Remembering Dr. Griffin

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
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This is Dr. Geoffrey W. Griffin, the founding director of Starehe.

That evening I sat in the assembly hall of Starehe Boys' Centre, I was impressed to hear Dr. Griffin address us, perhaps because it was the first time I was seeing him live, having reported to the school that day: 17th January, 2002.

And Dr. Griffin was no ordinary man. He was famous here in Kenya for founding the exceptional school that is Starehe. How I wished he would live to see me complete my studies in the school!

Though he didn't get to know my name, I found him understanding in the few instances I caught his attention as I played the piano and gave speeches during evening assemblies.

During one assembly in 2002 for instance, he requested Miss Church - a talented volunteer teacher from England - to help me out on the piano after I became horribly nervous while accompanying a hymn. I was in Form 1 then.

Two years later when I gained enough confidence to accompany the school again, he commended me for playing the piano well. He did so on his way out of the hall. I must have felt honored to receive compliments from such a great man.

As for the speeches I gave, he was accepting of me when I spoke incoherently. I particularly remember one speech when students started clapping as to suggest I wind up whatever I was saying. Dr. Griffin silenced the catcall with this command to the students: "Let him finish!"

Unfortunately, he didn't live to see me complete my studies at Starehe as I wished in my first weeks in the school. God called him home in 2005 when I was in fourth form. And his last words to me were "good luck in your exams" when we met as I was carrying my desk to the assembly hall, a few months before he passed on.

I had the honor of playing the piano during his funeral service that was graced by several distinguished dignitaries like President Mwai Kibaki. As his casket was being lowered in his grave inside the school chapel, I played a melodious Mozart piece.

Dr. Griffin was indeed a great man. As he resides on high, I will strive to follow his advice to Starehians: "If you are given a coffee cup to wash, wash it cleaner than any other cup that has ever been washed before."

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Farewell Advice I Received at Starehe".
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A Walk Down Memory Lane

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Jul 25, 2018
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
This is my beautiful home area of Kiserian.

Because Kiserian was bustling with life in the '90s, I made many friends. One girl I remember but can't really say I befriended was Irene, a daughter of Miss Alice, my Standard 1 to Standard 3 teacher.

Some years ago when I visited Naru-Moru Primary School where Miss Alice taught me, I was surprised to learn she was still in the school. We had a short cozy chat during which she told me Irene now works for the Kenya Police Service.

As for the boys I befriended, one of them was Robert Kahando who made me jealous, perhaps because he was more handsome than me. But we have remained friends over the years.

Then there was Thomas Waweru who was a classmate of my eldest brother Joe Kagigite. In 1995, Waweru was charged with the responsibility of opening our classrooms. He therefore had to report to school early.

The streams, the small valleys, the sloping paths we trod on - these were the landmarks in our lives. And so were Ngong Hills that form the western horizon of Kiserian.

Virtually all the streams that crisscross my home area are seasonal but they turn into mighty rivers during the rainy seasons. Back in the '90s, I sometimes heard they swept people away.

Yes, even the sloping paths we trod on were landmarks in our lives. And that's where I developed a love of walking which came in handy last year when I wanted to lose weight.

While walking on those paths in 1995, my classmates James Koigi, Timothy Ndiki and I sang our names and the year we were in. We would, for example, sing, "John Thuita Maina, 1995."

Several years ago when I touched base with Ndiki, he reminded me of that ditty as we reminisced about those halcyon days of our childhood years. We didn't have such a bad childhood after all.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Childhood Memories".
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Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Marital status: Single
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just for Laughs

There was this drunkard called Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination; I have therefore given up the things that weighed me down and I am now living my life to the fullest because the tomorrow I had always hoped to live my dreams may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tips

"So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help give you that greatest blessing of all - good health."

~From Your Body (A Ladybird Book)

Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

The Kind of Leaders We Need

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

To borrow the words of Elbert Hubbard, my supreme desire is to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry and jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so; to treat all men with kindness; and to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)