3

Education and the State of Emergency

ave you ever woken up and the day looks ordinaryand t|¡.n
the most extraordinary thing happens that changes your
l¡.
lurt,vcr? Such was the day when I discovered that mymother,
¡1ry
lrlothcr Nderitu, and one of my distant cousins, named Wang¿i
Wrluguku, were meeting and deeply engrossed in a conversatiqn
.rlrout me. My mother noticed me eavesdropping and, to my disap-
¡ointrnent, quickly sent me to fetch water. I really wantedtohsr.
wlr;rt they were saying, but I knew I had to do as I was told. sorprac_
t tlrrl ly flew down the hill with the
cooking pot high in the air, ¿n¿
rlr('(.(l back as fast as I could, trying not to spill too muchwater
6n
tlrr. wny back.
Itlcathing hard from a mixture of exertion and excitement, I res¡-
t'rt'tl the house and learned that, despite my speed, the conversati¡¡¡
rr¡rs oVer and they had already made their decision: Iwould joi¡
trrv t ousirl Wangari at St. Cecilia,s Intermediate primary School, a
lr',r(lir¡l school at the Mathari catholic Mission on the slopes
61
l''lv.ri hill. The school was run by the consolata Missionary sisters
Itotr¡ l¡¿lr.
"Wow!" I thought. ,,They,ve aheady decided? It did not take
r¡.
l/r,ir l.^g to fetch the water!" It is impossible to describetheemo-
ttrrrs I felt at that moment: hrppy because I would be joiningst.
t rl I i;r's, secure because I would be with Wangari, sad as an eleve¡_
r

r¡',rr r¡ltl that I would be separated from my mother for theve¡yfirst

I r r rr'. I would also be leaving
I behind the landscapes that I woke ¡p
I,. 1¡¡¡¡ animals, our gardens and food crops, friends andrelatives,
,rrr,l tlrt: small stream I visited each dav.

53
 Ltnbowed
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OI EMERGENCY
and frothed as
the right rrg on a footbridge for the ffrst time' The river roared
Despite all those emotions, I knew my family had made the
and rt tumbled headlong downstream' Dense vegetation overhung
decision for me. st. cecilia's ha<l a reputation for good teaching the river was
no distrac- rivcr and the air was thick ancl damp. Beneath me,
discipline. As a boarding school, it was thought to offer {a11 in if I looked down
Irl:rck but foaming, and I was worried I would
tions or disruptions to studies. I later learned that my {amily
had
,urtl saw the mesmerizing currents below me' So' as
I'd been told
one concern about St. Cecilia's: that I might convert
to Catholicism
across' After
lo cio, I focused my eyes on the other side and walked
and that the Catholic sisters would woo me to become one of them' we reached the top
commu- t lirnbing the steep slope to the Mathari Mission'
A nun's way o{ life was completely unknown to the Kíkuyu hospital'
,rl the valley, and l could see the expanse of the school and
nity, which expected girls to marry and have children' Becoming
a
roofs' and a
hrrilt in an Italian style: beige stone buildings, red-tile
nun was considered a maior loss to the community' see' through
my ( lock tower, all set in a valley' As far as the eye could
During the next several weeks, not a day passed without owned the land'
tlrc valley and into the hills, the Catholic Church
thinking of the major journey I would soon be making' My mother
Once we arrived, Wangari and I were separated' While
Wangari
belongings'
bought me a small wooden box in which to pack my few dormitory where frrst-
practically ¡oine<1 the girls in her class,
I was directed to a
Once my parents had paid the school fees, I would get
yc¿rr students slept' It was quite an experience to be
in a dormitory
utensils/
everything I needed at school-beclding, a uniform, books' be{ore' The t'led was
with about thirty other girls I had never met
soap, ancl food.In preparation for my iourney, my mother cut my
bought t.ol¡fortable-it had one set of sheets and a pillow and mattress
hair very short to make it easy for me to manage' She also I turned over'
purchased r,(u{fed with grass, which I could smell' Every time
me a new dress. My brother got me another' He had my standards' it
rlrat grass made a crunching noise' Nevertheless, [.'y
green-gray material to have a pair o{ trousels made for hirnsel{'
and
w,rs a bed fit {or a queen. At becltime, a nun
came into the dormi-
had deliberately bought extra so a dress could be made
for me from
her
since it l,ry, her habit as white as snow and a long black rosary around
the same material. I liked the material and style of the dress,
She led us in
w:rist. It was my first encounter with a Catholic nun'
did not wrinkle and was easy to wear' Such a thought{ul Sesture us good night'
;rrr English prayet, turned off the lights, and wished
{rom my brother endeared him to me' It is nice for me to think
that
than Wc were all tired and went straight to sleep'
my brother and I were cut from the same cloth in more ways
onc. He was always there for me and all other members of the

