Determined to “graduate,” I ended up at Central

In 2007, I was arrested while attempting to graduate

Wednesday, August 29, 2007. The day I set my foot in a police cell for the first time. And spend there. Central Police Station, Nairobi. The occurrence book read that I had stolen. A camera. Property to a relative, a business associate, hereunder, associate.

But spending a night at the cells calmed my spirits in ways I could not imagine.

Five days before my associate handed me in to the Police, the University of Nairobi had graduated its 2007 cohort. I was supposed to have graduated. So on the eve of the graduation day, on its rehearsal, I made my way into the Graduation Square.

Ideally, I had worked to ensure that I graduate. The furthest I could go towards this end was to take photographs while clad in the graduation gown. With these photographs, it will be easy to convince people that I finally graduated, I reassured myself.

But that did not happen. Not that I did not have sufficient funds to hire a gown and take photographs amidst jubilant crowds of the once fellow students. No. The 2000 Kenya shillings I had secured from money merchants on Luthuli Avenue upon offering the camera as collateral, was sufficient. I did not muster enough courage to advance this plot to fruition.

Everyone at the Square was overjoyed. Genuinely so. Everyone was unlike me. I spotted my former classmates at Chiromo. And friends from Main. Kim. Presly. Dan. Jackson, the Big Head, Stella. Faith. NAAS. Koome. But for once, it was clear that we were now worlds apart. The closest any of these friends came was to wave.

Jubilation. Occasionally, they would all try to toss the caps into the air, just the way they do in film. Once or twice, a group would break into dance. Then they filed in the seats clearly bearing their names. Spectacular. Meanwhile, I sat close to the parking bay, at the University Cafeteria. Dejected. Forlorn. I did see it coming. The migraine.


Unable to hold it any longer, I found my way out of the University premises. I cannot tell how I preferred walking all the way to Pipeline through Mombasa Road. At my friend’s place, I lay on the bed for three consecutive days, and nights. And on the fourth, my 3310 rung, the associate calling. He wanted to inquire on my whereabouts.

I was unwell, and was unable to come to our Luthuli shop. He offered to meet me around Cabanas. But I could sense that all was not well. He was accompanied by a well build plain clothed Police officer, and, as my friends tried to explain that that I have been unwell for days, he told them that I had stolen from him. That night, I spent at the Station. Reminiscent.

When I fished out the folded loan contract from my wallet in the morning and accompanied the Police to collect the camera, he offered that I could not possibly be a thief. So when he bought me coffee that afternoon, the associate leaned closer and, in a matter-of-factly tone, and citing a morphing in my behavior, offered that I must be on pot. Hence the ultimatum that I should never cross his ways again, if I valued my life.

I did not own that got into all these as I attempted to graduate. Till now.

NAS should reign on Nairobi addressing bug

National Addressing System adds efficiency to the delivery of mail

Nairobi could soon feel like London, New York. Thanks to the National Addressing System. But the ambitious addressing system has to overcome its teething problems. 

Walk along any street of Nairobi and one thing will stand out: every building carries an addressing insignia. Those traveled far and wide cannot help compare the ease in navigating the streets of Nairobi to that in First World cities. However, in that excitement, one could fail to notice that some buildings have more than one address. 

NAS assigns buildings conspicuous green addressing labels. On these labels are legible numerals identifying each house and the street where it is located. The premise of the addressing system was to facilitate ease of identifying the ever-growing city properties. 

Instead of relying on the names of buildings, NAS makes it easy to use numbers to identify buildings found along any given street. This system, a brainchild of Universal Postal Union, UPU, makes it easy to identify a building in a given street and tell its proximity to other buildings in the same street. 

For instance, the address for Bazaar Plaza along Biashara Street is ‘01 Biashara Street.’ From this address, one can easily guess that this building is on either of the extreme ends of Biashara Street. Therefore, it is utterly confusing that some city buildings have two different addresses. 

In Nairobi, some buildings have two different addresses. Anshi Plaza along Biashara Street, for instance, has labels for ‘05 Biashara Street’ and ‘38 Biashara Street.’ The inherent confusion flies in the face of making the navigation of the city easy.

