The Big Brother Initiative is an initiative of a group of Stareheans who having passed through the Starehe System, through Dr. Geoffrey Griffin and through Kenya’s social, political, economic and educational landscape, have found the need to impart unto others the ideals, ethos and qualities of leadership and service that have not only made Starehe what it is but will make the world a better place to be in. Our motivation is to see a perfect or near-perfect society where all live in harmony, peace and responsibility under the common cord of love and brotherhood as exemplified by The Starehe Way. The Big Brother Initiative is also to fulfill the charge as handed down to us by the Founders of Starehe thus:
“I charge you never to forget the great benefits you have received in this place; and in time to come, according to your means, to do all that you can to enable others to enjoy the same advantage. And remember that wherever you go, you carry with you the good name of Starehe. May God Almighty bless you in your ways, and keep in you the knowledge of his love, now and for ever.”
This initiative has been inspired by the reality of the wave of violence that has haunted this nation ranging from Post-Election Violence, High School Violence, University Violence and a myriad of other forms of violence that clearly indicate gross disjoint and discontent in the Kenyan as well as international society. We therefore commission ourselves to expand the Starehe Way as once stated by
Dr. Geoffrey Griffin:
“As we all know, the world is passing through a difficult time. We see around us all too many people of ability but no conscience – who, if they feel it is to their personal advantage, will abandon without scruple the responsibilities entrusted to them. We see people who have no conception of the word ‘service’, and whose only touchstone in any situation is the question: “How will it benefit me?” We see young people who are bewildered and unruly, venting their frustration through strikes in their schools and colleges.
“Here at Starehe, we are not afraid of words like ‘duty’, ‘discipline’, ‘service or ‘courtesy’. We do not subscribe to that sickness of the mind which will describe such virtues as old-fashioned. Rather, we look upon them as the eternal pillars by which man raises himself above the animals and towards God. Nor shall we be content to pay lip-service to such ideals, but will labour constantly to present them as living and vital realities to the boys in our charge.”
We believe that the present and future generations are built by the current individuals and the qualities we intend to inculcate are nurtured and will require time to grow and mature into perfection. That is why our chief objective is “Nurturing Student Leadership” in which we train students how to be good leaders, how to work together with the administration, how to work best with other students, the community and among themselves. The skills imparted are of eternal and of lifelong benefits to the individuals as well as the institutions that strive to employ them. We also believe that nobody should fail in life simply because they lacked knowledge or exposure or motivation from older, more experienced members of the society. That is why our training is also driven by the principle of giving back to the community by way of encouraging students to always go back to their former primary schools, high schools and even universities in order to motivate and be real role models to the upcoming generations. This is a double edged tool of motivation that enables the young to be more ambitious (to achieve like or better than the generations before them) and the old to aim even higher for the sake inspiring the generations behind them.
The following among others are some of the aspects of student leadership training we handle taking to account that leaders are not only born but also made and nurtured!
· Academics – Techniques of study, revision, passing examinations, balancing academics with other responsibilities/ extra-curricula activities, etc
· Time Management – Being in control of time to one’s advantage by punctuality, meeting deadlines, setting priorities, time-tabling, scheduling, etc
· Effective Leadership – Action Centered Leadership emphasizing on good leadership qualities, skills for effective leadership, nurturing leadership, etc
· Teamwork and Team building – Skills for uniting/ bonding people, achieving goals, Building confidence, networking, motivation, responsibility, delegation, etc
· Decision making and problem solving – Acquiring wisdom, judgment skills, management skills, peace building, conflict resolution, crisis management, sills for problem solving and decision making, etc
· Communication skills – Effective methods of communicating, etiquette, good manners, confidence, public speaking, mob control, intelligence,
· Interactions – Prefects-Prefect, Prefect-Student, Prefect-Administrators, Prefect-Staff, Prefect-Club Leaders, Prefect-Friends, Prefect-Parents, Prefect-public, etc
· Self awareness and circles of influence – Understanding ones personality and other personality traits, dealing with ones strengths and weaknesses, talent identification and nurturing, personal growth and development, self esteem, self discipline, etc
· Roles of student leaders – the responsibilities, the privileges, the benefits, the duties, etc
· Obstacle Course – Practical application of the above topics in real life situations, bonding activities, strategy building, ice-breaking, etc
In order to cover these areas of interest we use, among others, the following modes of training:
· Talks
· Presentations,
· Workshops,
· Camps,
· Interactions,
We prefer training individual institutions in order to meet their institution-specific demands and challenges. The forums of training are tailored to involve exclusively student leaders, exclusively administrators/ staff or both administrators/staff and student leaders; as an institution may desire. We also do encourage exchange of ideas between different institutions in common forums, in which case the exposure and interaction of ideas is central.
We target all categories of student leaders such as club leaders, games captains and, most important, school prefects, representatives and captains. Our training can be extended to the school administration on how to work well with student leaders.
The Big Brother Initiative has so far extended its services to the following institutions:
· Starehe Boys’ Centre, Nairobi
· Starehe Girls’ Centre, Kiambu
· Aga Khan High School, Nairobi
· St. Matthews High School, Nairobi.
· Utumishi High School, Gilgil
· St. Charles Lwanga High School, Kitui
· Kitui District Schools Prefects’ Seminar
· Prefects Seminar of schools from Nairobi, Rift Valley & Central at Utumishi Academy.
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