Wednesday 26 August 2020

Worship: Are the Christian and Kapkoros Worship Compatible? A Christian Scholar's Perspective


Like many of you, I  follow “Kokwetab Cheison” religiously whenever I can! I need to add that the quality of the invited panelists leading various discussions in this show summons many a people to get glued to the screens of their electronic devices every Sunday!

Dr. Cheison, the host of this show, posed an interesting question to  Pastor Chemagar Arap Ng’etich. He asked whether or not there lies the possibility of “resurrecting” back to life the religious practices and worship of the Nandi-speakers (later Kalenjins) today, as well as how this might play out with Christianity? Pastor Chemagar, a Christian thinker and a thoroughgoing anthropologist with expertise on the oral and material culture of the Kalenjin people, briefly discussed this question with me during our panel interview on August 2nd, 2020.

My goal in this writing is, to sum up and solidify our response by providing a more cogent and pointed answer. Firstly, the program has sought to largely draw a comparison between the Hebrew Bible ( Old Testament) and the religious beliefs and practices of the Nandi speakers. The program has further shown that the similarities can be traced back to the contact of the ancient Israelites with natives of Egypt ( Nandi speakers are said to have emigrated many years from Egypt to their present location in East Africa).  The success of this comparison, in my opinion, has shown that present in both of these religious orientations is the expectation of a savior. For ancient Israel, there is a longing desire and wait for a Messiah who will bring deliverance to Israel and inaugurate a new Kingdom (see Daniel 7). On the other hand, the Nandi speakers performed their sacrifice of worship while foreseeing a savior. Mr. Ng’etich described this figure as Kigen, weri bo tie. This figure, upon his arrival, will complete the practice of sacrifice worship (Compare with Gen. 3:15).

For Israel, however, the messianic expectation gained momentum especially after exile and leading into the 400 silent years between the two testaments of the Bible. During this period of silence, there arose several “messiahs” who over time failed to meet the expectation as laid out by the prophets of the past. They were later described as pretenders of the Messiah.  When Jesus came, he proclaimed the kingdom of God, he died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. All these events catalyzed an ongoing discussion on his identity as the Messiah. His disciples then went around preaching and teaching that Jesus Christ was indeed the messiah and so Judaism and its expectation for a messiah had been fulfilled in the person of Jesus. He is the expected Messiah, they argued, and so there is no need for the continued religious practices of animal sacrifices. Of course, this claim did not go down well with the conservative Pharisees and religious leaders of Judaism in Israel. Hence this belief became a point of departure between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism to date is still waiting for a Messiah. They deny that Jesus son of Joseph was the Messiah. Christianity, however, proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah. Those who left Judaism for this new belief included not only the 12 disciples but the leading religious elite among the Jews at the time. They include; Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisee council, the wealthy Joseph of Cyrus, and Paul, the learned Jewish legal expert ( he was trained by Gamaliel, a distinguished teacher of Jewish law) among others. So, for Christianity, the practice of sacrifice worship had come to an end since Jesus Christ had died and resurrected to life. His death had completed the ritual of animal sacrifice system that was in existence among the Israelites. Again, as I have shown above, Judaism (a religious practice of the Jews) could not accede to the claims of Jesus as the Christ. They went on observing the ritual of offering sacrifices to Yahweh, for the forgiveness of their sins.

At the heart of the Christian gospel, however, is the teaching that the ritual of offering sacrifice to please God is over because Jesus has become an acceptable sacrifice for our sins once and for all (Hebrews 9.11-28).

To answer the question, therefore, whether to bring back the ritual of offering sacrifice at Kapkoros is in itself not a bad idea ( I shall return to this point shortly). However, it is irreconcilable with claims of the gospel as articulated in the New Testament. Christianity is birthed in the New Testament. If Jesus is the “Kigen”, the expected savior by the Nandi speaking people, then the practice of animal sacrifice at Kapkoros has no meaning anymore. Because Jesus has become the sacrifice once and for all (Hebrews 10:8-10).  And if we have been forgiven, a sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (Heb.10:18).  A Nandi speaker, who has accepted Jesus as his/her savior cannot hold both religious beliefs at the same time. For such will lead to the sin of syncretism. A serious sin that got Israel in trouble, especially as taught in the book of Hosea. They worshipped Yahweh by sticking to his regulation of worship at the place of worship while also subscribing to the religious practices of the Gentiles.

