the culture and traditions are diluted and things which are unimaginable for the rural forks do happen. In towns you find grown up men living in the same room with their mothers, aunties and sisters. Maybe, the economy cannot allow many households to invest on a male quarters known as “esaiga”in Ekegusii or “Simba” in dholuo. There are many other rules which guide the new adults.
My first protest
In 1999 after successfully completing my class seven education I transferred to a neighboring school – Entanda. This was due to some injustice which had been meted on me. The teacher in question had found us playing in class instead of doing so at the field during games time. There were no written rules expressly prohibiting games within the classroom during games time. In protest, I transferred to Entanda Primary School.
Class 8 candidate
In the year 2000, I joined class eight (8) at Entanda Primary School. My uncle Charles was instrumental in getting me the admission in that school because he was teaching there. He taught science and English.
In my previous school I was guaranteed of becoming between position 1 and 3. Now I was in a new school which I considered to be a foreign territory and I thought I would get strong competition and probably lose the top positions I was used to.
I wasn’t ready to take any position which was not position one. However, I feared that anything would happen. That fear pushed me to study harder. The headteacher Mr. Arumba was our Mathematics teacher. He helped most of us to understand the subject. I subsequently became a better mathematics pupil than ever before. My performance improved significantly. I gained confidence on how to tackle mathematical problems.
At the end of the year I scored 484 marks out of the possible 700 marks. By then then entry marks for National Schools such as Starehe Boys Center, Alliance and Mang’u was 520. Therefore, I missed the cutoff marks by 36 marks.
I received admission letter from Nyambaria Boys High School. It was a provincial school during our time. It is now a national school. The school had very bright students from all over the country.
My interest in sports
While at High School, I loved sports more especially athletics but I did not perform well. I only participated in walking race because I found it funny and less demanding compared to other field and track events such as high jump, javelin, cross country or 100 meters race.
Journalism club
While in high school, I loved the activities conducted by journalism club. They participated in nearly all activities as reporters. After sports and music events they wrote articles which were posted on the school noticeboard. These articles were always hand written. Computers were not widely used especially in high school. I personally used a computer for the first time while at university. We’ll cover that later. While in form 3 I became the chairman of Journalism club. Courtesy of the club, we had a chance to travel to other schools during major events such as music festivals and sports. These were my happiest moments.
The ‘O’ Constant
At Nyambaria Boys High School we had bright students who would score straight As without struggling. The school had pass-marks which students had to attain in order to be promoted to the next class. This was commonly known as O constant. Named after one Mathematics teacher Omosa. Every end of the academic year, Omosa had the honor of setting the pass mark.
I was privileged to have been taught by Mr. Omosa at Nyambaria boys during those good days. He was soft spoken but very firm. I owe him part of my arithmetic skills.
University life
I joined university in 2008 and was admitted to study Bachelor of Education Arts (Mathematics, Business). This I studied for one month before shifting to another course. During that period, it was announced that a new school of Economics was being established. It was located at the Twin Towers at Kenyatta University Main Campus (located along Thika Road in Nairobi). We jumped ship in search for bigger opportunities. I remember, Dr. Charles Ombuki was passing by at that time and would clearly see how we were excited to have been admitted to be pioneer students of Economics.
Mr. Edwin Osinde and myself were among those who were admitted to study Bachelor of Economics and Statistics. This was a brand new course. We could not stop wondering whether this degree course was under the arts of sciences.
Largely, I must say that the course is not for the timid or weak minded. Studying the Theory of Estimation, Statistics for Economists, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics requires you to trust in your capabilities. We soldiered on until the end. Now we are proud to have graduated.
Post Graduate studies
After working as a policy analyst for a national Civil Society Organization for three years. I decided it is time to go back to college and pursue my post graduate studies. I returned once again to Kenyatta University Digital School and pursued Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration (MPPA). All course work is successfully behind me. I’m now working on my research project. Fingers crossed, soon I will be defending my thesis. God-willing. I will keep you posted on this issue.
What am I working on currently
Currently, I have put all my energies towards promoting minority rights for indigenous peoples, religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities in East Africa and around the globe.
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