Needy candidates, shine in KCPE

By Tebby Otieno

tebbyotieno62@gmail.com

Kinyanjui Road Primary School teachers and parents, in Dagoretti south, Nairobi county on November 24th , 2017 lift up, Osuri Joan Akinyi, who scored 416 marks in the 2017, KCPE examinations

Osuri Joan Akinyi, who scored 416 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, KCPE hopes to join Starehe girls, in 2018 as she will be proceeding with her secondary education. She emerged top in her class of over three hundred candidates. Akinyi wishes to be a pilot or an aeronautical engineer.
Mageni Ashley Alivitsa became second best after scoring 407 marks. Juma David Praise became third best after getting 406. He says he is proud of making his parents proud too. Praise would love to join Mang`u high school. He wants to be an aeronautic engineer.
Muthoni Fidelis Wangari got 401 marks and became position four in her school.

Hamisi Brian Oyondi closed top five in his school after scoring 400 marks. He has right hand injury that he got in 2014, during games time. This made it hard to prepare for his examinations, he however, feels glad and excited about his marks. Oyondi wants to be a neurosurgeon

Kinyanjui road primary school head teacher Christopher Muguti says 2017;

KCPE candidates boosted the school mean score to 277 from 273 recorded in 2016 KCPE results. This he says was contributed to by team work from parents, candidates and teachers.

Mr. Muguti however, says that despite the fact that most of his children come from humble families, he believes their lifestyles will change with time, `I am so proud because majority of my parents come from very needy background. Like my top candidate who has been with us since class one has 416, the mother sells sukuma wiki (kales) outside the school gate, the other candidate with 406, the mother sells chips again outside the school gate. I am happy with the parents I`m dealing with and I know now we`re raising the community and soon this community is going to change` says Mr. Muguti
Muguti had kind words for the team that contributed to an increase in the school mean score. Kinyanjui road primary school had 318 candidates, who were divided into 70 per class.

YOUNG KENYA'S 2017 TOP THREE SPELLERS

By Tebby Otieno; tebbyotieno62@gmail.com

Victor Ng’uono, an astute pupil at MM Shah Academy in Kisumu County scooped the most coveted trophy during the recently concluded Kenya National Spelling Bee Championships held at Nyali Beach International Hotel and Spa in Mombasa on 24th July 2017. Victor Brian Maina of Nyeri Primary School and Christina Njeri of Tender Care Nairobi emerged first and second runners up respectively. The Kenya National Spelling Bee (KNSB) is an English spelling competition, which is an adaptation of the Scripts National Spelling Bee which is an annual spelling competition held in the US and in Canada mainly to promote English literacy. The KNSB was started in a quest to improve literacy in the English language as well as improve the reading culture among primary school pupils in Kenya.

In the stiffly contested battle of wits and words, the three students tied before judges tightened the rope by injecting new technical words into the contest. These included: DIPHTHONG, FELINE, ENCUMBRANCE, OBSCURANTISM, SCHIZOPHRENIA, ASCERTAIN and MENINGITIS. However, still Victor Ng’uono sailed through making him the overall champion having been the only one who got right the spelling of the word SCHIZOPHRENIA. The three contestants all got the spelling of the word ASCERTAIN correctly. But when it came to spelling the word MENINGITIS, Christina Njeri was unable thereby breaking the tie to get the first and second runners up.
The trio bagged home fat education scholarships.Victor Ng’uono, the one who took the cake, went home smiling with a colossal amount of Ksh. 500,000 thanks to his razor-sharp intelligence. The first and second runners up were also awarded Ksh. 300,000 and Ksh. 100,000 respectively. The teachers for the three also received cheques worth Ksh 50,000, 30,000 and 20,000 respectively. This was in a bid to motivate them for their relentless efforts and knack for details matter of factly spelling of words.

In an exclusive interview with Mtaani Radio during an educational programme, The Kenya National Spelling Bee, Chief Judge – Mr. Jeremiah Makau said the participants in the spelling bee championship were each given four books namely The Winner, Let Her Be, The Village Fool and Miss Uhuru three months prior to the competition. Mr. Makau showed confidence that the three spelling giants will enable Kenya emerge the top in the African championships slated to take place September 2017 in the coastal city – Mombasa when they will battle it out with other budding grammarians from 18 countries dotting the vast African landscape

"Actually, we expect them to do far much better this year than last year because, last year we had taken the three students who represented us in the African Spelling Bee Championships, we took them from only Nairobi County. This time round because we have taken the finest from all the 47 counties, we expect that we have got a better lot. So we are expecting that they are going to perform far much better. Now that we are going to be at home, where our national competition took place, our students are already familiar with the venue and will sure enough have an upper hand over the other contestants." Mr. Makau expressed his expectations.
Proponents of grammar and its correct usage adduce that frequent use of dictionaries by learners who are not native speakers aid in the correct spelling and retention of words. Speaking during the launch of the third edition of the Oxford Primary Dictionary for East Africa (OPDEA) on 18th May, 2017, Oxford University Press East Africa, General Manager Mr. John Mwazemba termed the launch as a milestone in learning and teaching English in primary schools in Kenya and beyond. Mr. Mwazemba added that the third edition of the OPDEA has been well researched in relation to the advancing technology.

