By Shirley Genga

She spends the first few minutes of our meeting trying to convince me that there are women who have made far greater strides. But Jane Nyakang’o is an achiever by any standard.

Despite having grown up in abject poverty in Kisii, the seventh born among eight siblings, Jane has well and truly achieved a successful career’s after walking the bumpy road her life has taken.

Jane receives the Chevening Fellowship in 2006 from the then British ambassador Sir Edward Clay. It is awarded to mid-level managers who have shown exemplary leadership skills.

"My father was bedridden for 15 years before he died. All we knew is that he lost coherence in the early 1970’s. My mother, who was uneducated, was forced to cater for us single-handedly. We were peasants and often survived on only one meal a day. Despite her shortcomings, mother instilled the value of hard work and education in us," says Jane.

Jane poured all her energy into her education.

"It was like an escape for me — the one thing that I was better at than everyone else", she says.

Her passion for books paid off and she passed her final exams at Nyanchwa Primary School with 3A’s — the best grade at the time.

She says: "After receiving my results I remember crying and asking God why he would give me such good grades if he knew I could not afford secondary schooling. But my elder sister refused to give up; she knocked on everyone’s door and finally convinced our MP, Mr Benson Kegoro, to pay my fees. I went to Alliance Girls’ High School and later to Kenyatta University for a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry."

She married her husband, who was a computer manager, during her second year in campus in 1988.

"Our first son was born in 1990. The following year, I got a job as a research officer at Kenya Industrial Research and development Institute (Kirdi)," she says.

Jane applied for various scholarships and, by the end of 1993, got a fellowship programme to Netherlands. She took off to Denmark for a six months course on Renewable Energy and Environmental Technology.

Jane audits the delta Ice water bottling plant.

But while abroad the worst occurred. Her husband, only 34 at the time, got caught up in a shoot-out, was shot six times in the back and died on the spot.

"My heart broke — I even tried to commit suicide while on the plane to Kenya. I tried to break a window and jump out but a priest from Bujumbura, who was seated beside me, consoled me," a tearful Jane remembers.

Jane describes how deeply her husband’s death devastated her.

"I loved him too much and felt as though a part of me had died with him. It felt as though my future had crumbled. I then rejected the scholarships and only later did my boss counsel me and write to the Netherlands Embassy, asking them to readmit me," says Jane.

So deep was her pain that she neglected her children — she failed to notice that they too, were hurting.

"My son, who was then five years old came home from school and gave me a Bible his teacher had given him. He said he did not want me to die but grow to be very old; that the teacher had told him the Bible would help me. That was the turning pointing in my life. For the first time since my husband’s death, I realised that my children too were hurting and they needed me to be strong," says Jane.

She went back for a Masters degree in Environmental Science and Technology at Delf University, Netherlands in 1995.

"It was hard leaving my two boys behind but I knew eventually they would also benefit. I worked hard and graduated two years later with a distinction," she says

Jane then returned to the country and continued to work at Kirdi. In 1997, she was promoted to Senior Research Officer and in 2000 got to head the Energy and Environment Division.

"I declined an invitation for a PhD program at the University of Massachusetts because I wanted to be with my children," says Jane.

At Kirdi she is tasked with the responsibility of coming up with development projects.

She says: "Drawing from the knowledge I gathered in the Netherlands, I realised Kenya needed to build a capacity centre for protecting the environment and ensuring resource efficiency. The centre assists industries to reduce pollution and use energy, water and raw materials more efficiently."

She gave her proposal to the United Nation Development Project (UNDP) and they agreed to fund it. When they advertised for a director in 2000, Jane successfully applied and became the first director, at 34.

Jane with her sons, Elvis and Collins.

With help from Kirdi, the government and other international organisation the National Cleaner Production Centre tasked with promoting cleaner production in Kenyan industries, was born.

"We come up with strategies on how a company could use less energy and raw materials in production and reduce environmental pollution. When a company calls us, we evaluate their production level; examine the procedures and the quality of material used. Unfortunately only a few big companies understand the benefits. What companies do not realise is that the more wasteful they are, the more inefficient and less competitive they become," says Jane.

The experts, when called in to audit a factory, have sometimes reduced waste levels by up to 30 per cent.

Says she: "We are currently working with 12 companies, including Mumias, Kenyatta National Hospital, East African Portland Cement and Oserian Flower farm. Some of them have been asked to improve their production by NEMA, and we help them do that. We assess their energy consumption and environmental pollution level and try to lower these to effecient levels."

The Cleaner Production award, supported by several UN organisations, the Ministry of Industrialisation and companies, among them Pwani Oil, Bidco, BOC gases and Nairobi, Gertrude and Mater hospitals has been rewarding companies that engage in environment -friendly production.

"We look also at companies whose top management is committed to this cause," she says.

Because the UNDP provided funding for only three years, she had to solicit for funding.

"I have learnt to multi-task and have returned to school for an MBA in Strategic Management. We have grown from a staff of three to 15. In 2006, the Centre became a Trust and this has helped it grow because it is easier to raise funds. My greatest hope is that one day we shall become a government parastatal," says Jane.

Her advice to other women is that they learn to be independent so that in case of divorce or a husband’s death, they can take care of their family.

"I always imagine how bad it would have been had I refused to work because my husband was a manager. When your husband dies you are alone, women should remember that.

Do your part to provide for the family no matter how small your contribution," advises Jane.

Her first son Collins, is currently studying finance at the Penn State University in the USA, while Elvis is in Form Three at Alliance Boys High School.