No. This is not about buildings sitting on two streets carrying different addressing labels on each on different facades. 

In bilingual countries using a similar addressing system, buildings carry two labels bearing similar numbers, only in different languages. In Morocco, for instance, buildings carry insignia done in French and Arabic.  

The case of NAS in Nairobi is inexcusable. It needs redress. 

One can only hope that the resulting disarray with the NAS is short-lived, and that someone is working to reign on it. Otherwise, it challenges the very logic behind the mooting of the National Addressing System. It makes it arduous to navigate the streets of Nairobi.

To grow responsible adults, teach children to communicate

Martina Muthoni, 2. Parents should teach children to communicate.

Not many took over 10 years on their undergraduate studies. I did. However, I am certain mine is not an isolated case. It can happen to children and teenagers who are poor communicators.  

   

Without communication, individuals cannot get along. It requires effective communication for individuals to have their ways in institutions, and succeed in life. Children need to learn communication skills to develop favorable personalities. 

Parents, guardians have a responsibility of ensuring that children acquire effective communication skills early enough. Nurturing communication skills should not stop even at the height of teenage. I can confirm that doing so is counterproductive.

After mysteriously missing a place in Starehe Boy’s Center, and the inability to afford schooling in Maseno School, I ended up enrolling in a public day school within a cycling distance from home. This, of course, was after a lot of persuasion from my father that he would do everything within his means to ensure that I acquire secondary school education. 

Dad would work at the school, drawing water and collecting firewood, for use at the school. Throughout the four years, my studies went on uninterrupted. I did well. But I missed the opportunity to hone my communication skills. I did not get the opportunity to explain to the school’s administration that my fees would delay, and convincing them to keep me in school in the meantime, for instance. 

Joining the University of Nairobi subjected my poor communication skills to test. It all started with my attempt at Interfaculty Transfers. Thrice, I attempted appealing for a change in the course that I was supposed to pursue, in vain. Nothing is more infuriating. 

It became worse when I learned belatedly that my Medicine, Mechanical Engineering, and Law choices were my undoing, since, according to the Joint Admission Board, they did not depict my interest, passion.  Did they know which school I came from and that I had never assumed heavy responsibilities before?

That colleagues with lower grades could shift faculties with ease heightened my frustration. At some point, I wished that Dad could be around to talk things out. 

Many would take my throwing in the towel after a two-year struggle at the University of Nairobi as the height of indiscipline. And it could be the case, especially considering the impatience. However, methinks that my poor communication skills were responsible. 

Inability to express myself to the authorities at the University, at least with the anticipated gusto, I came to realize, was to blame for my tribulations. If I had camped at the administration, for instance, I am convinced I could have seen the resolution of my predicament. At least, they would have explained the determination to dismiss the request for course transfer incessantly. 

My case borders on the extreme. However, I am certain it is not isolated. Several students attend remote schools where JAB, for some reason, cannot reach out, or where the administration and teachers are ambivalent. 

Irrespective of the background, children grow into adults who interact with one another and with institutions. Armed with communication skills, they are able to express themselves convincingly. Not many people are ready to take poor communicators seriously.  

More importantly, the ability to communicate well nurtures self-confidence. With high self-esteem, it is safe to assert that children develop into successful teenagers and adults. The reverse is disastrous.

Institutions may not be trusted with inculcating communication skills to children. Kicking back and mourning this will not solve the problem. Parents have a responsibility of ensuring that as children grow into and past teenage, they are able to express themselves and get along with people, institutions. 

Parents can explore several strategies to nurture good communication skills in their children and teenagers. Seeking vivid explanations on behaviors and encouraging critical thinking around particular developments are good starting points. Similarly, developing an accountability culture such that children appreciate reporting on events is a good way forward. 

Engaging children in assignments that entail interacting with authorities can go a long way into imbuing them with communication skills. You do not know how much allowing your teenager to question your decision on acquiring a new car can save his/her future. 

Parents should stop pampering their children even in teenage. Instead, they should teach them how to get along with others and institutions. To grow responsible adults, teach children to communicate.

Daily Nation: http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/Living/The-best-gift-a-parent-can-give-a-child/-/1218/2335478/-/1cao2qz/-/index.html