`Oxford Dictionaries is home to the world-famous Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the definitive guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of more than 280,000 entries – past and present – from across the English-speaking world. The third edition of the OPDEA not only has additional vocabulary, but also has 600 illustrations which reflect the people, environment and the culture of Eastern Africa. We believe that the addition of this feature will go a long way in aiding students’ comprehension and retention of words. This dictionary has been made child-friendly, with shorter entries, written in simpler language and larger text size, making it the ideal dictionary for all Primary Students in East Africa.’ Said Mwazemba.
Speaking during the launch of the National Spelling Bee Championships in Mombasa, Principal Secretary for Education, Dr. Belio Kipsang’ said that people who are exposed to books and a lot of vocabulary are often good spellers unlike those who depend on spell checker, a handy tool for general use
‘Our research has shown people who are exposed to books and a lot of vocabulary are often good spellers, those very high-achieving spellers have heightened sensitivity to those letter patterns. They can proofread and edit by identifying quite easily what parts of words might be correct or incorrect. However, we have noted with growing concern that with the advancement of technology, people have resorted to the use of spellcheckers to autocorrect their spelling mistakes. This includes the use of spell checkers in communication gadgets such as Mobile Phones, Computers, Tablets and Laptops. Although a spell checker is a handy tool for general use, it will never fully take the place of educating yourself properly and polishing your vocabulary, grammar and writing skills,’ noted Kipsang’.

The 2017 edition organized by the Kenya National Spelling Bee (KNSB) targeted 50 schools in each of the 47 counties. KNSB Programme Manager, Mr. Eric Mosoti said the competition was set to involve four rounds and the pupil who will emerge top in the national category,

'Children who are good spellers are often avid readers; they can unpack words and understand all the meaningful parts of words and how they go together. Our key objective is to build a greater appreciation for the importance of spelling in the development of English language literacy among young learners in school` explained Mr. Mosoti.

The African Spelling Bee was founded in 2016 by 10 Spelling Bee organizations from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe and they had the very first African Spelling Bee in the same year in Johannesburg, South Africa, bringing together 27 National Champions from each of the countries to participate.

A KENYAN WIDOW WHO GOT SPINE INJURIES IN SAUDI ARABIA AS A HOUSE HELP, WORLD HEALTH DAY 2017

Meet Lydia Wangare, a widow who worked at Saudi Arabia for nine months. During her normal duties as a house help, one winter season in 2016, she accidentally slid in the cold snow. The accident led to injuries in parts of her fingers, knees and back. When she was taken to a hospital, she was only given pain killers to ease the pain
“I slid, I did not know about winter and the snow outside, there was water shortage, the lady boss then asked me to go outside and turn on the main water tap. I had slippers, immediately I opened the door and stepped out; I slid and rolled down the stairs. I got injuries at the fingers, back and hands. I went back to the house, wet allover, showed the lady boss…… she did not even tell me sorry, she only said it is alright” narrates Lydia
Almost a year since the accident, Wangare has never visited any hospital for medical checkup, this is despite the fact that she quit her job as a house help in Saudi Arabia and came back to her home country, Kenya. She says, she has no source of income and so she fears going to hospital because she believes she will be asked for money
“I still use pain killers because it’s what I can afford.” Laments Lydia. “Sometimes my knees swell so bad that I have to walk by supporting myself. The society expects a woman to be very strong so I have to persevere. If only I could get money to go for a proper diagnosis know what exactly is wrong with me before it’s too late, nothing would make me happier but for now there is nothing much I can do for myself. I am not only jobless but even if I got a job now, I cannot do it because of my back and if I can’t work what kind of person am I? If walking in itself is very difficult for me imagine the trouble I go through to use a pit latrine at home.” says Wangare

Hellen Malube, Nuga Best Health Company Manager in Riruta, Dagoretti says that spine injuries interferes with the central nervous systems` normal communication in the body and is restored during the alternative treatment known as a thermo massage offered at the facility.
“When we talk about the spine, we are talking about the whole body. If the spine is injured, then the entire body cannot function. Therapy helps to balance the spine which makes sure that every bone or every vertebral and every disc in the spine is at its position well-arranged so that there will be no problem when movement or work is needed to be done in the body. Says Malube

Malube further says that if spine injuries are not treated other diseases and problems like diabetes, ulcers, nervous breakdown, lame and backaches, vision and hearing degeneration and high blood pressure among others can also be caused by spine injuries. However, Lydia Wangare may have more than just spine injuries considering the regular episodes of depression following the hectic nonpaying job she did in Saudi Arabia and also the difficult life she lives in Kenya with her two children.
`Sometimes I feel like committing suicide. I don’t even have a house; I am only given beddings for me and one of my children. The other stays with my other sister because I cannot feed them” Says Wangare.
Could Lydia’s depression be as a result of her spine injury? Malube explains that if the backache is as a result of a spinal injury, it might lead to other organs in her body failing to function normally resulting to the victim developing numerous other complications including stress, high blood pressure, stroke or depression/despair due to unwanted thoughts.

