Sophie Ngugi - A Child of the universe

“The mediocre mentor tells. The good mentor explains. The superior mentor demonstrates. The great mentor inspires, encourages and takes you into the trenches.” Navtaj Chandhoke Last weekend was a momentous moment for the Dare to Dream mentors as we met with the parents of the pupils we have been inspiring and mentoring for the last two years. Dare to Dream (D2D) is an initiative that I had been toying with in my mind for several years but only thought of that name after the initiative commenced. A little background would help understand why this. I was born to village folks in Mang’u village of now Kiambu County, less than 15 Kilometers from Thika Town. As I grew up, my environment was the normal life of a rural Kenya in the 80’s; the role models outside of the home were the teachers. There was no much interaction with other professionals apart from the doctors and considering how dreaded visits to the Igegania Sub-District Hospital which was the nearest public hospital or the miss...

The power of affirmation Yesterday I was struck in the most amazing way on the power of affirmation. This came from pupils from Mang’u Primary School where I schooled many years ago. The inspiration to start the ‘Dare to Dream mentors’ was this same school. I felt that something is missing as far as school's academic performance is concerned. At the time that I schooled in this school, we had kids going to national schools, and during my year we set a record where four girls were admitted to national schools while many other pupils were admitted to provincial level schools following excellent performance in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams. In Kenya, the admission to schools is based on performance in the region, hence the quota system. In the recent years, the school and many other schools in the locality have been performing poorly barely getting any children admitted to secondary schools! I felt this strong urge to go back to the school and the dream wa...