Top scholar and avid environmentalist

Edwin Cheserek

Born and brought up in poverty and hardship in Marakwet District, Grace Jerotich defied all odds to become an accomplished academician. Having faced numerous hurdles in her childhood and upbringing to pursue her education, she is now enjoying the pay-off at the helm of Moi University School of Environmental Studies.

She heads the department of Applied Environmental Sciences. Prior to her appointment as the head of the department in 2006, Grace was a lecturer for five years.

"I got it by merit," says a happy Grace, one of the few women with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Marakwet District.

Grace with her sons Ryan Kemboi and Glen Kipchumba during her graduation at Moi University in December 2007 when she received her PhD. [PHOTOS: COURTESY]

When Woman’s Instinct caught up with her at her office in Mackay Building in the University, a gentle, polite and friendly Grace granted us an interview, her humility almost overshadowing the academic giant she is.

forced circumcision

Grace was born and brought up in Marakwet, where cattle rustling and banditry is the order of the day. But the hostile environment did nothing but give her more courage and determination to achieve her dreams.

A jovial Grace survived forced circumcision and early marriage because her father was a staunch Christian who valued education over retrogressive cultural practices.

"Most girls were forced to terminate their education due to the rampant cattle rustling and banditry. Most of my friends were married off at a tender age but I chose to pursue and achieve what the future had for me despite the intolerable situation back home," she says.

She did her secondary education at Kapkenda High School in Keiyo District and was fortunate to be among the only five girls who achieved university cut-off points.

Inspiring father

The single mother of two says she not only became the first girl to go to high school in her former primary school but also among the few girls to join university in the larger Marakwet District.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work, she landed a job with an NGO, where she worked for two years. She then decided to quit and pursue her Masters in Environmental Studies at Moi University.

"I developed an interest in environmental issues while working with the NGO and I decided to use my little savings to pursue further education in this topical area," says Grace.

The first born in a family of ten, Grace says her father, Cheserek Suter, inspired her a lot despite the fact that he was illiterate.

He passed on while she was doing her Masters and Grace took the responsibility of educating her siblings.

"My mother had no job and I had to support her and the rest of the family after my father who was the breadwinner died," she says.

It was after her Masters education that she was employed as a lecturer at the university.

She recalls: "I had to struggle to develop myself while educating my five brothers and four sisters and tending to my two children, Ryan Kemboi and Glen Kipchumba who I got while doing my PhD. At the same time, there were syllabus deadlines to beat."

But being one not to easily be downcast, she overcame the overwhelming challenges just as she had waded through difficulties in her childhood.

"I believe that no problem of any magnitude will bar me from achieving my dreams," she declares.

Her promotion came calling after she did her PhD in Moi University and Free University, Berlin in Germany through an exchange programme. She now manages about 50 Masters and PhD students and thousands of undergraduates, which she says is no mean feat.

"Managing people, especially those who are older than me requires strategy and confidence," she says.

Climate change is real

So she falls back on the tips gleaned from some short courses she took in strategic management.

Through her job as a lecturer, Grace has travelled far and wide, to South Africa, Germany, China, Ethiopia and many others, taking short courses and attending international conferences.

Being in a cutting edge field, Grace notes that we are faced by environmental disasters such as droughts and floods which lead to crop failure and disillusion among the pastoral communities. Climate change is real and as a country we must obtain adaptation skills.

"We should move away from politically-driven environmental awareness to integrated environmental management strategies that involve communities in environmental conservation," says Grace.

Of importance is conservation of water towers such as Mau, Mt Kenya, Aberdares Ranges and Cherangany Hills. Grace has spearheaded the training of section heads at Moi University on environmental conservation.

She recently coordinated World Environment Day celebrations on June 5. Staff of the School of Environmental Studies visited victims of the landslide in Sambalat and highlighted critical issues of Embobut forest conservation to the residents.

Get your own money

Grace advises women to get their own money and thriving careers so that they are not ruined by dependency on men.

"Most men want women whose education and income levels are lower than theirs [the men’s] so that they can control them. There are men who want women to remain inferior and backward. That’s what the father of my children wanted, but I was not going to play dumb just to soothe his ego. He eventually left," says the single mother, who says she is stable and does not wish to get married. She is now keen on bringing up her children.

"My role model is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton because she is a shrewd as well as focused woman," she says.

As community service, Grace goes to her village, Kipsaya, in Marakwet West District, to train women and youth on positive thinking.