Good Profiles feature members of our Good Generation who are either out there in the field doing interesting work or still in the trenches of schools and institutions waiting to make their mark on the world. Have your own story to tell? Know someone who would be great to be profiled? Please sign-up or leave a note here!
***
What do you do for a living nowadays?
I would describe myself as an evangelist for my innovation of village noticeboards as an alternative/addition to the internet (*Editor’s Note: Official website still under construction) for rural communities in the developing world. I have run a mini supermarket and am currently a small scale farmer.
Is “doing good” a key reason why you chose this job?
I developed the leo pamoja (“together today”) communicating villages because of the frustration of knowing that there was valuable knowledge in the air that the community in my village could not access. Doing good to me is providing a place for people who have been unable to access knowledge and connect with each to finally be able to do that. Access to information is life-transforming in a rural village. Hence, with my innovation I hope to bring change in the community and that’s exciting.
What do you love most about your job?
My best experience was teaching a sixth grade class in the interior of western Kenya. They had never seen a laptop and they were spellbound by my story on the potential of the internet.
I love being able to share the internet with the common man in the village and showing them (using a phone) how relevant it is to them.
What would you wish were different about your job?
I would wish to have more people of a similar mind to me in Kenya where I am. It’s quite a challenge being a pioneer.
What were some of the most important experiences that you’ve had that led you to where you are today?
I lost a business then started a farm in a bushy and swampy place. It was traumatizing losing a business I had started and run for two years. Then I had to physically clear bush land and create a vegetable farm. I realized that you can fail in one thing but succeed in another. I realized I was way tougher than I thought.
How did you get this job?
I was a small scale farmer with an idea that I shared on the internet and the idea took a life of its own. My biggest break was sharing my story on the B.B.C World Service Website and having it relayed to the world. I was also recently fortunate to share this story on GroAction.com.
I refused to get a normal job to follow an impossible dream. I moved to the countryside after being born and bred in the city.
This has given me a unique knowledge of city and country life with regard to internet access.
If you had to make trade-offs, do you think they were justified or should it be different for others in the same situation going forward?
It was a valuable experience to see both sides of Africa and understand them. People who work for communities should live with them for a while.
If you had to do it all over again, knowing what you know today, what past choices would you have made differently with regards to your career?
I do not think I would change anything because my past experiences are what have made me what I am now. I am at a good place and going to a better place most definitely.
If you did not have this job and time/money were not a constraint, what would you ideally like to do?
I would do this same job and also go to school to learn how to do it better.
Finally, what advice would you have for others in the Good Generation who are interested in your job or career path?
People should have a passion for the job. Without passion, you cannot face the challenges.
***
*Have your own story to tell? Know someone who would be great to be profiled? Please sign-up or leave a note here!
