It's More Than Just A Number!

"Good evening! and welcome to the Jkuat Toastmasters Gavel Club's 1st Anniversary meeting. This is a very special evening for us, and we are delighted to celebrate it with each of you, I want to thank our passionate executive committee and club patron for your contribution towards the continuum of Jkuat Gavel programs. You continue to make it possible for us to fulfill our mission. And to our esteemed members, many thanks for making time to enthusiastically attend our weekly meetings and making this club as glorious as it is today! 

On this occasion of the 1st anniversary of the club, my pronounced conviction is that clarity of purpose, passion, and an unwavering commitment to serve are the most fundamental tenets of this club. I am deeply touched when I reminisce about the progressive bold steps that this club has made ever since I joined as a member three years ago. 

 It has been a journey full of unprecedented growth, I have had the pleasure of learning from incredible personalities who were at the forefront of laying the foundations of Toastmasters here in Jkuat, individuals who then went ahead to take on greater than life initiatives upon graduation. 

 Pascal Aloo, went ahead to form a technological startup and is now currently serving as a corporate Emcee on a part-time basis, Snaida Akinyi, is now a sales business development executive at The Copy Cat Limited, Keziah Ntwiga, is now the country director for Women in Engineering in Kenya, Elijah Bakari is now a celebrated Pan African debate and public speaking trainer and adjudicator, last but not least, Maggie Mbodze is currently a project manager at Sapphire engineering, to name but a few. 

Talking about these individuals, you may assume they are people who graduated six, seven, maybe even ten years ago, owing to their positions and work in the industry, but no, they all graduated within the past three years, a testament to the kind of unmatched personal and professional growth that Toastmasters in Jkuat impacts its members with. 

When I agreed to give this speech I thought I knew the history of Jkuat Gavel pretty well. I have been involved with this club on and off for almost 3 years and like most volunteers, I can tick off the highlights. 

But that’s like saying a 12-year-old knows her grandmother’s life pretty well. You can recite the highlights – you may know when she was born, got married, had her children, but you have no clue about her Journey – what it took to create the vision, the persistence necessary to achieve it; the challenges, near-death experiences, the accomplishments, big and small. You know the highlights, but you aren’t really aware of each thread that has been carefully woven to create the tapestry that is seen today. 

Jkuat Toastmasters was founded 5 years ago as a committee under the Society of Engineering Students (SES), to grow the communication and leadership skills of engineering students. This was inspired by the infamous fact that engineers in practice lacked good communication skills which really hampered their career growth in the corporate space. Toastmasters was thereby started by former engineering students to address this issue, as a way of giving back to society. 

In 2018, the Society of Engineering Students provided a $98 charter grant to what was then the SES Toastmasters committee, to go towards establishing Toastmasters as a self-sustaining club in good standing with Toastmasters International. I happened to be the serving President at the time, and the man in charge of actualizing that. We submitted an application to organize a Toastmaters Gavel club, based upon our commitment to grow university students that couldn't raise the higher member dues for regular toastmasters clubs.  

We consequently renamed the club Jkuat Toastmasters Gavel Club and officially launched as a chartered club in 2019. 

The club has since outgrown its original purpose and extended its wings to students from all and sundry, a feat that we all are really proud of. This growth, however, didn't come on a silver platter. Today we not only celebrate a number, but we also celebrate individuals that went out of their on way to cultivate ideals and a supportive culture that has sustained this club for over 5 years.  

As with any startup, we faced a couple of challenges, our original plan was to deliver unmatched value to our members by bringing in advanced toastmasters to serve as evaluators, however, within a few months, it became clear that sourcing for experienced evaluators was a tall task, most of the experienced toastmasters had day jobs and the fact that Jkuat, Juja is a somewhat remote location didn't help the matter. The plan to bring in experienced evaluators was valuable but obviously hard to actualize. 

So – your original plan is flawed, what do you do? 

We revamped our evaluation program and gave priority to developing in-house talent. The new program was so well received that saw our membership increase by a margin of over 90%, the club was for the students, and by the students! This was our first demonstration of resilience and our ability to adapt. 

In addition to adaptability, clarity of purpose, enthusiasm, and commitment to serve - these are the threads of Jkuat Gavel's tapestry. Our vision today is the same as when it was founded – to cultivate a supportive and conducive environment for our members to grow their communication and leadership skills, consequently enhancing their self-confidence and personal growth. 

Jkuat Gavel has persisted for 5 years in organizing educational programs that create confident speakers and leaders. Hundreds of students have already participated in our core training programs, and as sure as the sun rises from the east and sets in the west, this club is arguably one of the most impactful clubs in the university. 

We hope to continue to endure and continue to add value for the students that choose to join us as active members. We look forward to the threads we will add to our tapestry in the next several years, and celebrating the continuing journey. 

We may not have powerful fathers, nor rich mothers, but we have the passion, dreams and time which is also our most valuable asset. I believe that in the next few years when we're all grown and in positions of influence, we will look back with pride and appreciate just how much an impact the one-hour weekly Toastmasters meetings had in our growth. 

Jkuat Toastmasters Gavel family, for every Gavel member to be able to actualize their impeccable communication and leadership skills dream, is this club's ultimate goal, as well as our responsibility and mission, let us stretch our arms wide to engage, support and grow each other. You can do this by providing constructive criticism and being active gaveliers with an unwavering commitment to serve. 

Let us build on the foundation created since the establishment of this glorious club by standing, speaking and toasting to the mastery!" 

Written and presented by; 

Brunner Kibali Toywa, 

Past President (2018/19), 

Jkuat Toastmasters Gavel Club, 

Club Number 07305321.