Kenya honours
John Gomes
Kenya honours an outstanding Goan educator
President Uhuru Kenyatta has honoured John Gomes (ex Navelim), an educator and a humanist for his utter dedication for more than 30 years to the education of Kenyan children in a variety of towns, suburbs and provinces across the country. The Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya is indeed a very high honour and justly deserved. I will walk in the shadow of this man’s greatness, I will bask in the sunshine of humanity and smile every time I think of this great man, another Goan in the world’s tapestry of human greatness.
John Gomes said of the honour he received: “I am
extremely humbled to receive this great award from the President of Kenya. It
is indeed a great honour bestowed on me, my late wife and my family and for
that, I am truly thankful. My father inspired me to give back to the community
and as a lay missionary I was able to do that.
His Family: Desiree Gomes – Eldest Daughter Current Chairperson of the Goan Welfare Society in Nairobi and has been there since 2019. She is also the Managing partner of Engage Burson Cohn & Wolfe, one of the top communications agency in Kenya. She is a respected industry leader, she is a PRSK Lifetime Achievement ‘Golden Honours’ Award winner. She has also been at the forefront in providing mentorship and training opportunities for new entrants into the PR profession.
Fabiola Fernandes – Second daughter Fabiola is a former Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology in Goa, India having worked there for over 20 years. Fabiola has mentored many students who have gone on to work abroad in the hospitality industry. She is currently managing a popular café and bistro in Goa called Caravela. Fabiola is married to Baptist Fernandes and has two daughters Natalie Fernandes, also working in the hospitality industry and Amanda Fernandes who is in her final year of communication at St Xavier’s college in Goa.
Paloma Fernandes – Third Daughter Paloma is the Chief Executive Officer of the Cereal Millers Association in Kenya. The Cereal Millers Association reaches almost 35million consumers in Kenya with maize and wheat flour as well as other Cereals and pulses. She is passionate about food safety and works to ensure that food is safe for their consumers. She is also the founder of the Earth Angels Welfare which looks after the Mother Teresa homes in Kenya as well as many other schools and homes that are in need. She is married to Ian Fernandes – former Managing Director of Standard Group, Managing Director of Kenya Television Network, Managing Director at the Nation Group and CEO of Media Max Ltd. She has two daughters Georgia Fernandes who is studying Architecture in the University of Syracuse New York. She has also represented Kenya in Field Hockey and loves playing the drums. Kayleigh Fernandes is currently doing her Year 11 at Peponi school in Nairobi and plays the saxophone.
Paloma’s reaction to the honour bestowed on her
father: “Your legacy, your hard work, your dedication and your commitment to
improving the lives of everyone you taught and mentored has touched so many
lives across this country. This recognition by the His Excellency President
Uhuru Kenyatta is truly humbling and so well deserved. So proud of you dad.”
John and Annie Gomes
Sheer dedication
John Gomes left his home Goa in 1956 at the tender age of 22, as a lay Consolata missionary to head to the Port of Aden in Yemen to teach at St Anthony’s boys. In 1959, at age 25, he was asked to come and teach in Africa, and this appealed to him very much.
When he arrived in Kenya, the then
Bishop who liked him very much told him he would send him to Rome to become a
priest. John fondly knowns as ‘Mwalimu’ replied to him ‘I will do the work of
the priest without wearing a cassock’ and hence began his illustrious career as
a teacher and headmaster that spanned over 32 years in Kenya. He married Annie
Gomes fondly known as Mama in 1965. Together they created the family atmosphere
at each of the schools they were posted to, with ‘Mama’ being the mother, the
matron, the counsellor, the nurse, the cook and Mwalimu being the father, the
teacher, watchman, driver and the man with the ‘kiboko’ (whip or cane in
Swahili). They were loved and revered by all their students.
These are a list of the schools they
taught in:
1960 Mugoiri Girls
1962 Karima Boys, Othaya
1963 and 1965 Gaichanjiru Secondary School, Muranga
1964 Nyeri High School, Nyeri
1966-1970 St Mary’s Karumande Boys,
Gichugu Division, Kirinyaga
1970 to 1972 Kiburia Girls, Kirinyaga
1972 to 1991 Moi Equator Girls Nanyuki.
