Sophie Ngugi - A Child of the universe

Violence against women is further fueled by language of silence For more than 10 years of professional work, I have had opportunity to interact with many young women and young men in mentorship and life skills. My first job was as a trainer on life skills and in this way got to interact with thousands of young boys and girls, primary and secondary school students in various parts of Kenya. These young people have impacted my life; and I hope too I have impacted theirs in enormous ways. However, among the thousands of young girls that I have had the privilege of interacting with, one girl remains edged in my mind. That was in 2002, ten years ago and I was very new in the field of guidance/ life skills. I still recall her, because she is one girl that I failed in a big way. After giving lessons to a form two class in one secondary school, the young woman asked to speak to me in private. I readily accepted, but what she told me left me confused. She was a victim of defilemen...

The last few weeks have been crucial for Kenya and for the whole world, attention has been directed in one place where ‘all action is’- The London Olympics. This is one event that Kenya looks forward to since we have made a name through talented youth athletes who have over time continued making Kenya proud. This year’s Olympic games have been a bit of a disappointment for Kenyans since our athletes do not seem to be getting as many medals as anticipated. However we (Kenyans) managed to get several medals and recognising some individuals and the team work with ‘TeamKenya’ becoming a common phrase in the social media. While many were not able to physically join the Kenya House in London joined it though social media. The talk in the social places, work places was Olympics! The gold medals seemed elusive and Kenyans were yearning for them. Ezekiel Kemboi won Kenya's first gold medal in 3,000-meter steeplechase much to the rejoicing of Kenyans. However spirits were low as the runn...

“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...

Sometimes I go through some experiences that make me feel like giving up and flowing with the tide, not a positive tide but the “I give up, life is unfair” tide. I guess any ‘human’ human being gets to that point at one time or the other, some more often than others. Moments when life is throwing to us so much that we feel “can’t take it anymore”. It reminds me the theory of elasticity as used on objects in physics; different subjects like economics define ‘elasticity’ in different ways. I especially like the physics definition of elasticity. According to Wikipedia encyclopaedia (or stretchiness) is the inherit property of a body which tries to regain its original shape after removal of its shape by applying any force on it. I have been reflecting on this as regards human beings and the experiences people face. Towards the end of December 2011 as usual I embarked on my ‘monthly’ purchase of books for January 2012. (Ideally monthly but this never happens as I get excuse to purchase m...

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...