The crucial role of alumni an why you should get involved

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, I joined a group of about 30 former students of Rongai Boys High School, formerly Rongai Agri-Tech Boys High School, in Nakuru County, for a motivational talk with the students.

Established by the Lasallian Brothers, under the headship of Bro Stephen Creagh (1935-2018), in 1973, the school boasts among its notable alumni Rev Prof Stephen Mbugua, vice-chancellor, of Catholic University of Eastern Africa, and Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni. It's where I ate githeri for lunch six days a week for four years. And it is where, alongside others, I looked after chicken, cows, pigs, rabbits, turkey, goats, sheep and fish.

So much has changed over the years, though. The school’s former glory, earned mostly from its stellar performance in national examinations, is fast fading. And the increasingly small animal population at the institution suggests steady divestment from a key plank of the school’s foundational raison d'etre.

Critics of successive administrations at the institution since charge that principals have “grown venal” and countenanced the enrolment of students, more for the school’s financial health than for academic excellence and reputational glory. It is said and believed that the founders’ goad was for needy but bright kids from around Rongai and the country to have a chance at an education. Initially, up to 30 per cent of enrolment slots were ring-fenced for lads from within a 15-kilometre radius of the institution. 

It’s this administrative and reputational backwash that the school's alumni have come together to partly address. And it’s notably interesting that one of the school’s old boys playing a part in this, Bro Francis Njoroge, is a former principal here. With the Catholic Church having significantly reduced funding the day-to-day running of the school, the old boys are pooling resources towards, among other things, the construction of new dormitories and CBC classrooms.

Building materials, sourced and fully paid for by the alumni, have been delivered to the school, and the recent visit by the old boys above marked the commencement of construction. The alumni association is also in the process of establishing a new journal, Grizzles, with a view to chronicling the events, highlights and challenges.

This is, originally, my idea, borrowed from my friend, the writer William Ruthi, who, besides telling the stories and chronicling the histories of the schools in and around Nyeri County, including his alma mater, Othaya Boys High School, has lately teamed up John Kiriamiti to inspire and promote literacy among the youth in the larger central Kenya.

Bill (William Ruthi) and I have separately been involved in the sourcing of books, newspapers, magazines and other reading materials for libraries in my native Samia, Busia County. The whole point of getting involved in our former schools’ affairs is to shed light on the current generation of students a practical appreciation for the power of education to transform people and society, and to compel belief on the part of the younger generations in the myriad possibilities that the acquisition of education opens up.

Ours is essentially a repeat of what the alumni of schools such as Starehe Boys, Alliance High School, Mang’u High School, Maseno School and many others around the country have been doing. Some former students even seek to serve as administrative and advisory board members in a bid to help guide their former schools. Others, like Bro Njoroge of my former school above, even return to serve as administrators.

What happens when former students don’t get involved in their former schools? Schools that formerly moulded and churned out some of the country’s and the world’s most brilliant minds don’t get enough help when things go south. No one better appreciates how high the stakes are than those affected.

Take the example of a country at war. Help from outside only begins to raise hope for peace. Until and only when its people are actively involved, though, does the aspiration of peace begin to yield corresponding reality. This being an election year, this vital lesson from the 2007/08 post-election mayhem experience-and the peace experiment that followed-ought to be the muse for our collective operational mind. 

A school is like a country; both mould and send out to the world men and/or women who regularly draw from their respective schooling and enculturation experiences to impactfully serve humanity. It’s partly the reason why peace building and foresight in war-torn countries involve investment in education.

Schools — and especially the acquisition of a good education — play a seminal role in the growth, prosperity, peacefulness and the future prospects of a country. It’s where the disparate peoples of one country first get to interact and understand one another. It’s where talent is nurtured and futures crafted. It’s also where “formative ruination” happens and futures are mortgaged.

Mr Baraza is a votary of global peace, historian, writer, thinker and founder Public Affairs Volunteers for Global Peace and Climate Justice (PAVGPCJ). [email protected]