Grad School and Xerox Machines

I’m back in the hotel in Mombasa, having come here to greet seven more arriving interns. While here, I am meeting Michael Nyanje, the Chairman of our Board. He is currently getting his Masters Degree in Mombasa, thanks to a generous sponsorship provided by a woman in Arizona, Jeana Peterson. It’s not easy to find someone that will sponsor a grad student, especially one that is in his 40’s, but Jeana felt that helping Michael get his Masters in Community Development would be a great boon to our program, not to mention fulfill a dream for this good man.The life of any student in Kenya is not easy, but as Michael describes his typical week, I am amazed at what obstacles he is up against.  He and his family, his wife and three children, are living in Mombasa so he can attend the Mombasa “extension” of the University of Nairobi. He is a devoted family man and has all the obligations that entails, including working a full time job. He works 8 hours a day at the UNDP, the UN agency for peace keeping. Here he trains people in human rights issues, knowing what their rights are, and how to advocate for themselves. He attends his graduate courses on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, a total of 17 hours a week. On top of this, he studies and prepares for class 2 hours a day. In October he will begin his research project, which will probably be in microfinance.  Michael is grateful beyond words for the opportunity to further his education.To hear of someone living such a demanding life is not unusual in Kenya. If you want to go somewhere, life is hard, really hard. It takes unbelievable determination and stamina. But what struck me about Michael’s story is when he told me that for the 45 grad students in his class, there are only 2 textbooks per course. He spends a great deal of his time and money xeroxing chapter after chapter, in order to be able to study the material. “What?” I asked incredulously. “How do you even coordinate that among 45 students?” He explained it. I never cease to be amazed at how cooperative these people are, how they just dig in and manage. They never waste time complaining, they just see the problem and try to figure a way around it. He shows me some of his copied chapters, chapters and chapters, neatly bound in plastic. Chapters from texts of Fundamentals of Management, Project Planning, Statistical Methods.My daughter is in grad school. She would never think of sharing a textbook with even one other student. She has a laptop and instant access to unlimited information. I picture Michael, his warm smile, his joy at being able to learn, and I think about his bright mind, spending so much time figuring out how to get hold of the books he will copy and copy and copy.