Few transition from security guard to master’s-holding teacher, but 46-year-old David Barasa Okumu from Navakholo, Kakamega, did just that as a junior secondary teacher.
On a sweltering Friday, Barasa walks into The Kenya Times offices, fresh from his graduation ceremony at Mount Kenya University.
“I’m here to tell my story so I can encourage the youth and even the parents whose children might not have hope for the future”, he begins.
He attended the Ingotse Boys High School where despite being inconsistent in his school attendance due to lack of fees, he attained a B- in his KCSE.
David Barasa’s Financial Difficulties
Financial difficulties meant he never got an opportunity to further his education and so he secured a job as an untrained teacher at a local school.
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“I was paid very little money; Ksh700 per month. It was only enough for upkeep. With Ksh700 you could just buy a shirt and a trouser,” he says.
While at his teaching job, a paternal cousin who was staying in Nairobi told him to come to the capital after convincing him the Ksh700 was too little.
With the help of his cousin, Barasa secured a casual job at the Super Loaf Mini Bakeries in Nairobi but found it too tedious.
“I abandoned the job and searched for another. In 1998 I secured a job with one of the best security firms in Nairobi, Wells Fargo. With Wells Fargo, though the pay was little (Ksh7,000 per month). I worked from the year 1998 to 2001,” he adds.
In August 2002 he came across an advertisement in a local daily for an International Teachers Training College that offered Primary Teacher Education.
Barasa’s college years
“In my mind, I decided that I wasn’t just born to be a security guard. I visited the college and spoke to the director of the institution. I didn’t have fees then and explained that I would be paying my fees at the end of every month after receiving my salary. The director accepted my offer, and I joined the college in the same year (2002),” he expounds.
He kept the fact that he had secured admission to the college a secret from his employer since it could jeopardize his job as a security guard. Only his close relatives knew about it, he says.
It was difficult juggling college and work since he was supposed to start classes at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and head for his night shift at 6:30 pm.
“Sometimes I used miraa to keep myself awake. However, in any week I had a day off where I’d compensate for all those sleepless days,” he says.
During that period, he was also juggling family obligations, having married in 2001, had his firstborn child in 2002 and his second born in 2003. By 2004 he had finished his teacher training, which he admits was difficult for him financially.
Leaving my job as a security guard
In April 2005 while working at the Cooperative Bank House in Nairobi, as a security guard he came across an advertisement for the Maasai Group of Schools, in Ngong that required a P1 teacher. He called the phone number and was invited for an interview on the same day.
“I went to my boss and lied that I was feeling unwell and was granted permission to leave,” he adds.
Among several candidates who showed up for the interview, he emerged as the top candidate and was offered the job on the spot.
However, he was required to report immediately as he had been offered the job on Wednesday and to report by Friday the same week.
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“I packed my stuff and found a vehicle to ferry me to the school because I was supposed to live in the school in a two-bedroom house,” he says proudly. “I did not inform my employer about the job; instead, I stayed away from work for 14 days, so I’d be automatically terminated for desertion.”
St. Nicholas Children’s Home
In 2006, St. Nicholas Children’s Home poached him from the Maasai Group of Schools. Later that year, the Teachers Service Commission advertised teaching positions in his hometown of Kakamega. He applied and secured a job at Isisohe Primary School in Navakholo.
By then, he was also paying school fees for his school-going siblings’, as his father couldn’t afford their school fees.
Former classmates at Ingotse High School encouraged Barasa to further his education.
“In 2012, I joined Mount Kenya University to study a bachelor’s degree in education with a combination of Business Studies and Geography. At my current school I teach subjects including Mathematics, Business Creative Arts and Sports,” Barasa explains.
The junior secondary school teacher finished his bachelor’s degree, Bachelor of Education, (Arts) in 2016 and because of his performance (Second Class Upper), he qualified to pursue a master’s degree.
“The master’s degree is not something to joke with. It needs determination and resilience. Without determination, you cannot complete it. I started in 2016 and finished in 2024 because I did not have enough funding,”, he notes.
Siuchi, a place of darkness
Barasa views this achievement with pride because he grew up in a remote village named Siuchi, which means a place of darkness.
“Inhabitants of that village are associated with darkness in everything including in education. People there don’t really value education. It’s where when people finish basic education, they go off to find jobs as houseboys or house-girls”, he laments.
However, he’s proud that more people from his village are pursuing degrees.
Barasa also says back home, people who understand the value of education, celebrate his achievement of attaining a Master’s in Education, Administration, Leadership and Management.
He adds he’s looking forward to pursuing his PhD, financial resources permitting.
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