family. a routine
I l'hc following morning I woke up to what would become
There is one thing I did not have to pack-a pair of shoes' since morning, one of
pair four years later lor the rest of my time at st. cecilia's. At dawn each
hacl none, until a local shoemaker made my first would spring out of
I carried rlrc sisters would ring a bell to wake us up. We
when I went to high school. On the day of my departure' prayers' Then we
lrt't[, get down on our knees, and say our morning
my belongings on my back, much the same way I learned to
carry
wotrld all rush out to wash our faces and rush back
to tidy our
firewoocl. The load was suspended from a string around
my head'
l,t'rls, and then get dressed' By the time we left for
church every-
My family accorlpanied me up the hill to where I met my cousin' We had
journey rlrirrg in the dormitories would be very neat and orderly'
There I bid them farewell and set o{i to a new life' The was a breakfast
.rrr lrour-lon¡1 Mass every day, aftet which there
would take the whole daY'
We walked past the Tetu Mission, crossed the Chania
River' walk- ,l maize flour porridge. A{ter break{ast we had what was called a

55
54
 l.lnbowed
cleaning session. Everybody had something to do to keep the school
compound spotless: cutting the grass, keeping the path clear, scrub-
bing the bathrooms, or tidying the dormitories. Finally, we would go
to the classrooms to stutly. At mid-morning we broke for play and
relaxation.
We had lunch at miclday and then continued studies during the
afternoon, until five o'clock, when we ate the evening meal. The
food never changed: corn and beans at lunch, at dinner ugah arrd
vegetables, such as cabbages, spinach, pumpkins, ancl onions. Meat
was rarely served. This was fine for us, since our traditional diet
contained very little meat anyway. We had no snacks, so when we
got to the dining room we were hungry and ate whatever was placed
before us, even though weevils regularly attacked the maize and
beans. Despite the fact that we could see the weevils, we learned to
navigate around them as we ate. After dinner, we went back to the
classrooms and often did our homework under the supervision of
one of the nuns. At ten o'clock it was time to go to bed.
Sports were an important part of our routine. During recess and
breaks we would play a variety o{ games, all foreign sports. I enjoyed
playing netball and tenniquoits, in which two players toss a ring
across a net, and at which I became a champion. During those days,
even for those of us who had thern, we did not weár shoes except on
special occasions, so at night it was very important to wash our feet.
To keep them clean once we had washed, my friends and I would
take turns carrying each other to bed, chatting and laughing as we
did. The last to carry would always have shoes to wear to keep her
feet clean. Once we were all in bed, the last thing we did was pray.
I really enioyed learning and had a knack for being an attentive
listener and very {ocused in the classroom, while being exttemely
playful outside of it. When you {ocus and do well, school becomes
a pleasant experience. You do not hate it and long to drop out. At
St. Cecilia's I was never bored since I was kept very busy. Never was
there a time when I had nothing to do but iust lie in the sun and
enjoy its warmth. I should have found some time because it is good,
56
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
and gaze at the
¡r;rrticularly for a young person, to enjoy the sun
, louds as they move and change shape'
Although the school had electricity and running water, condi-
lions were still spartan. Unlike the mud house where my iamily
livcd, which trapped heat, the stone walls at St' Cecilia's let in the
..01d and the dormitories had no heat or hot water. During the cool
sc¿rsonsthis was not very pleasant, but it did mean that if you were
rrot awake when you got up you certainly wele a{ter you washed
your face in the ice-cold water!
Paying for St. Cecilia's was a burden {or my {amily, and my
jobs to
hrother Nderitu, then at Kagumo High School, would do odd
(:¿lrn some cash to contribute to my school fees and pocket money'
lIc had a small stove in his room on which he would l¡Oil water for
other students who would pay him a few coins' There was not much
to buy in Mathari so I often saved the pocket money to do some
shopping for my family on the way home during school holidays'
Nderitu's role in my education didn't stop there' He was always
vcry interested in how well I was doing in my studies and would reg-
r.rlarly visit St. Cecilia's, even in addition to the one day a month
,,Your brother was hefe," the sisters
when visitors were allowed.
would inform me. I accepted the rules for visitors, so did not make a
big fuss about the fact that he had not asked to see me. on one occa-
sion,I heard him and his friend speaking to the heaclmistress and
laughing, and I knew he must have come to check up on me' I did
not have the courage to ask to see him, but I always wished the sis-