So, can I be a Christian while still holding on to the ritual sacrifice of Kapkoros? No! Because the point of departure between the two is quite sharp. Like Judaism and Christianity, both cannot cook in the same pot! Put differently, the religious practices and worship of the Nandi people, while at the surface is similar to Christianity, is, however, fundamentally different in its claims and practice.

 How then should we proceed from here? Let me make three suggestion;

Way forward 1: One has to choose either one of the two.

An important question however is; can we return to our religious practices of Kapkoros as it were BEFORE the coming of Christianity? A simple answer is Yes and No!  Various reasons can be articulated here for the "NO", but I will mention two in quick passing. Firstly, Nandi speakers, like the rest of Africans (by extension those in the global south) have been impacted by modernity, even further by post-modernity. Our interaction and interrogation of the sacred is different from the rich conception of our fathers/mothers and grandfathers/mothers of the past. Even those of us in the business of Christian theologizing in Africa today, our challenge constantly is making sense of the gospel in the face of the shifting and complex identities of our modern African societies. The challenge can be said to be further complicated for our traditional religious beliefs because  (for lack of a better word) of the memory loss.

Secondly, because we are an oral tradition (orthodox custodian of these traditions are aging away and dying) and compounded with memory loss, some people have taken advantage and are masquerading as legitimate priests or the “right” people to lead the ritual of worship at Kapkoros. Seldom do they invite the community to reflect the critical tenets of this religion. They seem to be interested in money or power (Power is a critical currency in African traditional religions. The divinization of priests is due to the view that they are closer to the divine. This acts as the same reason why some pastors today manipulate their congregation easily. Hence a system of accountability is key in a religious institution). With all these put together, the “resurrection” of our traditional religion in its orthodox sense is going to be hard.  Unlike Christianity where the church for instance has retained and passed down the memory of its teaching through the constant reading of the written text that is available in various dialects.

Yet still, it can be brought back, but in part. As Dr. Cheison reiterated in one of the episodes of the show, that one can institute a sacred corner for worship in their homestead. While it will lack the communal aspect of gathering at a centralized place, at least this will enable a family to re-institute worship as traditionally practiced by a household and led by the head of the household. Think of it as a sort of a "home church.”

Way forward 2: To counter the effect of modernity, we need to ask ourselves, what is it that we want to bring back? The symbolic practices or the values underneath those practices? I will argue that we need to bring back the values. This we can achieve by asking ourselves what values were embedded in the practices of this indigenous religion and then seek to re-interpret them into our current belief system. The symbols and practices were both communicative and educational. It also served as the vehicle for passing down the teachings/doctrine (memory retainer). Some of the values that I see in these practices include; holiness, the sanctity of life, generosity and hospitality, environmental justice, etc. Such values, I would argue, find more resonance with the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The Late Prof. John  Mbiti, a leading scholar of African Traditional religion [ATR] pioneered research on this perspective. He argues that Jesus -as the son of God- is the only new concept introduced by missionaries to the African religious worldview and philosophy. He sees continuity between ATR and Christianity. I would add, however, that this son of God is God incarnate, our brother, and the firstborn over all creation. In becoming human, God is establishing a relationship with us ( Tilya ne nnyo). Relationships are valued among the Kalenjin people (by extension all African cultures).

Way forward 3: I think the question could be framed differently. By this I mean, since both Christianity and the "Kapkoros” religion are competing ‘faiths’ then the question could be asked: Can we bring back the “Kapkoros” religion? This is independent of what Christianity might ‘think’ or ‘argue’. I would argue that the juxtaposition of the two as raised in the original question is unfair. Indeed, the question assumes a comparison that often needs to be justified. The two are unique 'faiths' in their own right even if they share similarities and ancient contact. So, when the question is posed to an adherent of the “Asis" religion, and a Christian, both will approach this question with a certain bias. I think this juxtaposition should not be the primary concern of the question. However, it can be asked at a secondary level.

