I got an email on Saturday 13/3/2021 from Josephine saying that Betty Nyagoha had passed away. I have known Josephine for over 17 years. Betty, Josephine and I are connected, the story of which hopefully pays tribute to the magnificent person that Betty Nyagoha was. Here is the story.
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In the early 2000’s I found myself working in an organisation called Media Lab Europe (MLE). MLE was a partnership between the Irish Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT - probably the most famous technology University in the world). MIT were fundraising for their new Media Lab building and the Irish Government wanted an anchor tenant for what they were calling the Digital Hub in the Liberties area in Dublin. A deal was done between the two, at a time when the .com boom was at its peak. The hope was that the energy and finance around new technology innovation would ultimately make MLE successful.
The problem was that the .com boom crashed right at the time when MLE opened and the organisation was left struggling with how to finance itself. I joined MLE at the very beginning and very soon it was clear that there was trouble ahead. I made a decision at the time (pretty much knowing that MLE would fail) to use my time there to do something that did some good (this is the first time I'm actually admitting this!). Not the greatest career decision but some good things came out of it!
MIT really is an amazing place. It's full of truly brilliant people. I was challenged (on numerous occasions!) to think in an entirely different way. Here are some of the ways you are challenged:
Do not think just about invention, think about impact.
Build and demonstrate your ideas (don’t just write about them)
Challenge the norm. Be prepared to disrupt. Be brave in your questioning.
Surround yourself with people brighter than yourself.
Don’t let failure stop you. Learn from it. Try not to repeat mistakes.
Believe you can change the world.
I was inspired by some incredible people and their projects in MIT. Mitch Resnick and the Computer Clubhouse project, David Cavallo and the work he was doing in remote communities in South America, the much mis-understood Nicholas Negroponte and the Developing nations consortium, Seymour Papert and the concepts of construction to nurture confidence and creativity and Tod Machover who was bringing music to new audiences through projects like Hyperscore to name a few.
Lots of amazing things happened in MLE over its short 5 year life span. Games to help children manage anxiety and depression, brain computer interfaces for people locked in, a new interface to get information into the brain using the tongue and community projects like a Computer Clubhouse on the campus, to allow children in the local area access state of the art technology tools for learning.
One of the other more left field things MLE did was to host SUAS, a new organisation in Ireland supporting volunteering in the developing world. SUAS created an amazing program which facilitated young people going overseas, doing voluntary work in partner projects in the developing world, but supporting their continued efforts in development education when they returned home.
Their first overseas visit to Kenya was scheduled for the summer of 2003. It got cancelled because of security concerns and a rising terrorist threat in Kenya at the time. It was a massive disappointment to the volunteers and the projects they were going to support.
In 2003, I was struggling in MLE. There were some truly terrible management decisions made and it was taking its toll on me. I decided to take some off, and as a way of supporting SUAS, I took some unpaid leave to head out to Kenya to do some voluntary work on one of their partner projects (making up in a small way for the fact that the formal volunteer program had been cancelled). In a way that was completely unplanned I became one of the first SUAS volunteers!
The work involved running a month long course on the use of technology in education with the teachers in a primary school called Gatoto primary which was based in the Mukuru kwa Reuben slum in Nairobi.
That was how I met Betty Nyagoha.
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Betty, together with some village elders in the area, had set up Gatoto in 1994 and was still the principal of the school. She had had a very challenging upbringing herself and had decided to devote her energies to establishing a school in a seriously impoverished area so as to help children not have to experience what she had experienced growing up.
When I met Betty for the first time, I was immediately struck by her energy and desire to move things forward. It was very clear that she was driven by powerful forces of good. She was instantly likeable, charismatic and compelling company.
She immediately got good ideas. She understood that oftentimes new ideas come with a certain amount of risk. She was fully supportive of trying new approaches if it meant moving things forward.
I had learned these principles in MLE:
Do not think just about invention, think about impact.
Build and demonstrate your ideas (don’t just write about them)
Challenge the norm. Be prepared to disrupt. Be brave in your questioning.
Surround yourself with people brighter than yourself.
Don’t let failure stop you. Learn from it. Try not to repeat mistakes.
Believe you can change the world.
Betty was the absolute embodiment of these principles.
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Gatoto is an extraordinary place. When you cross the threshold of the school gates and leave the rigours of the surrounding slum behind, you are met with a tidal wave of youthful enthusiasm and energy. Children with cheeky, curious faces gather around you and literally lift your spirits with their smiles and probing stares. You feel hope and joy and gratitude all at once knowing that a place like Gatoto exists. There are more than 1000 children in the school aged from 5 to 15. There are nearly thirty teachers working there. There are cooks and guards and grounds people looking after the place. There is a dedicated social worker in the school.
