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Eunice Muringo Kiereini is the nurse per excellence, Kenya's own Florence Nightingale. Born on September 24, 1939 in Kerugoya to parents who were both teachers, Eunice grew up with famous siblings Ambassador Robinson Njeru Githae and famous Kenyan writer based in the United States Micere Githae Mugo.
Eunice Muringo Githae attended Loreto High School in Limuru and then left the country to train as a nurse at Southampton General Hospital in the United Kingdom for three years from 1959-1962.
Eunice then joined the Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion in Edinburg for training in midwifery. After completing her midwifery training the young nurse retuned to Kenya and began working at the George VI Hospital (Kenyatta National Hospital).
She further trained at Victoria University of Nursing in Wellington New Zealand and then came back to the country where she took up the prestigious position of personal nurse to Kenya's first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. It was while working as nurse for the president that she met and married Jeremiah Kiereini a renowned Nairobi business man and former head of the Civil Service.
Eunice was an outstanding brilliant nurse. She was the chief nursing officer at the ministry of health from 1968 to 1986. During her tenure Eunice made significant contributions to the Kenyan nursing education sector.
She was instrumental in the formation of the of the National Nurses Association in 1967. Eunice greatly contributed to the development of the first advanced nursing course in East Africa which was offered at the University of Nairobi.
She was the first African President of the International Council of Nurses from 1981 to 1985 and was one of the founding members of the Kenya Water for Health Organisation. She was the first African woman on the global commission for AIDS at the World Health Organisation and was also the first ever Kenyan woman to receive an honorary degree from the University of Tel Aviv.
After a lucrative medical career, the 78-year-old has slowed down to enjoy retirement. Mother to the late Githae Kiereini, Eunice will be remembered for her contribution to the nursing sector in Kenya and for her sterling performance as a nurse.
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