
The Franciscan Missionary Sisters of St Joseph established Asumbi Girls High School in Homa Bay County on March 19, 1936.
Asumbi started as a lower primary school sponsored by the Mill Hill Missionaries of the then Catholic Diocese of Kisumu. It progressed to an intermediate school and in 1965, enrolled the first secondary school students.
The primary school section was phased out in 1968 and today, the national school on a 20-acre piece of land is among the few offering art and design course.
Interestingly, the human skeleton in the biology lab belonged to one of the pioneer principals!
The girls in blue cherished rice and meat before retiring to St Catherine, St Benedict, St Claire, St Ursula and St Triza dormitories while those who were privileged had the Forest dorm.
The girls preferred clean-shaven heads, but still Kanga High School and Maseno School had hots for them.
Notable alumni guided by the motto ‘Integrity’ include Kisumu Deputy Governor Ruth Odinga-who was to join Kenya High School were it not for her father’s political feuds with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta; Prof Colleta Suda, Principal Secretary for Higher Education and Prof Florence Oyieke, Deputy Director, Student Welfare Authority, University of Nairobi.

Others who wore blue skirts, pullovers and white blouses were lawyer Cynthia Guya, Eunice Kidero, a budget analyst at USAID, Achieng Opondo, project assistant at Danish Refugee Council, Eunice Ochieng, the general manager at Domino’s Pizza and Perez Inda, a psychologist and counsellor.
It was here that Nilam Abdallah, head of radio at Capital FM 89 Juba, Nancy Kodera, editor at Nation Media Group and Mary Opiyo, a research officer at Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, attended church service in the morning and recited the rosary before evening preps.
Others who meditated at the school shrine include Modester Odhiambo, the treasurer at Gor Mahia Women Football Club, Lyndah K’oremo, the medical officer in-charge at Embu Level 5 Hospital and Belinda Agwena, a travel consultant with China Southern Airlines.