The children love coming to school. They often come from cramped, unsanitary home conditions and in Gatoto they get nourishing food and the time and attention of amazing staff who encourage and support them in their life endeavours. Some of the teachers are even past pupils.
Gatoto is famous for its amazing choir. It regularly reaches the final of provincial and national competitions with its musical excellence and to be present with a choir practicing their singing would melt the most hardened of hearts.
Bettys energy imbues all aspects of Gatoto. Her enthusiasm, her drive, her passion for those disadvantaged is reflected in everything that Gatoto is.
Betty's spirit is the wellspring at the heart of this oasis.
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The project I was working on involved training the teachers in the school on how to use basic technology programs on some refurbished second hand laptops that I had brought with me. Each week we would go down to the local internet and use free email tools to get the teachers familiar with the online world.
I have to admit that when the project was presented to me before I left for Kenya, I had serious doubts about its viability. The school was only just getting running water into its toilets when we were there and so the idea of running a computer course really did seem a bit indulgent.
As soon as I started the project I gradually became convinced of its value. The teacher's enthusiasm was infectious and we started making real progress in a short space of time. There were logistical challenges, language barriers, the limitations of my teaching ability and technology crashes but we kept going.
One of my ‘pupils’ changed everything for the good. She was by far the brightest learner. She told me she wanted to go into business and so she wanted to learn about technology to help her reach that goal.
She invited me to her house one evening to meet her family. She lived in the middle of Mukuru slum in a modest corrugated and wooden structure. She made tea and simple sandwiches and we chatted. She had 3 children, two boys and a girl.
That is when I met Josephine. She was 7 years old.
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Betty was instrumental in making the project work.
We had no electricity to charge the computers so she arranged for a local factory to run a cable into the school which powered a massive extension lead with surge protection on it. This is how we charged the computers. At night she arranged for security so the computers were not stolen when they were being charged. She even arranged for security of the power line itself (people would literally climb poles to “syphon” off power) whilst we were there.
She was determined to ensure that the course would run whilst I was there to teach it.
We would meet up for dinner with her on a couple of occasions. I remember one visit to her house (which was extremely modest). When you sat down with her she would tell you stories about children in the school - all positive - that clearly inspired her.
I mention this because as amazing as Gatoto was, it was not long before you came face to face with the desperate tragedy and poverty many of the children faced every day.
At the time, AIDS was running rampant through Africa, retro viral drugs were not available yet and many children were orphaned as a result. Grandparents and friends stepped in to help these children but oftentimes the lack of resources meant children were literally starving coming to school.
Betty told the story about how she set up a feeding program where the children got nourishing protein based biscuits and soup every day. It had a transformational impact on the children's ability to concentrate and learn. She talked about this intervention in a modest and unassuming way but it was clear she was immensely proud of its success. And she had every right to feel that way.
She had a huge say in the type of teachers that taught in the school. She oversaw building programs and school activities. All of these projects cost money and she spent the bulk of her time writing progress reports and fundraising to keep the school going.
Managing a project with over 1000 children and 30 staff or so is quite a challenge when you have to fundraise constantly to keep it going.
Betty never stopped. Crucially she never stopped believing in what she was doing.
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Josephine's mum worked in Gatoto so that her children could attend the school. Josephine was extremely bright and consistently got the top marks in her class.
When she finished her primary school education in Gatoto, it was clear that she needed to go to secondary school. This is not always the case in Kenya for children from poorer families, as secondary school fees are high relative to peoples wages and earnings.
We found ways to support Josephine through her secondary school education where she really excelled . It was truly remarkable watching her grow into a bright, fiercely independent young woman. She often volunteered to help others with their education, especially young girls as there was huge pressure on them to leave school so they could help at home.
A leader was born.
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Amazing people supported Gatoto and still do. You can read about some of the amazing supporters here. It suffices to say that Betty built up a serious support group around Gatoto primary school.
Every couple of years Betty would travel overseas to do a series of talks to raise money for Gatoto.
I have heard Betty speak a number of times. She would often use her own story to illustrate the challenges a child can face in Kenya especially if the family was very poor. The stories she told were, if I am honest, quite harrowing but they centred you around the reality of what drove her. She wanted a better future for the children in her school. The school was to be a veritable oasis where good things would happen. Potential would be realised. Opportunities would come by. If the school was not there none of this would happen.
Sometimes it's easier to convince people to fund a well to provide clean drinking water or to provide emergency aid for a famine. It is much harder to convince people of the longer term, less immediately tangible benefits of giving children an education.
Betty was one person that was able to do this. A combination of her story, her strength of will, her ability to communicate and her drive made it almost impossible not to believe in her cause.
