Who is Francis Mujera Nzai?
I am a fourth born in a family of nine. Born in the southern slopes of Dzombo Hill on the 15th February 1966. I had my share of sufferings from early days of life as his family was extremely poor. I didn’t walk till the age of six years and the week I started walking I joined kindergarten school at Mwanguda Primary. I was a performing boy at school and ambitious.
When I got a calling letter to join Form 1, the situation worsened as it forced my mother to work in other people’s farms and the sale of cassava to raise the costs of secondary education. Being the first boy in the family my mother was determined to see me complete the secondary education.
At secondary school I was hard working boy who liked reading books and during the school holidays very busy at the shamba dig the land for food crops.
My mother saw the treasure on her boy and encouraged me.
By then who ever Reaches University during that time there were opportunities opened and its like poverty escapes when you hold a degree from the university.
When the KCE results were out already I got the calling letter to join Form 5 and 6, the advanced level for entry to university during the time.
The school fee was shs 3000 per term, making a total of shs 9000 per year. This was inclusive full boarding fees. My mother was sick and tired for the last four years hard labour so there was no otherwise but to return home for lack of fees.
It was like the world had come to an end for me. Back home I had to go back to the farm where I bought my first goat from the sale of cassava. I took up an untrained teacher teaching job as the family was looking on me and already I had a brother in standard 8 and a sister in standard 6.
From the untrained teacher job I managed to increase the number of goats and the farming activities. This made me manage to pay the costs of secondary education for my brother and sister. After they had completed Form 4, I sold the last stock of my goats and went to a teacher training college. The urge to cross the university gate came back strongly. After the training I started working again as a teacher and sent my brother to a teacher training college and my sister to do a diploma in ICT.
I joined Kenyatta University and became a Diploma in School Management.
People close to me say, you are a hardworking man who wants to do his work the best. After 3 years from college I was promoted to a senior teacher, after 3 years a deputy and 3 years a headmaster. I was a headmaster for 5 years before joining the VDT as an education advisor and now the coordinator Tenda Pamoja Foundation Kenya.
During all this time my father, who died in 2004, was alive but he was a polygamist. He paid fees for me but my mother was the main actor in this film.
With my first daughter now in Form 2 and the others in primary, also taking care of my mother has exhausted my resources. I would wish to do a degree in Human Resource Management. It’s a three year degree which I can do during the school holidays of April/August/December. Whoever sponsors me to fulfill my drea, I promise him / her . . . a goat.
With kindly regards,
Francis Nzai
Proposal on local economy (by Francis Nzai)
Background Information.
The United Nations through the World Food Programme have raised an alarm on the shortage of food in the World in the near future. Already we are experiencing increase of food prices in the world.
Kenya also as country is faced by food shortage. The un willingness of countries to sell maize/wheat and rice is raising more fear.
Tenda Pamoja Foundation Kenya which has 56 Primary Schools in Msambweni, Kwale and Kinango Districts are not spared in this food shortage problem within the school community it serves.
The Organization focus on Improvement of Education, Healthy and Safety and Local Economy may be derailed by the shortage of food and poor economy.
In such a scenario the Millennium Development Goals are far away from reality.
Tenda Pamoja has a good focus on the encouragement of schools to concentrate on the tree and vegetable projects.
These projects have still no big impact in the local community because they view them as only for the school infrastructure.
A small research done shows that the land in clusters 6,5,3 and 4 most vegetables, and maize grow better also fruit crops and receives more rain than the other parts.
Wonderful you will find that during the planting season most land is not cultivated or planted with crops which can provide a source of food for the family and possible sell the surplus to the market.
Possible reason can be lack of small scale farmer’s co operatives which can assist the small scale farmers with seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and marketing to this category of farmers. Most farmers in this group us the ox plough for cultivation but not all of them have. Hiring ox plough is shs.1500 for an acre.
The school has remained the central point as it captures the people in the community through their children.
If the school sponsors or any donor can start by providing local vegetable or maize seeds to the schools to prepare big nursery beds and when ready the children from the group which prepared the nursery and took care of will be given 10 seedlings even the casuarinas seedlings to carry home to plant and take care of them. If each home can have 10 tomato 10 sukuma wiki. (Kales), 10 egg plants 20 onion plants and 1 acre of maize and cassava. This can provide a source of food for a five member’s family for 6months.
Second alternative is for school community to make groups of 5s and make a farming proposal with all the requirements for sponsors to cheap in with small subsides as incentives for food production. Cost of seeds is high.
In future the sponsors may do more to active community schools and take them as role model schools for other schools to visit and see these projects as a challenge.
Schools the semi arid clusters 1 and 2 can be encouraged to have a goat keeping project.
Francis.