tcrs had allowed us a short visit and fegretted that the nuns deprived
r-rs of contact with our family members, except for the
occasional
rruhorized visit.
lnitially when I arrived at st. cecilia's I was homesick. However,
there were many opportunities to nurture friendships, some of which
have lasted a lifetime. one day, during a Kiswahili class, the teacher
was explaining and translating English words into Kiswahili for us.
57
 Unbowed
He came across the word somo, which means "namesake." I imme-
diately turned to my friend Miriam Wanjiru, who was sitting l¡ehind
me, and said to her fondly "ny somo." This is because my baptis-
mal name is also Miriam. She replied somo, as well, and with that
we formed a lifelong bond: Two somos together. Even today, this is
the nickname we often use for each other.
One of the other reasons I was not homesick is that the nuns,
bless them, quickly became our surrogate mothers. I found them
nurturlng, encouraging, and compassionate. One nun, Sister Ger-
mana, came from Milan in northern Italy. She was tall, elegant, and
very loving, and her motivation and dedication intrigued me. "Why
would she come all the way to this place?" I would ask myself. It
fascinated me that despite their youth and beauty these women had
sacrificed having families and living in comfortal¡le surroundings
and instead had committed themselves to God and had come to
serve strangers in a remote part of the worlcl.
I spent four years at St. Cecilia's and grew very fond of many of
the sisters who helped shape my life there. One of the nuns, how-
ever/ was quite different. Most of the sisters were relatively slim and
tall, at least to me as a young girl, but this one was an exception a
strongly built nun who had come to Kenya from South Africa called
Sister Christiana. She was a disciplinarian but as she went around to
"put us straight," as she would say, she made us iaugh and, though
she thought she had us under her thurlb, for the most part we still
did what we wanted. The sisters were suspicious that girls were
writing to boys, something the nuns considered distracting and com-
pletely unacceptable. The school did not have the services of a post
office, so if you wrote or received a letter it had to go through a
nun-and that sister more often than not was Sister Christiana.
On one occasion, a girl wrote a letter to a friend in which she
included this piece of news: "FIere in St. Cecilia's we are fine, still
eating fire." Sister Christiana read the letter and was appalled and
angry. The girl had lled and scandalized the school. "Now look at
this girl!" she said. "No shame whatsoever: Telling lies that we are
58
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
It'ccling them with fire!" That evening in the dining hall, all of the
liirls had food on their plates, except the girl who had written the let-
tcr. On her plate, she {ound pieces o{ charcoal. After we had said
¡irrrce and sat down to eat, Sister Christiana explained that the girl
lr:rtl told a lie that the nuns were feeding us fire. ,,So that is ffre,,, she
t h undered at the girl. ',Eatl,,
Well, we could barely stifle our laughs-even the girl herself
Iound it funny. Quite obviously, Sister Christiana had missed a very
irnportant point: The girl in her letter had taken a Kikuyu saying (no
tttrarÍa mwaki) and given a literal translation into English. ,,We con-
t inlre to eat frre" is a Kikuyu colloquialism meaning ,,we,Íe having a
rircat time." But given that our English skills were still rudimentary,
tlrc girl had rendered this expression in English, where it had no
ohvious meaning. Sister Christiana had taken it literally. The letter-
writer got no food that evening and the rest of us could not wait to
¡ict outside where we burst into gales of laughter. I am quite sure
{ hat eating ffre was a main topic of conversation at the nuns, dinner
t;rhle that night, too.
Although this incident was funny at the time, you had to be care-
lrrl what you laughed about because you could be punished, and
rrowhere was this more prevalent than with the matter of speaking
,,r'not speaking English. By this time, English had become the o{fi-
t i;rl language of communication and instruction in Kenyan schools.
I h«rse of us who aspired to progress in our studies knew that learn-
rrrg English well was essential. Many schools emphasized that stu-
rlt'rrts must speak English at all times, even during the holidays.
A common practice to ensure that students kept pressure on one
.urother was to require those students who were found using a lan-
¡lrrrrge other than English to wear a button known as a ,,monitor.,, It
rv:rs sometimes inscribe<l with phrases in English such as ,,I am stu-
¡ritl, I was caught speaking my mother tongue.,, At the end of thc
,l,ry, whoever ended up with the button received a punishment, snch
.rs cutting grass/ sweeping, or doing work in the garden. But thc
rlrc¡ter punishment was the embarrassment you felt becausc yorr
59

