PHOTO:

Harison Maina during his graduation celebration at VFW Hall, Melrose MA on June 26, 2021.PIC BY MOSES MATHENGE/AJABU MEDIA

By:

MOSES MATHEGE

Posted:

Aug,27-2021 06:59:29

The classic stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Gulliver’s Travels’ and the Biblical story of Jacob share one major similarity. The lead characters took way too long to achieve their goals. Gulliver’s seven day return voyage lasted seven long years of hardships while Jacob’s quest for a bride took him twice as long in servitude. One Kenyan man’s story in the Diaspora may qualify for those classic stories in its own right.

When this Kenyan armed with a bachelors degree in education (Business Studies, Economics minor) optimistically boarded an airplane at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi in pursuit of further studies in America, nothing could have prepared him for more than the two to three years it normally takes to attain a Masters. That is why for the guests who attended the glamorous graduation party late in June, few could have imagined what Harrison Maina, had endured to achieve the academic crown that he donned that moment. He took twenty long years, thanks to his resilience and determination that finally culminated in a colorful and glorious graduation ceremony held on Saturday June 26th 2021, at the Melrose’s VFW Hall, to celebrate his success.

In a speech that commanded the guests to silence, Harrison narrated the story of his long road to Masters, the story that is now the talk of the town. He spoke of great sacrifice and resilience in the face of huge obstacles. In his remarks, Harrison observed that, “Even though I have graduated with a Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis Science today, I don’t regret that I have studied a lot of other courses along the way, most of which have made me who I am today”.

Harrison Maina and his family, mother, father, sister, children and nephew during the graduation party at the VFW Hall in Melrose, MA on Saturday, June 26th, 2021.

The ceremony was packed with motivational speakers and mentors who weren’t short of humor. Having driven all the way from New York with her friend Domtillah Ochieng to celebrate with Ajabu, Dr Judith Obiero (Doctor of Philosophy in Education Management), one of the 250 Ajabu Diaspora Support Network Whatapp group members attending the event, cracked the guests with laughter when she accidentally denied herself the title she worked so hard for before making a clarification. “I am not a doctor”. She paused before clarifying that, “I am not a medical doctor”. Someone in the crowd shouted “Come on, a doctor is doctor”. She challenged Kenyans who didn’t believe that they could make it in academics, saying that she too went back to school as a working adult and a parent.

“Juggling work and school wasn’t easy but the reward and joy of completing is here for us all to see. That is why I couldn’t miss out on this occasion,” she revealed.

Harrison arrived in the USA mid 1999 with a goal to attaining a Masters of Business Administration degree. With no proper support, he did not attend college until three years later when he enrolled for a course in Information Technology at the North Eastern University. He dropped out of school to support his new wife and their first child as the sole breadwinner. Luckily, this was just after acquiring some basic computer programming skills. He then used them to start his first business, a blog. The blog, popularly known as EAUnited.com , quickly gained popularity becoming the first online networking resource bringing Kenyans and east Africans in New England together. His business however barely broke even in terms of revenue and thus depended on other sources to keep it afloat. He sold curios, insurance policies and even had a stint at human services, before he finally came up with Ajabu Ventures, the parent company to Ajabu Africa Media.

On the media side of the business, Ajabu focused on telling African stories, informing the diaspora community on happenings around them, announcing fundraisers and deaths, connecting the community to the local and state governments as well as inspiring positive change through advertisements, sports coverage, graduations and more. He also helped design websites for many churches, non-profits and small business organizations giving them a much needed online presence.

Ajabu, as he’s commonly known had finally begun to live the American Dream. He embarked on helping other members of his family migrate to America. He draws great inspiration from his two children Joy and Mark. He also draws a lot of inspiration when he meets many Ajabu Africa readers, whether physically or online, who compliment him on the extra hard work he does to keep them informed about real life issues in the diaspora not covered anywhere else.

However, his bubble was soon to be burst. In the course of running business, he found himself embroiled in an expensive and time consuming legal tussle that hanged a very dark cloud over his head for 8 years. As the case dragged on, Ajabu’s American dream almost turned into a nightmare as his marriage crumbled under the severe financial difficulties and uncertain outcomes. Amid all that Ajabu made the wild decision to enroll back in school. “It wasn’t easy; I had to juggle between parenting, paying bills and school. By default, parenting and paying bills always seemed to take priority over school but I had to remain focused,” Ajabu narrated.