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Josephine finished secondary school with high enough marks to do a business degree in University. This was a real challenge. University fees are beyond most people in Kenya. This is a real shame because education is the long-term key to breaking poverty cycles and Kenya is not lacking in seriously talented people leaving school.
A donor (who will remain anonymous) stepped in to support Josephine in her University studies. She was one of the first students from Gatoto to go to University - a truly remarkable journey considering her humble beginnings but a perfect example of what Betty was striving to do.
Create the right environment for people to thrive and opportunities will arise.
Josephine graduated from University with an honours degree in business studies.
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A group of ex SUAS volunteers organised a fundraising event for Gatoto in 2009. Betty was in Ireland and was the keynote speaker at the event.
There was a raffle held on the night and some amazing prizes had been donated to the cause. One of the prizes was a signed Manchester United jersey by Roy Keane. The jersey was to be auctioned off on the night.
I am an avid Manchester United fan and I always fancied myself as a bit of a Roy Keane presence when it came to my football skills so I decided I would bid on the jersey.
I was not exactly flush with money at the time so when the bidding came down to just me and another bidder I started getting a bit nervous.
The bidding at this point was over €2000 and so in my mind I was working out how long it would take to pay off the credit card were I successful. I justified the bill on the basis that Gatoto would benefit from my recklessness.
Thankfully I got outbid and Gatoto ended up getting a nice donation for its amazing work. I remember Betty giving me a hug and saying that she could not believe how brave I was to push it so far. The truth was that I fluked it!
Thank you for that memory Betty. My gambling habits are now thankfully under control.
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There is an organisation called the Global E Schools Initiative based in Nairobi. Josephine managed to get a part-time role in the organisation from which came a glowing reference on her work ethic, her commitment to excellence and her desire to do the best she possibly could no matter the role.
Then something truly extraordinary happened. A large global telecommunications company (to remain anonymous) started offering internships to prospective candidates from around the world.
On the merits of Josephine’s extraordinary efforts to further her education, she got offered an internship with the company.
The internship involved travelling overseas to the companies HQ and working with them for 3 months.
There were complications. It is incredibly difficult for people in the developing world to get visas to travel overseas. If ever there was an understatement about complexity this is it.
At one point, Josephine managed to get her Visa to work with the company in the country where they were based, but was unable to get the transit visas to travel through the UK or America to get to that country.
Tragically she was unable to join the Internship program with the other successful applicants as it proved impossible to organise visas in time.
The good news though, was that company allowed her to do the internship a few months later albeit on her own.
Josephine had never been on an aeroplane before, never mind travelling across multiple time zones and transiting in massive airports. All kinds of arrangements were made to help her manage the challenges including one remarkable chauffeur driven journey between Heathrow and Gatwick arranged by the company itself.
Josephine's internship was an enormous success. So much so that she was offered a 2 year contract with the company once it was over.
Another remarkable part to this story is that Josephine arranged to study her Masters Degree in the country where she was working during this period. The company agreed to sponsor her doing this.
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A group called American Friends of Gatoto was formed in America from friends who had experienced the wonder of Gatoto first hand. Over the last few years they have been fundraising for Gatoto and its development.
In 2019 the group invited Betty to travel to America to help with the fund raising effort. Josephine was asked to join Betty as part of the campaign.
Again, enormous effort was made to make the trip happen. So many people came together to ensure that Josephine was able to get on a plane and arrive into an airport in the USA to work with Betty telling their amazing story.
So a young woman, now on a successful career path, working in an internationally recognised telecommunications company together, with a visionary founder of a school in one of the most deprived areas in Nairobi Kenya, were working together as living proof of what hope, dreams, hard work and desire can do to change the world.
I can only imagine how powerful it must have been to see these two incredible women on a podium telling an audience how important it is to have hope, belief, dreams and the courage to act.
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The Gatoto motto is ‘We strive to Shine’
Betty was truly the catalyst behind that motto in so many different and profoundly important ways. We rarely know the true impact we have on the world through our actions, our relationships, our decisions but in Bettys case I think it is safe to say that it is clear and obvious what impact she had.
Betty has left this world and a radiant bright light has gone out (and it truly breaks my heart to have to write that ), but Betty has left making sure that there are lots of little lights shining brightly in her wake. She has left the world a better place than the world she grew up in.
Josephine's story captures a thread of what Betty hoped would happen when she started Gatoto with the village elders in 1994.
Hopefully by telling this story you will feel connected to the marvelous person that was Betty Nyagoha. I know I feel immensely privileged to have known her briefly over the years.
May you rest in peace my dear friend and may the light you have created live long and forever more.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
GMcD 14/03/2021