Bishop Ceasar Gatimu was impressed with this young man who was changing so many lives that he then posted him to St Mary’s School Karumande in Gichugu Division of Kirinyaga District in 1966. In 1970 Mwalimu and his wife Annie took over the running of Kiburia Girls School, where they completed building six classrooms, an administrative block and staff houses before he was transferred to Equator School in Nanyuki in 1972.
Equator Secondary School was working from a primary school and the immediate problem was to build infrastructure for the secondary school to run. As the then Vice President was passing the school and stopped for a brief visit with the girls on the roadside, Mwalimu decided to ask him to come and visit the school and, with his support, he built the Administration Block after which the school was named Moi Equator High School.
From 1972, with 39 students working from the sacristy of the school church, he single- handedly built 12 classrooms, four dormitories, five laboratories, seven staff houses, a well-equipped library and a hall that could accommodate 500 students. Mwalimu then went on to build a school farm with over 1000 chickens, 56 cattle, 65 pigs, 70 goats and 60 sheep amongst others.
Mwalimu was on call 24 hours a day counselling the girls. He and Mama would also double up as the ambulance driver and nurse and rush girls to hospital in the middle of the night if there was an emergency. John Gomes was also nicknamed Ghost, as he could catch any girls who by chance had got out of the boarding school and gone to a disco in town. Somehow, he would be driving into town and would catch them and bring them straight home. Mwalimu was concerned about his girls and always made sure they were on the straight and narrow. Discipline was high on the agenda.
Mama made sure that the girls got a special treat every week over and above the average food they ate. At school, the girls would get special treats every week including beef, chicken, pork, eggs, loaves of bread and bananas. However, every time the girls had a sports visit or a study trip, Mama would get up at 4 am and make traditional Goan ‘roast beef’ sandwiches for the girls along with eggs and bananas. They were the envy of many schools. Mama also was the nurse and counsellor for the girls, teaching them many skills. Just like any mother.
Between them, in the many schools they had been too, they came up with an empathic and vital way to deal with teenage pregnancies. While most schools would expel the girls, some of whom committed suicide due to rejection by both school and their parents, John and Annie would allow these girls to carry on studying until the last day when they were about to give birth. They would then talk to the parents about acceptance of the child, and then as soon as the girl gave birth would bring her back to school to complete her education to support her child. The girls and their parents never forgot this.
By 1990, the student population had
reached 520 girls from all over the country. The cost of constructing the
school was entirely from the savings of the school and four Harambees
(fundraisers). At that time, the fees were only Shillings1,350 per year for boarding,
tuition fees, exercise books, pens, pencils and erasers and yet Mwalimu managed
to build the infrastructure of the school.
After teaching in some of the remotest parts of Kenya, Mwalimu retired. He and Mama returned to Goa. When it was time to leave, 600 girls held them tight and refused to let them go. After many tears and promises that they would try and come back, they finally left. That night the girls for the first time in the history of their tenure, marched to the Chief’s office and insisted that they should be brought back to Moi Equator Girls School, there had never been a strike during Mwalimu’s tenure
Before departing for Goa, Mwalimu He asked the Bishop he there was any form of pension for lay missionaries. The Bishop put his hand on his shoulder and said to him “My dear Son, your reward will be in Heaven”.
John Gomes returned to Kenya in 2010 and has been living with his daughters in Kenya. Today, almost 50 years later, the alumni of Moi Equator Girls, Gaichanjiru Boys, Nyeri High that he founded, still get together every year to honour Mwalimu John Gomes and the Mama the late Annie Gomes. Moi Equator Girls School’s dining hall is named after him. The dormitory of Gaichanjiru Boys’ School built by one of his students in his honour is also named after him.
At the age of 86, he still carries on
his duty of educating children and sponsors many children to finish their
secondary education through his foundation. (Paloma Fernandes)
Way to go dad ...very very proud of your legacy
ReplyDeleteI feel honoured to be John Gomes product.
ReplyDeleteMy children are envious of my high school life, who would not, with chicken pilau for a whole term.