tJnbowed
that this
had talked in your mother tongue'
In retrospect' I can see
our self-confidence'
introduced us to the world of undermining
to be caught with the moni-
Not surprisingly, none of us wanted
from the time we left church
tor and as a result we spoke English
prayers at night' This was
in the morning until we said our ffnal
remarkable given that everyone
in St' Cecilia's had spoken only
worked in promoting English:
Kikuyu until then. But the system
children from school in the village'
Even when we went home or met
use of the monitor continues even
we tended to speak English' The
today in Kenyan ,"f'oá' to ensure that students use only English'
Now,asthen,thiscontributestothetrivialtzatíor-ofanythingAfri-an
a deeper sense of self-doubt and
can and lays the foundation for
inferioritY comPlex'
Years later, when we became
part of the Kenyan elite' we,pre-
our children' and those
ferred to speak in English to one another'
helped us learn
in our social class' While the monitor approach
that our local languages were
English, it also instilled in us a sense
is that mother tongues are
inferior and insignificant' The reality
communication and carriers of
extremely important as vehicles of
When they are maligned'
culture, knowledge, wisdom, and history'
and educated people are encouraged
to look down on them' peo-
heritage' I am very glad I did
ple are robbed of a vital part o{ their
Kikuyu' because this helped
not lose my desire o' "bility to speak
between my párents and me' as it
has
ensure that a gap did not open
education became synonymous
for some of our children for whom
with Westernization'
were also shifting in other
As we became fluent in English' we
ways-movingfromalifeoftraditionaldancing,singing'andstory-of
and the occasional game
telling to one of books, study' prayers'
or playing' many of my
netball. When I wasn't in the classroom
friends and I were involved with a
Christian society known as the
us a sense of service and the impor-
Legion of Mary that instilled in
good' We visited the sick and
tance o{ volunteerism for the common
hospital' We washed
eased the work of nuns and other staff in the
6o
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OI EMERGENCY
prayer meetings'
md ironed the church linen and were involved in
other students with
We worked in the school garilens and helped
llomework. The idea was to serve God by serving
{ellow human
l.cings.
During my time at St. Cecilia's, and after many
lessons on Chris-
tianity, especially on the Reformation, I decided to
become a Catho-
was the original church
lic. We were taught that the Catholic Church
discussing this decision with
;rnd held God,s truth. I do ¡ot remember
rny {amily. I iust made it' On my next birthday'
I was born again' To
and foseph, I took a
show my admiration for the Holy Family, Mary
(in Anglophone regions no one
new Christian name: Mary )osephine
called me Mary }o
would name themselves after fesus)' My {riends
tlrrough high school and college'
Many years later St' Cecilia's was transformed
into a pastoral
remains rela-
training center, but otherwise the Mathari Mission
tively unchanged. The hospital is still a major
health center for the
,rrca and the buildings look much the same'
The Chania River is still
there, although when I used to cross it, it was
very wide and roaring'
'l'hese days, likc so many rivers, the Chania is very narrow and much
t¡uieter. De{orestation in the Aberdare range is taking a toll on rivers
;urd their tributaries downstream'
.lirward the end of my first yeat at st. cecilia's, in ]1952, the Mau
and lasted throughout
Mau rebellion against British rule broke out
rrruch o{ the r95os. Organized by members of
the Kikuyu' Meru' and
fueled most imme-
limbu communities, the Mau Mau struggle was
rliately by the sense of betrayal felt by soldiers
returning to Kenya
lrom the second world war. Not only did they
not receive any
rccognition or compensation for their service' but'
to add insult to
rniury, their British colleagues were being showered
with honors
{rom the Kenyan war vet-
,r.t1 even allocated land, some of it taken
,'rlns, who were {orcibly displaced'
'Ihe roots of the Mau Mau movement, hOwever, are found in atl
6t
 Ltnbowed EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY

