There was joy and funfair in Embu when a group of women who left school 49 years ago at Nguviu Girls Secondary School reunited for the first time with their former headmistress.
The women who were the 1977 Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE) pioneer class at the school and in retirement age feted their former headmistress Mrs. Rafaili Wangai Njagi at a colorful event held at a hotel in Embu Town.
Mrs. Njagi, 82, who was also the founder of the school retired in 2002 after serving as the school head for 32 years from 1970.
The women who have been meeting occasionally to reconnect managed to trace one another from different parts of the country using social media platforms.
However, three of their colleagues out of a class of 38 have passed on with the remaining devoted to their annual get-together party that started in 2019.
This year, they decided to incorporate their headmistress who a majority of them have never met since they left school.
The alumnae heaped praises on their former head teacher for the role she played in molding them to be successful and respectable women in different spheres of life through her mentorship, guidance, and discipline.
Former Head Girl, Phyllis Muthoni, said it was the lessons drawn from her stewardship and advice that have shaped their lives up to date.
She said her lastborn daughter who is also an alumni of the school was also lucky to find the headmistress at the school but retired while she was in form two.
Another alumnus, Grace Ndugu said it was a thrilling moment to reconnect with their former headmistress and mentor close to half a century later.
“We even did not know what we were expecting during our meeting but we are very excited to find the same beautiful and elegant woman,” Mrs. Ndugu said.
Beatrice Mwaniki, another alumnus, had fond memories of Mrs. Njagi who she said played a big role in her marital life.
She said: “This lady was my destiny connector. After I completed my form six in Kyeni Girls, she came home and took me to Nguviu to teach and there I met the man of my life in the same school.”
“Nguviu is everything to me, it molded me as a little girl and gave me an opportunity to meet the man of my life,” she said, adding that she was the one who also took her to the hospital to give birth to her firstborn.
On her part, Mrs. Wangai said it was a momentous event she will cherish for life, saying it was a great honor they had bestowed on her as teachers are normally not envied by their students.
“It was one of the most wonderful encounters in my life to have students inviting me after 47 years. I felt they have taken me in a special way and I bless them,” she said.
She amid laughter said she was everything to the girls; a mother, driver, teacher, secretary, matron, cateress, and doctor.
The women said they will, going forward, organize meetings with students at their former school to mentor them through the professionalism and experience they have amassed over the years.
By Samuel Waititu
