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David Chege Njoroge - My Blog

He’d beaten Goliath, unlike millions of Kenyan youth


Related to country: United States
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

It was on a cool moonlit night in the early hours of the morning when they came; a band of cowards, unwashed soldiers of terror slinking through the darkness down the footpaths and through the rusty barbwire fences. They carried an assortment of hand weapons; clubs and big knives called pangas. The group stopped and lit cigarettes and mumbled in hushed tones. Some of them reeked of cheap beer, their liquid courage for the night.
In the small stone farmhouse, the six children huddled in sleep. Their parents in another room heard the dogs barking. They were always barking, sometimes at other animals looking for scraps of food and sometimes because of people passing by and sometimes they were thieves, trespassing for whatever they could lay their hands on and the dogs usually chased them away. This night would be somewhat different.
These miscreants were sent by unknowns like errand boys to deliver a message of fear.
They chased the dogs with stones, then hammered on the front door with the butts of their weapons and broke the glass panes on the windows and shouted to open the door.
The oldest of the six children, 17-year-old David, rallied the others and they barricaded the steel door with furniture. Minutes went by as the door pounding continued with the shouts of "open the door or we'll kill all of you".
On the road near the farmhouse, passing police, on their way to collect a body for burial, heard the noises and barking dogs and the sentry heard their vehicle, as in most of these gang attacks, a sentry is posted, to alert the others. The police used the rickety gate as the thugs broke into a run. They fired warning shots and yelled to stop. The brave boys ran even faster, splitting up, for they knew that in stopping, they might catch a bullet. Before bolting, they shouted to the occupants in the farmhouse that they would be back.
The attack occurred in September 1997. Two weeks later, David's family received a handwritten note. It ordered them to leave or they would all be killed. It was only luck that the police were there earlier but what of the next time—would they be as lucky?
They must leave, they agreed, and they packed what they could carry and came to the house of a relative in the dusty and meagrely developed town of Ongata Rongai about 15 miles southwest of Nairobi and moved into a small storage room. They would never return to Subukia and their farmhouse home.
But more troubles were on the way for this family as they struggled to find a means to survive. David’s father fell short in his ability to provide for them as he looked for work. With no particular skills, the jobs he took fell far short of what they needed. David and his brothers and sisters needed to attend school and there was no money for school fees. David took on various jobs at construction sites and hauling jerry cans of water to sell at a mere 10 shillings each.
His father also drank more and more, leaving less and less for food. He became an alcoholic, leaving the breadwinning to his wife. The other kids pitched in and did what they could. His sister did laundry for potatoes.
A teacher from an orphanage in the area heard about him and decided to help. Christ Cares Centre gave them what they could now and then and eventually raised enough money for David to return to school, thus demonstrating they were committed to assisting.
The long and tortuous days dragged by as the school fees were finally paid and he could finish his last year and amazingly attained a B average in his final exams. During these days after school, David found work, albeit short term as a tout or conductor with a matatu or public service vehicle, even entered the army as an athlete at Kibiko training camp. Even this was short term for without him, his 5 siblings were going hungry.
After the exams in 2001, and the good news of his high score, he found his ailing mother diagnosed with diabetes and now a new problem; raising money for her medication, for she was insulin dependant. This sad situation went on as she gradually became worse with episodes of seizures that drained her energy and damaged her organs. Between trying to feed the family, and purchase the expensive insulin and keep himself healthy, he would fall asleep before his head hit the pillow. David fought hard to keep her in daily doses but there were too many gaps in between; it was hopeless, and she finally succumbed. He was now the head of a dwindling family, (the youngest was still a toddler) in their one room home in Rongai, because his father took up with another woman and abandoned the family.
Christ Cares Centre, although falling short of funds to help David’s mother, was able to raise money to help his family now. They tried to get funds to send him to a college or trade school and he was actually able to do a year in Kenya Polytechnic in Nairobi in a gruelling class and work schedule. The public transport fees to and from the city sapped his meagre wages.
A promising break came when he was able to e-mail a cousin living in London who pointed him to a man in Nairobi who ran an NGO that helped bright and needy young people get an education. David knew he needed to set a base for his life so he could help his family and help others, so he found this man.
His name was Ngarari Mwaura. David had prayed hard for help, for hope and for a small miracle; and here it was, he was going to university in the United States.
Now for someone having never left the general area of Central Province of Kenya, the United States was like Dorothy finding Oz. It was confusing, mesmerising, and so full of white people. For David, going so far away for the first time was an adventure and a half. He now had to make his way to Utah State University and make the deadline to register: another adventure! He did it but soon found he just could not afford to pay the stiff fees of $5000 per semester and so, with some difficulty, he transferred to Wayne County Community College in Michigan where he finally settled down for four years. He volunteered to help other students, primarily Kenyans who were fortunate enough to come to this school. And between this job and working in a campus restaurant, his classes and burying himself in the books, the time passed quicker than ever before. Amazingly, he maintained his B average.
From the outset, David had built a vision that he fervently wanted to give back to the community, to the poor and marginalised young who had no future. He was fortunate; there were millions at home without a chance who would die in miserable poverty. They were not even a number there. He talked about it constantly and in his third year, determined now more than ever, he talked with local church priest who agreed to help him raise funds to buy computers and ship them to Kenya. He would start a computer school that offered free courses to those unable to pay. To give them this chance to get better jobs and perhaps finish or continue their education.
In early 2008, despite the political furore, the fighting, deaths and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Kenyans, David Chege Njoroge returned, degree in hand and with some 100 new and used computers, clothing and shoes, opened his computer college in Ongata Rongai. He also started an organization for youth, called Careers for Life International. He’d beaten Goliath, the system that suppresses millions of Kenyans every day.



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