older betrayal. In r 89o, Captain (later Lord) Frederick Lugard arranged
a meeting with Waiyaki wa Hinga, a Kikuyu leader, to establish sta-
tion posts for the Imperial British East A{rica Company on Kikuyu
land and enable goods to be brought to and from Uganda' At their
meeting, Lugard and waiyaki swore an oath to allow the station posts
tlrrccd indirect forced labor and increased taxes. Local men began to
,rrganize to ffght for better conditions, but after the British used vio-
It'nce to stop a peaceful protest rn r9zz, African associations and
¡rcriodicals were either banned in Kenya, or their activities were
rrrtailed.
r

on the condition that the British would not take Kikuyu land or Many of the organizers of the Mau Mau, also known as the Land
,rncl Freedom Army, were ex-soldiers who had fought for the British
other property. The agreement, however, did not last long, because
Lugard's porters started looting the nearby settlements and raping
in Somalia, Ceylon, and Burma during the Second World War.,Serv-
ing on the front lines to win a war for a colonial government raised
women. The Kikuyus fought back in a series of battles that culmi-
(hcir awareness about conditions in Kenya, while the insurgency
natecl in a standoff in rB9z, when Waiyaki was captured, taken away,
sl<ills they learned fighting on the side of the British in Burmese jun-
and eventually buried alive by the colonial administration'
glcs gave them the expertise to resist a military assault. When these
The Kikuyus were stunned by Waiyaki's humiliation and death'
cx-servicemen returned to Kenya in the mid-r94os, they and others
In Kikuyu culture, everybody had a right to shelter and space: People
hcgan organizing a coordinated resistance. In 1944, the Kenya Afri-
who had land were expected to share with people who did not, who
t:rrn lJnion (KAU) was {ormed to campaign for independence.In t946,
became like squatters, and were allowed to stay while they tried
to purchase their own land. It was pro{oundly shocking that the ftrrno Kenyatta, aheady a leader of the independence movement,
rcrturned from England to Kenya, and a year later he was elected to
British, when temporarily given such land under oath, would renege
lrcad the KAU.
on their word and seize the land. Even though the oath was oral and
not written, to the Kikuyus this was seen as a solemn pledge' But as In the early r95os, frustrated by the slow pace of change, a guer-
li lla war for independence was launched: the Mau Mau. While there
the Kikuyus would learn, the newcomers had no time for verbal
irrc many theories about the origin of the term "}y'rartMan)," the one
promises between themselves and the native population. Eventually
I find most interesting is this: In Kikuyu, when beginning a list, you
the strangers simply acquired and distributed land to themselves
s;ry, "maúndtt ni mau"-"The rnain issues are . . -t'-a¡¡d then hold
and others, who began arriving in Kenya in numbers' The appropria-
rr¡'r three ffngers to introcluce them. For the Mau Mau, the three
tion and redistribution of land became a featute of the British pres-
issues were land, freedom, and self-governance'
ence in Kenya.
In the early decades o{ the twentieth century, all the peoples of
Kenya resisted colonization, and many were killed in the process'
Eventually, they were all defeated, suppressed, and largely silenced' My famity felt some sense of relie{ that at St' Cecilia's I would
lrc: protected from the violence of the insurgency and the efforts to
In the decades after the First world war, tension increased among
suppress it. For the most pafi, I was insulated {rom the conflict,
settlers, the colonial government/ and the native population, espe-
cially Kikuyus who occupied some oi the highlands that the settlers rrlthough I could not be completely so. There were very {ew Kikuyu

