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She Turned Down an Award in Protest At Poor Standards(The Nation (Kenya) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)She has handled over a million books, read almost each one of them and, at 74, is still reading. She has, however, authored none of these books. Welcome to the world of a daughter of three worlds - Geetje Wakuraya Wanjohi. Born in Holland, emigrated to Canada and eventually married in Kenya, the life of world renowned descriptive cataloguer, Wakuraya, is a study in professional excellence. And, in her passion for accuracy and professionalism, last week Wakuraya declined to accept an award for her contribution to the advancement of librarianship in Kenya. The award giving ceremony was organised by the Kenya Library Association (KLA). "The standards of librarianship in Kenya are so low that I cannot pride myself to have contributed to its advancement ... I cannot accept a recognition award from an unprofessional organisation like KLA," Wakuraya told Lifestyle in an interview in her office in Nairobi. She says the association had failed to improve the standards of librarianship in Kenya. "Walk into any academic, research, public, school or private library and you will know what I am talking about. Retrieval of information materials in some of these libraries is a nightmare. What has the association done to improve that? nothing!" Wakuraya laments. Because of the association's failure to maintain standards, she says, it was denied membership to the Association of Professional Societies of East Africa (APSEA). Some public and private institutions, she says, strive to set up libraries for internal use, but fail to employ professional librarians and instead engage those they can pay very little to do basic work. Now a library consultant, Wakuraya served as the chief librarian for 12 years at the United Nations Habitat, Gigiri, where she helped set up a modern library in 1979. Before joining the UN, she had worked as a cataloguer for about three years (1973-76) at the University of Nairobi. Professional advice Wakuraya also assisted in setting up Bakhita Documentation Centre at Adams Arcade besides providing professional advice to numerous public and private libraries. However, owing to lack of qualified personnel to manage these institutions, most of them have collapsed. Wakuraya and three other retired librarians are currently running Library and Information Support Services (LISS), a non-governmental organisation registered in 1999. The organisation offers consultancy services in, among others, cataloguing, classification, indexing, collection development, design and management of both bibliographic and non-bibliographic database and information needs assessment. Wakuraya and her team are located at the Rahimtulla Trust Library Building on Mfangano Street, Nairobi where they are establishing a model library in Kenya. "To achieve our objective, we are appealing to local and international foundations, companies and individuals for support to enable us employ qualified librarians," she appeals. Wakuraya, who is also the secretary-general of the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK), that brings together Christians, Muslims and Hindus, regrets the poor reading culture among Kenyans. "Most Kenyans read newspapers with religious zeal, but give very little or no consideration at all about reading books and other publications," she said. Which is why, according to Wakuraya, most Kenyans lack curiosity and critical thinking but are 'experts' in political analysis. Turning to students, she says that some of them just read to pass examinations but not to enhance their knowledge. Born in 1932 in Holland to a middle class family of eight, Wakuraya's father, T. Andrianus Buis was a small scale businessman and her mother, M. Antje Buis-Beens, a house wife. She is the second born in a family of six girls and two boys. Her parents lived in a city called Eindhoven. In those days, Dutch people cherished large families. Her father came from a family of 10 while her mother from a family of 11. The family immigrated to Canada in 1948. At the time of their immigration, she had completed secondary school education. Her first job in Canada was with Phillips International as a store clerk. After a few months, she quit the job to work as an nanny for a wealthy family. She worked for this family for about six months before her pastor assisted her to secure a job with a local bank. She worked for the bank in a town called Winnipeg for nine years, earning US$100 per month (Sh7,200 at today's exchange rate). At 23 (in 1956), Wakuraya fell in love with a young man and they planned to marry. However, three months before the wedding day, on August 15, 1956, the young man drowned in a swimming pool. In 1960, Wakuraya quit her job at the bank and went back to school. She first enrolled at a theological college in Michigan, USA. However, after one year, she abandoned theological studies and enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts course majoring in English, History and Philosophy at Calvin College. The course took her four years. In 1964, she took an aptitude test, which gave her the direction to librarianship having developed interest in books. She later joined McGill University for her master's degree course in Library Science. She also studied French and German. Because she wanted to master the French language, she joined a French speaking university (University of Montreal), and took advanced studies into language. Met husband At this university, Wakuraya met her husband; a young Kenyan who was doing his PhD studies. The two had one thing in common, they loved foreign languages. "We knew something between us was in the air, but we kind of avoided getting too outright with it." Wakuraya offers. The moment of reckoning came when one of their lecturers, a Lebanese, organised a party for his students and arranged the seating in a way that Wakuraya and the young Kenyan sat together. On this day, nothing major happened between them. The relationship became full blown in early May 1969, when Wakuraya, who was working as a cataloguer on the ninth floor of the university building, walked to the file cards department a few floors below. At the department, the two met, and Wakuraya was the first to break the ice by asking the young Kenyan how he was doing with his thesis. "He replied by writing the answer on a piece of paper. At the back of the paper, he wrote a request for my telephone number," she remembers with a smile. Three months later, on August 8, 1969, Wakuraya walked down the isle to tie the knot with, Gerald Wanjohi (now Dr Gerald Wanjohi). It was exactly the same day and month when Wakuraya's parents got married in 1929. Their wedding was attended by only invited friends and close relatives. A few months after their marriage, Wanjohi, then 36, completed his studies and had to come back home after living in Canada for 10 years. When Dr Wanjohi arrived home with his wife, his family welcomed them with a lot of enthusiasm. And because Wanjohi's family could not pronounce the maiden name "Geetje" they named her "Wakuraya" which means someone from a far country. Armed with his PhD, Dr Wanjohi was employed as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi's department of Philosophy. He later moved to Kenyatta University in the same department. Dr Wanjohi has written many books including African Proverbs, Kikuyu World Views. The couple has two adopted children, Karen and Timothy. Karen is married with three children. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com) |