By

Birgen K.M. Arap Cheruiyot

Ph.D. Candidate,

McGill University, Montreal, QC

Canada.

About Pastor Mathew

Name: Birgen Kipchumba M. Araap Cheruiyot Family Name: Kapken, of Kipchamo Location, Plateau Uasin Gishu. Marriage Status: Single. Trained church minister with the Africa Inland Church, Kenya. Education: Bachelor of theology (Hons) : Scott Theological College M.A in Old Testament and Biblical Languages (Cum Laude): Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, MA (USA) M.A Theological Studies (Distinction) : Concordia University, Montreal Canada. Ph.D. Religious Studies (ongoing) : McGill University, Montreal Canada. Research Interests: Hebrew Bible, Old Testament Ethics, Immigration and Public Policy, African Biblical Hermeneutics).

Tuesday 11 August 2020

The inventor and innovator: My patent landscape

 Am I allowed to share a glimpse of my invention/innovation landscape? Well, here is a brief catalogue of what is currently in the public domain.

1. Denatured Zein

2. Protein blends

3. Petfood Product

4. Whey protein


To be continued!




Sunday 17 May 2020

Oratinwekab Nandi (Clans) - S C Cheison

Clan as it applies to the Kalenjiin here means the larger unit of family that is defined by a totem as an emblem. So we take reference from the totem, be it animal, bird, insect, reptile, or such heavenly phenomena as sun and lightning. The people loved their totem "animal", tyoondo, and identified so closely with it. No-one was allowed to kill an animal that was held as a totem by a section of the community without cause and permission from the particular clan. Like in cases of execution of capital offenders, the family members were given the last opportunity to expel the erring animal from the clan before it could be set upon. A member of the clan was required to throw a leaf instead of a spear, club, or arrow, at the animal - symbolically throwing the first stone - before the rest could hurl real weapons at it. This rule may have had an animal preservation motive in mind. The ancient Egyptians went to an even greater limit in expressing love for their animal totem. Both the Kalenjiin and the ancient Egyptians observed clan rules under the ethical rules of Maat - precisely under the same name, maat, you may need to know. The ancient Egyptians went ahead and domesticated where they could, their totem animal in very large numbers, treated them as family members, and embalmed them upon their death as if they were human. Such have been found in plenty in tombs. Christianised Roman emperors, notably Justinian, banned the maat system in Egypt around the fifth/sixth century AD, calling it zoolatry - worship of animals (This intro courtesy of: Kagiptai).
The Nandi society's organisational structure was premised on two principles. The first  kind of organisation (in no particular order of significance) was political structuring. Perhaps no other Kalenjin community had as elaborate an arrangement as the bororiet of the Nandi. There are eight (again note the multiples of four, probably a significance that these are men-only affairs!) bororiosiek. These are made up of five large and three minority but fiercely conservative bororiosiek. It is instructive that people of one oreet could live in different bororiosiek but with no change in the clan. The Kipkenda clan is represented in the populous Kap Chepkendi, Kap Melilo (the only bororieet with a totem symbol, cheplangeet) and Kaptalam but are all Kipkenda. It is the authors contention that the bororieet was a precursor and a Nandi civilisation form of multipartyism. However, much on this topic is to come later.