had appropriated. Immediately after the First world war, the British
established an identification system, called kipande, that required
every male African in Kenya to caruy a pass. The government intro-
lrrrnilies whose lives the Mau Mau rebellion did not affect. I had
hccn sufffciently indoctrinated to believe that the Mau Maus were
thc tcrror group and that everyone else was tryíng to restore order'

63
6z
 ll nbowed
The British propaganda kept us naive about the political and eco-
nomic roots of the conflict and was designed to make us believe that
the Mau Maus wanted to return us to a prirnitive, backward, and
even satanic past.
One night we heard gunshots very close to our dormitories. The
sisters came in, woke us up, and told us that there were marauders
in the mission and that we should start saying the rosary. The extent
of the misinformation and brainwashing was such that we prayed
that the Mau Maus would be arrested. I did not understand that the
Mau Mau were our freedom fighters!
Through much of the r95os, it was not uncommon to encounter
British soldiers, Mau Mau fighters, or Home Guards in and around
Nyeri. The Home Guards were mainly drawn from Kikuyus who
collaborated with the British government. In addition to the fffty
thousand or so soldiers the British deployed in Kenya during the Mau
Mau insurgency, they also armed the Home Guards and gave them
considerable freedom to move around the countryside. They often
accompanied British soldiers-nicknamed johnnies-and sometimes
uniformed men {rom other communities who did not identify with
the aspirations of the Mau Mau movement, which they despised and
sought to crush. They did not believe that the British Empire could
be challenged.
As the Mau Mau period went on, more and more people were
mobilized and people were forced to choose to support the Mau
Maus or the British. All able-bodied men and boys, unless they were
very young, were required to be part of the Home Guards and were
expected to be at their posts by six o'clock at night. Gathering the
young men at the posts was also a way to prevent their being
abductecl by the Mau Maus. Both of my older brothers participated
in the night watch to protect Ihithe from Mau Mau attack and
worked closely with the local Home Guards during the holidays.
The violence came very close. Across the ridge from Ihithe, at Gat-
umbiro, the Mau Mau burned aHome Guards' depot to the ground,
killing more than twenty of them. It was one o{ the worst local mas-
64
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
s:rcres by the Mau Mau and left many widows in the community.
Such traumas have never been addressed. Indeed, there has almost
hcen a desire to deny these atrocities took place. There is still need
Ior healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness.
Young girls in particular were at risk of rape from Home Guards,
¡ohnnies, and policemen. Genuine Mau Maus did not harass or physi-
cirlly violate women. Instead/ they abducted them to serve as cooks,
lx)rters, or spies. The Home Guards had a reputation for extreme
t;rr.relty and all manner of terror and intimidation. Initially, Mau Mau
soldiers were respectful of women and did not abuse them sexually.
l.,ater on, however, when the war deteriorated into internal strife
l)ctween the Home Guards and Mau Maus, and the barriers became
hlurred, the Mau Maus started using tactics that could punish even
I hc innocent.
During the holidays, the protection available ln boarding schools
tlisappeared, so it was common for girls to sleep together in one
lrouse rather than being spread throughout the village. This way, if
lhc Mau Maus, Flome Guards, or soldiers came, the girls could be
rrrore easily hidden or evacuated altogether.
One night, when I was staying at my cousin Wangari's house in
lhithe with two other girls and a small baby, Wangari's mother heard
thc noise of a raid. We were quickly taken to hide in a nearby wood-
Iot of black wattle trees. The woodlot was thick and dark and full,
rrncl that night I remember the moon was very bright. We put the
lr:rby on the ground between us to continue sleeping and then the
thrce of us kneeled and began to recite the rosary. "Hail Mary, full of
¡',tirce," we prayed, hoping she would protect us. Then, suddenly, in
lrrrnt of our eyes, perhaps twenty feet away, a leopar«l passed in the
rrroonlight. We prayed harder: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray fot
¡rs sinners now . . ." "Especially ttow," I thought to myself. But the
It'opard did not so much as look in our direction. It just walked
,,n and disappeared into the thicket. We looked at each other with
rrrrrch relief.
My family, like many other families at the time, was split between
65
 Llnbowed
those who sympathized with the Mau Maus and those who sup-
ported the status quo. Even though I never heard much discussion
in my family, I was old enough to know that division existed' My
father had a special regard for Mr. Neylan and his family, and I
know that Mr. Neylan trusted him. This presented my father with a
dilemma, because those members of the {amily who supported the
Mau Maus perceived him as a collaborator who should have been
killed. For a time, my father stopped sleeping at his homestead and
took temporary shelter at night in Mr. Neylan's compound' Mr' Ney-
lan was allowed to cafiy a gun for self-defense'
The division within families also worked itself out in Nyeri,
where my mother was attacked by men she assumed were Mau
Maus. It happened at night, so she could not tell for sure' "They
held the knife to my neck," she told us. "I thought they were going
to kill me!" Although she only received a cut, which was not life-
threatening, the fear and intimidation she felt lingered for most of
her life. After independence, my mother discovered that her main
assailant was a disgruntled member of our extended family who
used the emergency situation to avenge grievances against my father
but made it appear like Mau Mau terror. My mother never ovef
'ot
the fact that someone within the family would want to harm her.
Such was the trauma that many {amilies experienced during these
times.
In October rg5z, during the end of my first yeat at St' Cecilia's,
Kenya's British governor, Sir Evelyn Baring, arrested fomo Ken-
yatta and declared a state of emergency. By that time, the Mau Mau
rebellion had succeeded in creating an atmosphere of panic and
terror among the white settlers. The British took harsh measures/
eventually interring fiearly a million Africans in detention camps,
effectively concentration camps/ and "emergency villages" where
women, children, and the elderly, in particular, were conffned and
where hunger and clisease were common' Entry and exit were tightly
controlled.
66
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
In April r95 3, Kenyatta was sentenced to seven years' hard labor
, rvcr his alleged role in the Mau Mau struggle. A year later, in one of
tlrc largest crackdowns of the rebellion, ten thousand Mau Mau
lishters and suspected sympathizers were alrested and sent to deten-
tion camps where methods of interrogation were often iron-flsted
,rncl accompanied by torture. New historical research suggests at
r»re point around 1954 three out of every four Kikuyu men were in
(lctcntion. Land was taken from the detainees and given to the col-
lrrhorators, while detainees were pushed into forced labor. Visitors
:rrriving at Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi today might
rrot know that Mau Mau detainees laid the concrete foundation of
rhc runways. Their suffering and their contribution have been delib-
t'rately forgotten.
My mother, like hundreds of thousands of others, was forced to
lrvc in an emergency village-in her case, in the center of Ihithe'
Such relocation was costly in many ways, including monetarily' My
rrrother had to abandon an almost-completed house on our land and
huild a new one within the confines of the emergency village' She
stayed there for nearly seven years and was able to return to the site
,l a new home she'd built only in 196o'
I was detained only once, when I was sixteen or seventeen' It
was during the school holidays, and I was on my way from my high
,chool át Limuru to Nakuru to visit my extended family' Unlike
nrost men, including my father, I was allowed to travel' Travel-
rrrg for my mother would have been too dangerous, so during the
whole Mau Mau period, my mother and father never saw each other'
lnstead, they communicated through us children, who were able to
tr:lvel to and from school. When I reached Nakuru town, I was
,rrrested. I do not know the cause, but I suspect that even though I
ir¿rcl the require<l passbook, it indicated I was from Nyeri and, there-
Iore, should not have been anywhere near Nakuru. Even though I
was young, being a Kikuyu meant that I was in the wrong place at
thc wrong time. This was enough for me to be thrown into a deten-
lion camp, where Kikuyus belonged.
I was terrifred. The conditions were horrible-designed to break
6l