Lucy Nyokabi, a nurse at Kivuli dispensary in Riruta says depression is a mood disorder that is common and also very serious but can be controlled by sharing problems and talking to other people
“There are those risk factors, like losing someone they love; losing a job etc. can lead to depression. Women are able to share their problems, talk about it and that is why they are able to deal with depression unlike men. Exercising and sharing issues with other people as well as accepting that someone is depressed are some of the first steps towards getting help. We can support people ailing from depression by accepting, loving them and helping them to engage in activities that can help them recover from depression.” concludes Nyokabi
According to the latest estimates from world health organization, WHO more than 300 million people in the world are currently living with depression. This is an increase of more than 18 percent between 2005 and 2015.World Health Day is celebrated annually on 7thApril. The theme for 2017 was ‘Depression, let`s talk.

By Tebby Otieno
Tebbyotieno62@gmail.com

THE ONLY MUSLIM LADY CURRENTLY BEHIND THE WHEELS OF UBER

She is 34 years old, married and a mother of four children; three girls and a boy. Faridah Salim Khamis who was brought up in Kambi Muru in Nairobi says that she is a hard working mother who was taught very early in life to be independent. Her life has never been easy since her childhood a fact that she says has made to her be the strong woman she is today.
“I have come a long way. I first started selling mitumba (second hand clothes) in Gikomba market. When things didn’t go as I wanted, I decided to venture into communication when mobile phones were first came into the market. Back then, ‘Simu ya jamii’ (community pay phone) was the only way most people could access and use mobile phones. The Motorolla T28 was the popular phone back then but it was very expensive unlike nowadays where you can get a phone for a thousand shillings. To have an edge over other businesses I also used to sell homemade snacks popularly known back then as sinachuki; peanuts cooked or mixed with hot sugar syrup” recalls Faridah.

As the size of Faridahs family grew, her expenditure grew as well so she decided to put her passion and nine years driving experience into a more lucrative venture – taxis. Since she had heard that the popular taxi service, Uber had become popular in the country, she decided to venture into the field in February 2017. Even though there are other female drivers in the Uber taxis, Faridah Salim Khamis is proud to be the only Muslim lady driver. She says she would love to drive a high profile customer who can appreciate what women do to put something on the table.

“I don’t feel different because I am a Muslim lady driver. I believe what a man do, a woman can do better. My dream is to carry H.E. the First Lady Margret Kenyatta in my taxi. I want to driver her around and even bring her here in Kibera”. She says while smiling

As with every business taxis driving has its best and worst moments. For Faridah Salim Khamis, her best moments are when she has guaranteed clients that she has to pick and drop on a regular basis. However, her worst moments are when she has to deal with stressful clients. “I have to work hard to earn my commissions just like everyone else. No employer wants a lazy person”. Explains Faridah.

Faridah thinks that Taxi drivers in Kenya are not as well paid as compared to those in the western countries. “I`d love to work for the United Nations, at least they pay reasonably” she says smilingly
The fact that Faridah Salim Khamis had difficulties during her childhood but she still made it, her mother remains her hero. She is inspired by the Muslim ladies who are out there making a difference and clearing the world`s doubts
“I always feel inspired seeing a hijabi on the top list of being successful. I salute Ilhan Omar, who contested and won the Minnesota house representative sit, she`s the first American Somalia law maker. Naru Asia, the first hijabi cover girl Ambassador. Ginnela Masssa, also the first hijabi newscaster in Canada. I`m proud of them and myself, Muslims are not selfish or lazy, they can change the world too!” She tells me

Despite not driving her own car, Faridah Salim Khamis still believes that as long as she continues working, she will one day own her own fleet of cars. She remains focused and calls for change where every woman takes up the challenge in the society to start doing something rather than depending on men.

“If you have this potential of driving, come to this taxi industry it doesn’t choose a woman or a man, a Muslim or a Christian. Actually in this world of today, you cannot depend on your man alone, it`s better you wake up and get out. It is not all about going to an office in a huge building, my car is my office as I use my passion to earn a living” she adds

As we celebrate 2017 International Women`s Day, Faridah Salim Khamis says she is bold enough to bring change in women`s lives
“Of course I too I’m bold enough to bring change. Women have to wear so many hats and endure a lot of social and economic pressures, but if as a woman you have the passion for something you can do like me, get up and do it, it`s not all about driving, do something for yourself, start a small business. Do whatever you can” She concludes.

Faridah Salim Khamis also boasts as the first lady to open a cultural boutique in Kibra. She is a good caterer. No road is impassable for Faridah.