The second is the family, filial or blood relationship which was markedly classified by a reference to a family oreet (plural oratinwek NOT ortinwek which means routes) defined by "tiondo" or totem (animal) which is actually a misnomer since even the sun is part of the animals. Since numbers are significant for the Nandi and by extent the Kalenjin, there are roughly 16 oratinwek against about 26 tiong'ik because some oreet carry more than one tiondo. Noteworthy is that the Nandi regard the crested crane (Kong'oony) as the first animal to be alloted (keroob) while the hyena (kimageetiet) is reputed as the last to be alloted. In between are other animals. It is important to note that some of the animals that are sacred to the Nandi are not found in other Kalenjin tribes. The converse is also true. Most of what I have put down here was revised from an entry at Kagiptai which seems to borrow from Huntingford who compiled the story from informers that were probably young and didn't have enough information. For in that report, the frog (and there is a particular one revered by this clan) and the bee are grouped as Kipkeda. This is way off the mark since the frog belongs to the oreet of Kuchwa (frog, of the late Bishop Alexander Muge - Kap Kunguren) while the bee (to which the Matelong family belongs) is Kipkenda. To the best of the writer's knowledge the Kipkenda clan is made up of two different bees but is exclusively a bee-clan. The first bee is the 'maimi' bee, the honey-bee which makes honey-combs and deposits the nectar on rock crevices and boondet (hives). The Matelong family belongs to this clan. The second is a special type of a bee, which are called Chep Kaburiinik. These bees are characterised by a 'red colour', non-aggressiveness and 'no-sting', they circulate the sky and usually around mid-day if one shot an arrow, quite a swarm came down with it. Listen to the 'tolololeet' or typical swarm of bees sound. They make their honey in earth (ground)-crevices. The Kap Achoro (Kap Sigoong) family, which is originally from Terik represents this family.
It will not be fair to leave out the importance of oreet, however sketchy. To a large extend, the Nandi peoples' daily life was determined by the oreet. For example, although the Talai clan are revered (even feared), they were not allowed to complete an induction through the rights of passage of men before coming out of seclusion. The most defining distinction, 'kamuiiset and riikset' are excluded from their ceremonial menu. As a result, the Talai, the Mooi Kogo (Chepkogosioot) and Kiboiis (Leelwek) are NOT allowed to be 'matirioot', ostensibly because 'they cannot lead where they didn't go (ma tarei tumdo)! Consequently, during the two critical final ceremonies, sons of these two clans go to sleep at home. It is noteworthy that the Kiboiis (Lelwek) and Talai (Kutoonoi, or kutwo) are of Maasai in origin. On the other hand, traditionally, a Kiptabkei is a 'ng'wan guut' meaning in the case that the community is to pronounce a curse (chubiisiet) on anybody it was their preserve. Additionally, because the Tungo clan is, for purposes of prominence, the 'least important' clan symbol, their daughters are not subjected to the 'cheptab oreet age ne weendi oreet age' paradigm. Consequently, they are allowed to praise their father's tungo..hence the occassional ululation by a tungo girl is unmistakenly interspersed with 'eeeeei tungo goinyoooo'.
Going to Kapkoros was also ordered around the oreet. However, the author does not have details beyond the fact that going to Kapkoros was largely a more or less a tumdo business. Indeed, the Kapkoros ceremonies was more of a political organisational excursion in which bororiosiek took part in prayers that were obviously determined by the clan composition. Additionally, the oreet determined strictly where one could or could not marry from in a classical understanding of the consequences of in-breeding as taught by 'genetic vigour' scholars. Likewise, for example some clans were not supposed to go for koiito, they couldn't be accepted 'ma kii li" again and without the slightest intent to spite the tungo clan is one such. Hence the jest "ki boo the rebei ma soomei". One controversial Kipkenda clan 'don't' which seems to have been overtaken by events is the interesting 'banning' of a Kiptabkei - Kipkenda marriage. This may have been informed, as was always the case, by a repitative disaster which the Kipkenda family attributed to marrying cherereet. Whether this is still the case is not known to the author. However, in a recent event, the Kap Matelong of Rongai in Nakuru gave their daughter to a Kitabkei of Cheptabach in Sireet, Nandi Hills. The couple have since had kids and it would seem safe to bet that they will be happier for many generations to come.
Finally, oreet determined to a large extent the socio-economic lifestyles of the Nandi. In this regard, livestock were not owned by an individual, at least not strictly. With elaborate marking of the livestock, each oreet was allocated a unique way of 'branding' the animals usually with respect to marks on the ears. Thus, Moi (Kong'oony) perforated the ears of their animals as did almost all other Moi oreet. It is this that you find in the 'girls' of this oreet, like my grandmother, who praise their father's household with the ululation 'Kap Bar iit goinyoo'. Other oreet had a similar branding with the ears, either left or right, cutting off of the tip (muut) or mapping 'fingers' on the ears 'sach' and similar marks. Thuis means that in cases where the livestock straight, a man would be able to know that the animal in question belonged to a certain clan and the owner(s) was easily identifiable.
I have attempted to classify the oreet with a deliberate show of an example of a family in the Nandi country. It is not guaranteed that the information is entirely accurate. In the table herebelow, view my attempt at a demographic classification of the clans. Any comments and additions for the families are definitely welcome.