Unbowed
that
and instill sufficient fear
people's spirits and self-confrdence food was
Sanitation was poor'
they would abandon their struggle' children'
Women and
minimal, and the "'-, *" 'á'y "'o-d"d'
sleeping' talking'
along with a few men, i"'" """"*here-sitting'
anyone and slept where I
could
and cooking. I did not recognize camp
ln my uniform' people in the
find a space. Because t arrlved I was
a schoolgirl and asked what
immediately recognized me as days the
qo"'tioned and after two long
doing in the camp' f w" both my
homestead' I suspect that
police took me'to my f"th"t'' Neylan had
been contacted and that Mr'
father and Mr' Neylan had to
of one of his workers' coming
confirmed that I was a daughter
visit during the school holidaYs'
in the camp' Nevertheless'
it had its
I will never forget the misery
was no disor-
own strange L' spite of the crowding' there
"r1*'""' crying' and made sure that
I did not
der. I didn't even hear children men and'
tenderness with which both
cry. I was also struck iy tt'" there' I
they asked what I was doing
women spoke to *"' *n"" voices' They
faces and hear it in their
could see the concern on their
but by then no Kikuyu could
knew I was an
'""o"""t '"t'oolgirl'
trusted. British
in spite of the hysteria in the
New research indicates that peo-
of the approximately four thousand
press and the government'
died as a result of Mau Mau
activities' a total of thirty-two
ni" *n.
recent scholarship estimates
were white settlers. In c.mparison/ Kikuyus'
thousand Africans' mostly
that more than one h"ttdt"J villages-on
camps and emergency
may have died in concentration families
of property, and trauma that
top of the humiliation, loss
to one side' Inter-
is clear that terrorism was
not confined
suffered' It
in. K:ny1':
estingly, it is only very recently that the law i:::
as imatamurt
are no longer described
changed so that the Mau
Maus
("terrorists") but as freedom fishte1
n'::"::1i::;
Even though the Mau Mau
rebellion undoubtedly
even'fs'j'l:
,ii:H#;;,;';;;,,;"i 1t'"
i" th","t' the struggle **l :::::
t:ltTi:^Y:
;" ;;;;;;v""' l^ :::i:
to this day' The social cost to
Kikuyus that remains o"'dd'"""d
68
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OT EMERGENCY
r95os may be incalcu-
families and children of the violence of the
Rape was a weapon
lable. Fathers, sons/ and brothers were iailed'
trauma of the colonized is rarely
trsed to suppress the rebellion' The
and redress it'
cxamined, and steps ate rarely taken to understand
from one generation to the
Instead/ the psychological damage passes
and work to liberate
next, until its victims recognize their dilemma
themselves from the traumá'
St' Cecilia's nearly a
In one aspect/ I was very lucky' I started at
If I had been born a few
year before the Mau Mau insurgency began'
insecurity of the country-
years later, there is a good chance that the
my family from continuing
side around Nyeri would have dissuaded
in lhithe' If this had been
rny education beyond the village school
the case, my life would have been very
different' I most likely would
to work
have stayed in lhithe, married, had children' and continued
the land. You would see me there now,
cultivating the earth and car-
my home' where I would
rying firewood on my back up the hills to
not tell stories'
figfri fire and cook the evening meal' I would
" they have been replaced by books' the radio' and television'
because
be
end of Standard 8' In fact'
I did very well in my examinations at the
St' Cecilia's in 1956 I
I was the first in my class, and when I left
in Limuru' iust outside
received a place at Loreto Girls' High School
run by Irish sisters of the
the capital, Nairobi. It, too, was Catholic'
(known as Loreto-Limuru)
Loreto order. Loreto Girls' High School
school for African girls
was at that time the only Catholic high
over Kenya' For the
in the country, and it drew students from all
communities and
first time, I was studying with girls from many
in English all the
regions. Of course, the rule was to communicate
time.
had a very good teacher' Mother Teresirt'
At Loreto-Limuru, I
and help her wash pctti
During breaks, she would ask me to come
our many convers:ttirtlts'
clishes and test tubes in the lab' Through
she aroused and encouraged my lifelong interest in science-
¿ll t lt¡tl
friends until shc tlir'rl
time, chemistryi later, biology' We stayed
I
69

