I was labeled a rebel for pursuing Arts instead of a Medical Degree

Fiona Adhiambo was in her Second Year at Maseno University when she discovered she was pregnant. With her boyfriend denying responsibility, Fiona felt her world had come crashing down.

However, she rose from her tough situation and went on to become a photographer, budding filmmaker and founder of a mentorship platform - the Jaber Foundation.

Fiona, now 26 years old, is the first of two girls in her family. Her mother is a nurse and her father a Kenya Defence Forces officer, and that is why she grew up in the Nanyuki Airbase barracks.

Mischievous child

Fiona studied at a school in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, briefly, before her parents transferred her to a school in Nyeri County.

“I was a bit of a wild child and I don’t want to relive that time in my life, but all I can say is I ran into some trouble and had some disciplinary cases.

“My parents decided it was best to transfer me to a school in the village so that I could sober up. You can imagine the culture shock – I was coming from a private school with many amenities and here I was now in a public, mixed school,” she says.

She struggled to cope with village life, but got used to it and made friends. Her passion for the arts emerged and she longed for a place she could express herself.

“It is then that I decided to start a journalism club. I encouraged people to join and submit articles we could pin up on the notice boards, but no one did. Day after day, I was the only one writing and pinning up articles,” she says.

Dreams are valid

Fiona says she was discouraged, but gained confidence in her writing abilities when one of her articles appeared on the readers’ opinions section of a local newspaper.

“This made me feel my dreams of pursuing journalism were valid,” she says.

After high school, Fiona’s parents sat her down and asked her what she wanted to pursue in college. Fiona says she was certain it was journalism.

“Ever since I was a young girl, I knew I wanted to pursue journalism, and even my dad knew it. I would watch TV and write sample news scripts and call my parents to watch me read the news. Although no one – except the furniture – showed up, I wasn’t discouraged.”

Fiona’s parents did not like the idea of her studying journalism.

For the ‘chosen few’

“We have a family friend who studied media but has struggled to find a job and my parents did not want to see me go down that road. My dad kept telling me journalism is for the chosen few. And I kept telling him, maybe I am one of those chosen few who will succeed at it.”

Since Fiona’s mum was a nurse and had risen up the ranks, her parents advised her to study medicine because she would be guaranteed of a job.

“But my heart was not there and my parents had to accept I was going to pursue journalism. They labeled me a rebel,” she said.Fiona pursued journalism at a university in Kisumu.

Pregnancy shocker

Just as Fiona was enjoying college life in 2012, she discovered she was pregnant. She was 22 and in Second Year.

“My parents were so disappointed. They said first I rebelled and went ahead to study a course that can take me nowhere, and then to make matters worse, I brought them shame by getting pregnant out of wedlock and while still in college,” she says.

To make matters worse, the father of the baby denied responsibility and her friends started to distance themselves from her. Determined to keep the baby, Fiona took a leave of absence from her studies and decided to go to her rural home “for a change of scenery”.

Her pregnancy was a rough one. “I ended up getting a C-section two weeks before I was due because my water broke but I had no labour pains. When we went to see the doctor, I was told I had a low-lying placenta, so my mum advised me to undergo a C-section to avoid putting me and my baby in danger.

“I had really wanted to have the baby naturally because I had heard horror stories about C-sections, but I was told it was the better option,” she says.

Fiona had a baby girl she named Jewel. With nothing much to do at her rural home, Fiona got bored until she stumbled upon photography.

“When Jewel was about six months old, I realised she liked to smile a lot. My uncle had a camera so I started taking photos of my baby. They came out beautifully and it is then I realised I had a natural talent for photography. I started borrowing his camera to take shots of different scenery and everyone said the pictures were beautiful,” she says.

Fiona applied for a job at a photography firm in Kisumu. She says she gained a lot of experience, but the pay was not good.

“I still could not support myself and my daughter so my mum took Jewel to ease the burden.”

In 2014, Fiona met a man whom she says supported her dreams and understood the long hours photographers work. “He was always there for me and did not mind the fact that I had a child, so we got married.”

After working for some time in the photography firm, Fiona decided to expand her scope and joined a local radio station as a producer in December 2014.

“There are people who have to go to school and study radio production to understand how things work, and even then, some don’t succeed. But for me, it came naturally.”

Fiona however did not get the fulfillment she used to get from photography. “The job was so routine – get up every morning, go to work, come back home. It was not exciting.”

Note to self - resign

On June 1, 2015, Fiona wrote a note in her diary that she would resign within three weeks. Though she was worried what her parents would think, she said she had to quit.

“My mother wondered what was wrong with me. She said, just when I get something good, I spoil it. I had been struggling to make ends meet with the other job and now here was a stable job and I was throwing it away, my mum said.”

Fiona went back to her rural home for three months as she plotted her next move.

The Jaber Foundation

Fiona said she wanted to form a company so she could be in more control of her time and she thought of film production. She said she tried to search for female film producers in Kisumu to connect with but couldn’t find any.

“It is then that I realised that Kisumu is a sleeping county when it comes to film production. In Kenya, I think I can count less than 10 well-known film producers, and in Kisumu, I cannot name a single person,” she says.

With that, she decided to take on the industry and started the Jaber Foundation - a mentorship platform for young girls and women who aspire to be in the film industry.

Jaber means a beautiful girl in Dholuo. She named the foundation as such because she wanted to inspire women to know they are beautiful the way they are and can achieve their dreams. It is registered as a community-based organisation.

Mother thinks she’s lost it

“My mum thought I had completely lost it this time. She asked me who just wakes up one day and decides to start a company? But to me I felt this was it,” Fiona says.

The Jaber Foundation’s first project - Humans of Kisumu - documents inspirational stories about people from Kisumu through photography.

“In October, during the breast cancer awareness month, we told stories of survivors and patients to keep hope alive.”

Next steps

Although Fiona is yet to produce any films, she plans to write a script and have an all-woman production team organise the filming. For now, the foundation is focused on mentoring aspiring filmmakers.

Fiona says she would like to continue with her studies, probably from next year (2017). She wants to specialise in film production.

Once she is more stable she wants to take over raising her daughter, Jewel, who is now four years old.

“My husband and I are looking at streamlining everything so we can start taking care of her and we plan to add another child to our family.”

She says it is important to follow your dreams, because in due course, everything works out.