Chasing Creativity: Using a Sufuria as a Satellite Dish

A True Story

by Thuita J. Maina

on Aug 14, 2018

Picture related to the title of the story — *Image from Goalcast.*

Ever since I was a child, I've always wanted to create something. When I was nine, for instance, I tried making a piano from a carton my parents gave me, but I soon abandoned the project because I didn't have the know-how to make one.

And when I was on a school holiday from Starehe Boys' Centre in 2004, I tried using an old sufuria as an aerial, or as a satellite dish as I like to think, to make our then analogue TV display clear images. The experiment didn't work.

It was around then that I fell into an argument with Symo, my kid brother, when he told me that everything that could be invented had been invented. When he couldn't take it anymore, he asked me what had not been invented yet.

"Of course, if I mention something," I retorted in Kikuyu, "it means it has been invented. It's that which has not been invented that I can't mention because I don't know what it is."

Symo, who has now changed his view, wasn't the first one to think everything that could be invented had been invented. Charles H. Duell, a former U.S. commissioner of patents, is rumored to also have thought so in 1899.

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Also check out "Rich in the Things That Mattered".

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Favorite Teachers: A Schooling Journey

Memories

by Thuita J. Maina

on Aug 10, 2018

I started my formal education at Naru-Moru Primary School in 1993 and schooled all the way to university. Today, I thought it wise to tell you my favorite teachers from my schooling journey. ("One per school, please!" I hear you say.)

At Naru-Moru Primary School, it was Mr. Mureithi who taught us science when I was in Standard 4 in 1997. He liked taking us to the fields, and when lunchtime neared, he'd release us one by one with questions like, "What is chlorophyll?"

At Kunoni Educational Centre where I finished off primary school, it was Mr. Oketch who taught us math and science. He had a passion for the subjects that shone through in his lessons, which he spiced up with stories from his life.

At Starehe Boys' Centre, it was Mr. Martin Moore who taught us history. He liked starting his lessons with fun facts. But some of my classmates' fondest memories of him were the extra credits he gave for tackling questions well.

At JKUAT where I enrolled in May 2007 to pursue engineering, it was Prof. Paul Njoroge who taught us Communication Skills. He became a good friend of mine when I gave him a copy of Tony Buzan's The Speed Reading Book.

He in turn lent me four books: John Marks' Science and the Making of the Modern World, Bill Clinton's memoir (My Life), and biographies of Nelson Mandela and Joseph P. Kennedy (patriarch of the legendary Kennedy family).

At the University of Nairobi, where I enrolled in 2010 to pursue political science after dropping out of JKUAT in 2009, it was the eloquent Prof. Adams Oloo. I enjoyed his lectures and the contributions I made. Great teachers change lives.

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Also check out "Miss Alice's Vibe Check".
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