Llnbowed
the headmistress. Now retired,
was arso close to Mother corombiére, sisters
we keep in touch. The Loreto
she stilr lives in Nairobi, and
close to ours' At that time'
I did not
also ran an all-white school dis-
Nobody' least o{ all the nuns'
frnd the racial segregation strange' me'
and told my classmates and
cussed it. If someone had come
been baffled'
,,you are being discriminated against," we would have
ÉIowever, nobodY ever did'
who
After my education by the nuns' I emerged as a person
generally act
good and that people
believed that socigty is inherently people and
orlentation toward trusting
for the best. To me/ a general
life and {ellow hurlan beings is
healthy-
a positive attitude toward This
but also to bring about change'
not only for one's peace of mind
of my education and my Kikuyu
belie{ came from a combination
deep sense of justice'
heritage, which taught me a
I would go to Mass every Sunday'
When I was at Loreto-Limuru' My
I was visiting Ihithe or Nakuru'
even during the holidays when
named Murango Kamau,
who accom-
father had a friend, an old man
pick me
Sunday mornings' he would
panied me to Nakuru town. On
later we would arrive in Nakuru
up at four o'clock and two hours
much of an early
rising' Now' I don't care how
iust as the sun was sleep-
early {or anyone! I was practically
riser you are, fotÍo'clock is people'
make sure I didn't walk into
walking, so I would ask him to Murango'
eyes as I walked and say to
Sometimes, I would close my
the bush'"
"Make sure I don't go into
Catholic Church' now called
Finally, we would arrive at Nakuru church'
an Irish priest served at the
Christ the King' At that time' very
me to his house for tea' I was
invited
antl one day after Mass he Com-
not supposed to eat before Holy
appreciative, because we were If I
I had gotten up that morning'
munion, so I had not eaten since been
hadn't flone to his house, my
first meal of the day would have
I arrived back at the farm-famished'
when, well into the 'ft"t"oot"
lasting. It seems I convinced
From that singre tea came something
needed {or the children of
the workers
the priest that a school was
because my father's younger chil-
on settlers' farms around Nakuru'
farm
of squatters on Mr' Neylan's
dren and many other children
7o
EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
were not i.n school because there were no schools
in the area' I don't
I must have been very bold! I later
rccall our conversation, but
Mr' Neylan' who' I understand' was
lcarned that the priest spoke to
When Mr' Neylan
:rlso a Catholic and attended church in Nakuru'
so the church could
sold his farm in the early r96os, he donated land
school, st. |ohn's, where my younSer half broth-
cstablish a catholic
still operates today' It wasn't
crs and sisters were educated and which
me of the impact
rrntil number of years later that friends reminded
a
had' "Not bad"' I thought'
rrry cup of tea with the local priest had
Many children otherwise would not have Sone
to school'
In Kenya' {or most
lrtlucation, of course, creates many opportunities'
and after, ahigh school education or a col-
¡rcople of my generation
the perceived drudgery of
lcge degree is a guaranteed ticket out o{
crops for little return'
strbsistence farming or the cultivation of cash
connection to the
l, too, got this ticket out, but I never severed my
soil. Throughout my years in boarding school'
I saw my mother only
(cash or a vehicle) to
,,n school holidays. She did not have the means
take care of' But
visit me and also had my three younger siblings to
;r gulf never develoPed between us'
at Loreto-
when I went home to see my mother during my time
l,imuru, if I {ound that the mud walls of my mother's
house needed
dung' mix it
l)l¿lstering/ I woulil go
into the cowshed, collect the
bare hands' I can-
with ash, and then plaster the walls, all with my
do this or I told
rrot remember whether my mother asked me
to
putting my hands in that
rrryself, "Do it." I never thought o{ not
The results of my
tltrng just because I was a high school student'
work looked good, and my mother was happy'
one of the few girls
ln the context o{ Ihithe, I was highly educated'
never told me
nl the are¿ who had gone to high school' People
and still helping
tlircctly that they were pleased that I was educated
on it' either' Not giv-
rrry mother, an«l my mother never commentod
rrrg compliments in public is common in
Kikuyu culture' But later
rrr [ife, I met women and men who would
tell me' "When I was
7f
 Llnbowed
hard and be like
going to school my parents encouraged me to study
you." How I wished they had told me so! 4
of women who had
But at that time in Kenya, 1959, the number
completed high school was very small and
their options for careers
could become teach-
or higher eclucation were relatively few' Women American Dream
or clerks in an office'
ers or nurses while men could be teachers
because you
Being a clerk was a well-paid and highly esteemed iob'
would be in the mainstream of British Kenyan civil
life' You would
elite class'
work in an offfce! You would be a member of the new
y the time I graduated from high school in 1959, the colonial
era for most of Africa was coming to an end: Ghana had become
rr sovereign nation in 1957 and three years later many French
and
career counseling' as
Although the nuns did not provide us with any
signing up for train- Itelgian colonies in west and central Africa achieved their inde-
graduation neared many of my classmates were in the air' Although fomo
o{ education for them' I ¡rendence. In Kenya, too, freedom was
ing in teaching or nursing' That was the end
tried to be a nurse' I l(enyatta was in internal exile and political activity was still lim-
did not want to be a teacher then and I never
a girl wás unusual' Back
ited, the "winds of change" that British prime minister Harold Mac-
wanted to go on with my studies, which for
mother about rnillan said were blowing across Africa made Kenya's independence
when I was at St. Cecilia's, neighbors would say to my
She cannot even become
inevitable. In rg57, black Kenyans were allowed to vote in elections
me: "There's no need to keep her in school'
ktr the first time, and in r959 the British government invited Ken-
a clerk. She's a girl, after all'"
,,What are you going to yan politicians to London to negotiate over a new political order. In
Even my teachers and friends asked me,
mind was {ocused else- r96o, preparations for Kenya's independence had begun'
do? Become a teacher or a nurse?" But my
A newly independent Kenya would need educated men and
where. "I am not going to be either of those'
I'm going to Makerere
uganda, and was women ready to flll key positions in the government and society
l_Iniversity,,, I replied. Makerere was in Kampala,
who passed their once the British administrators departed. To that end, in the late
then the only university in East A{rica' Anybody
went to Mak- r95os the Kenyan politicians of the day, led by Tom Mboya, Ci-
high school exams and could continue their
studies
Oxford of East Africa' l<onyo Kiano, and others initiated and encouraged contacts with
erere, which was the epitome of education-the
Even though I was a political and cultural flgures in the United States, led by then-
But aspiring to go there was very ambitious'
naturally bright' so my scnator |ohn F. Kennedy, Andrew Young, and others' The aim was to
good student, I was more hardworking than
provide scholarships for promising students from emerging African
gaining admission to Makereré was still a gamble'
friends asked' "What states to receive higher education in the united States. This woulcl
"What if you don't pass?" my teachers and ;r[so open up the united states to these former European colonics,
asked. "Of course I will pass!" As it turned
out'
do you mean?" I
much farther west than hitherto closed from the rest o{ the world.
an opportunity arose that was to take me
of America' Senator Kennedy agreed not only to fund the program through t ht'
Makerere-in fact, all the way to the United States
foseph p. Kennedy Foundation but also to fly all
the stucl(jrlts l()

11