MY JOURNEY

John Bosco Ogutu was born and raised in Sigama, a small village in Ndhiwa, Homabay County. As then a young village boy, I have numerous childhood memories in all life aspects worth sharing, but for today I will settle on my academic and career Journey.

I remember in late 1997, I joined Sigama primary school located just a Kilometer away from home; a decision driven by the need to familiarize myself with the school environment and allow mum tend to her farm activities. By 1998, I was old enough to attend lessons and demanded to get to class one. Even at this young age, I was surprised when I was informed that the threshold to join lower primary is the size of the body. You can imagine my disappointment when I had to repeat nursery because my hand couldn’t cross the head to touch the opposite ear. However, my height challenges aside, I distinguished myself as a bright pupil by dominating top two in the class giving me a nod to proceed to class one in 1999.

Life in primary was quite the experience; mud walled classrooms with stone seats and jigger infested floors were the order of the day. Examinations were translated into Dholuo, our mother tongue, so that the pupils could understand before answering. Reading was a major challenge for me but I compensated by excelling at listening and problem solving. Then in upper primary, the school changed the script. Gone were the vernacular translations we had become accustomed to. Instead, we sat on wooden desks and were expected to compose essays in both English and Kiswahili; two languages that we had no experience working in. Sitting for KCPE examinations was a terrifying experience. But despite all these challenges and through a lot of prayer, I emerged top in my school, with a score of 332 and an offer to join a provincial school in Nyanza.

 Like the rest of the country, I was still reeling in shock from the 2007 Post-election skirmishes; in addition, I had no finances to speak of and school fees were due in less than a month. But sometimes, when life delivers lemon after lemon, occasionally you stumble upon an unexpectedly sweet orange. President’s Kibaki’s program of free secondary school was announced, and the expected school fees reduced to Ksh. 500 a month for lunch. With the small savings I had made from charcoal burning, I managed to buy my uniform and other prerequisites, on 8th February 2008, I began a 6km walk to my school to begin the next phase of my study.

On the start of classes, all subjects went well except I still had a running battle with Kiswahili. However, our then Kiswahili teacher was a heaven sent mentor who helped me greatly;  I followed him after every lesson for English version of whatever was taught. Because of this, I continued to shine and maintained my position in the top two slots, with a dream to be a teacher. In Form two, I had a major change in my life; I was born again, a decision that I do not regret until today. In 2011 I would then sit my KCSE examinations, coming top of class with A- of 77 points. I led a team of three students in making history: we attained direct intake qualification for the first time in the school’s history. Flushed with my excellent performance, I decided to pursue a Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

On 8th August 2012, I reported to Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. Armed with Ksh. 16,000 in my pocket (from the sale of our bull) and terrified that I would be robbed, I made the unprecedentedly long journey to endure long queues and endless paperwork to finally be admitted as a student in university. I still remember the day I met my roommates; Seth, Linus and Adams. Our experience forged a brotherhood between us that had continued even as we all went on to different industries.

Life at the university was not the rosy life I expected, but the joy of being a student always outweighed the difficult experiences. The first Semester was the toughest in my University life, it had a lot of confusion, desire to cope up and explore fighting each other. Moving forward to other years drew me closer to what I longed for, being an engineer and I gave the effort worth it. Many times life felt tough, I faced many challenges just like any other student; bankruptcy, lack of enough time and head cracking assignments. However, I also worked to develop my leadership skills and my spirituality. I was the Director of Security & Accommodation in the student governing council, Head of CSR activities for the Christian Union and the Secretary General in the Engineering Students Association.

On 15th December 2017, I graduated with a BSc. in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. I remember trying to convince my dad that I had not failed; he did not understood that, because my last name was Ogutu, I was near the end of the alphabetically listed graduates. Nevertheless he could not be prouder of my achievements.

After two weeks I picked my certificate and joined my fellow students in job hunting. God was gracious and within a month, I got my first job as a Production Engineer with H Young & Co (EA) Ltd Workshop; a company I have worked in to date. After three years at the company, I am currently a Mechanical Engineer stationed at one of the Olkaria Geothermal Power Plants Projects. The multidisciplinary activities in my past projects have made great part of my experience.

I have as well faced many work challenges like any other but the most important thing is to be confident, learn on how to overcome and make good out of them. I have always purposed to be authentic in every position I find myself in, do what is required and have respect for bosses and juniors in an equal measure and above all being supportive to others. My greatest happiness has been working and getting relevant professional experience, it gives a feel of fulfillment.

My advice to young graduates is to focus on experience and not money in seek of their first job. Experience pays with time.

For now I will continue to work hard, build a reputable professional life and mentor young engineers I meet on my way up. My future aspiration is to serve the people of Ndhiwa Constituency and the greater Kenyan community in the National Assembly.

By

Ogutu John Bosco,

Mechanical Engineer,

H Young & Co (EA) Ltd.

Credit to:

Dr. Victor Mwongera (My Mentor)