Ajabu’s cousin, Dr. Joan Kamata who recently graduated as a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Umass Lowell, recalled how like Ajabu, she struggled with juggling being a wife and a mother of three, while attending medical school. She inspired young girls to consider medicine as a career choice. She was honored with a graduate’s cake and the bestowed with the task of assisting Ajabu cut his graduation cake.

Inspiring future graduates: Dr. Joan Kamata (partially hidden) Chef Ninah and their children join pastor Njeri Koko in cutting the cake to celebrate Maina's graduation as his children ( far right) look on.

A popular Boston-based gospel artiste Mary Munyiri shed light on the many community organization efforts that Harrison had made. She regretted that she had unceremoniously quit as the chair person of one such organization, (New England Kenyan Welfare Organization), when she was confronted with the real challenges of her position. “ I quit on Ajabu and the organization at large but Ajabu soldiered on”. The Kiheo hit-maker concluded “I have lot of respect for him and I can attest that he is a true community leader”.

Munyiri’s sentiments were echoed by Dr. Symon Maringa, a long time Boston resident and friend to Ajabu. He described Ajabu as very passionate and attributed that quality to his ability to attend school at his age and still take care of his children. “Of all the community events I have known him to organize, they were always for the Kenyan community and never tribal in nature”.

Maringa noted that Ajabu’s passion was that of a great nationalist.

Of the notable side shows during the evet, was that of men who shared a table and picked up a discussion on the alarming rate at which the boy child in America has continued to lag behind the girls, academically speaking. The discussion observed that young Kenyan men in the diaspora are dropping out of high school to pursue informal jobs such as truck driving despite their great academic potential, right here in the land of opportunities!

A prominent businessman and accomplished Master of Ceremonies at Kenyan events, Mr. Thuo Karugu, expressed how difficult he has found it to mentor young men lately. He cited that majority of the graduation ceremonies he has presided over in the recent past were for girls. Another parent narrated how helpless he felt when his son opted out of school immediately he got his first summer job. “When I kept on pushing him about schooling, he packed and went to live with his friends. I was so furious but he is over 18 (years) what do I do with the American government?” asked the dejected parent.

The frustrations were expressed at a time when the number of young first generation Americans of Kenyan decent are documented as homeless have shot up rapidly.

Many more are currently languishing in the American court system with drugs and weapon possession cases as the Kenyan immigrant community looks the other way for lack of community wide civic structures that could mitigate such issues of dire consequences.

Some members of the Ajabu Diaspora Support Network WhatsApp group attending the graduation event.

In his pursuit of informing and empowering the Kenyan community in diaspora, Ajabu has time and again found himself on the not so good side of the church leadership uncomfortable with reporting of unpleasant developments negatively impacting community members within church circles.

This however did not stop an impressive number of the clergy from gracing his graduation ceremony in contradiction to the misconception among some Kenyans in Boston that Ajabu is an enemy of the clergy.

Bishop Wachira of Christ is the Answer Church gave a detailed account of his journey with Ajabu in America before urging him and the congregation to turn to God.

Pastor Kihiko of Calvary Church reminded the congregation “the days of the biblical Moses and Elijah are gone and they are not coming back”. He challenged the ‘Ajabus’ in reference to the educated, to turn to God and to “consult the members of clergy for spiritual guidance and knowledge”.

Ajabu’s father Mr. Charles Maina, spoke of how his son had always been focused and dedicated ever since his teenage years. He expressed gratitude towards his son who had paved way for their family’s (wife and daughter-Ajabu’s sister who is now a registered nurse) migration to America, when they least expected it.

The climax of the event was marked by cutting of a beautiful; graduation cake led by pastor Josephine Koko with Harrison surrounded by his children and immediate family. Among them was sister Nina popularly known as Chef Ninah, and brother in-law Sammy Kitonga and cousin, Caesar Macharia, an MBA holder working as a financial analyst in Boston.

Maina is now focused mainly on helping children suffering from Autism and related disorders learn the skills needed to promote their independence and quality of life. At the same, time, he aims to help Kenyan and African diaspora parents gain accurate information regarding the still misunderstood Autism disorder as well as gain access to the much needed, effective and evidence based therapy for their children in a timely fashion.

While many other Kenyans and Africans in the diaspora may have gone through a similar experience, Ajabu Maina clearly endured an experience that he felt worth sharing with others in the hope that it may inspire someone who may be at a breaking point!

If you are a Kenyan or African immigrant going through some of the social, educational or economic issues addressed above and need help to navigate them, please reach Maina by phone/text at: 781-953-2490.

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