Oreet
  Tiondo
  Example of family
  Salanik/ kawaalet

Mooi
  Kong'oonyot
  Kap Chepkimom/ kap Cherimbor (Prof. Some), Kap Leitich, Kap Sisei Masoomei che ruutoe, Kap bar iit

  Soeen
  Kap Letangwo
   
  Kergeng
  Kap Kutei, Kap Ng'atiip
  Kipkamooriet
  Kap Manyei Ngok (ngokiet not ng'ogi!)/ Kap Yop Terik, Kap Charicha
   
  Kogos (Chepkogosioot)
  Kap Chelilim (Rev David arap Riirei), Kap Nam Emet, Kap Terengia (Kap Magoi), Kap Chemagar, Kaap Mugeen, Kaap Siroon
   
Kipkenda
  Segemiat
  Kap Matelong, Kap Mugeeni (in the Kipsigis country: Hon. Wilson arap Leitich and Hon. Isaac Ruto and Davy Koech), Kap Cheptum, Kaap Toorkoi  (Kap Torkoi), Kap Kiliku (You've probably heard of Kap Jimmy as a reference to boys initiated according to the "church" way. The man Jimmy Kipngetich Keter belongs to this family as does Dr. Tanui of Ol'Lessos Educational Centre, Kap Mamaet, Kap Melsuwo, Kap Toroor, Kap Mateitei
  Maimi che ngoimi ko ba go

  Kapchepkaburiinik
  Kap Acharo (Kap Sigoong), Kap Chemuge, Kap Mararen (Late Hon Stanley Metto), Kap Cheptile (The Late Bishop Ezekiel Bireech, Hon. Kipruto Kirwa), Kap Tap Tengelei (yes of the colonial migration to Kabiyet fame!), Chemong' (Prof. Mengech), Kap Koisamoo, Kap Cheleel
  Kap Busuriek  
  Chebirirkong Kaap Ng'ochoi, Kaap Tiris, Chepturo  
  Kap Cheptueen Kap Marende  
Kipsirgooi
  Toreet
  Hon. Samuel arap Ng'eny/ Joel Chemiroon's family/ Prof David Serem's Kap Mutwa (formerly of Maseno), Kaap Kesebee
  Kapiil, bale gut ak kutung

Kipamui
  (Kergeng) Cheptirkichet
  Kap Koimur of Kitale (owners of the former Kogos bakery building in Eldoret), Kap Chamu (Late Magistrate Chelulei), Kap Cheligo
  Tui seru

Sogom
  Chepsirereet
  Kap Sigiis (former Cllr. Andrea arap Murei, Tulon), Kap Bargach, Kap Machichim, Kaap Kirgit Beek (Kaap Kiyeng)
  Sogoom Kap yubei

Kiboiis
  Lelwoot
  Kap Rotuuk (Late Hon. Jean-Marie Seroney), Kap Chebwai (Hon David Koros), Kap Kerebei, Kap Kong'et Luk-Kap Kong'eeluk (PS Tirop), Kap Tiirei
   
  Solobchoot
  Kap Cheptembur, Kap Cheborus
  Mel mugaang'
Mende keruus

Talai
  Ng'etuny (Talai-kutwa)
  Kap Chesaniak (the Ruguts of Kap Simatwo), Kap Mugunya (Paul Metto of Lessos), Kap Bureeti (Kap Hamisi of Mogoon), Kap Koiya
  Ki ma peel ame o

  Ng'etuny (Orkoi)
  Kap Turugat
  Tulee gut

Kipoongoi
  Taiwet (Kap Mwaigei?)
  Kap Tarno, David arap Beet (Kabuson, Kabiyet
  Che kwes tibiik eng' kutus ago toloos eng' kubees

Kibiegen
  Moseet
  Kap Maraba (Balozi Chumba)/ Kap Mutwa/ Kaap Sato
  Kibwalei Katamwa/ Kap rat setio let
Muriat
   
   
Kiptabkei
  Cherereet
  Kap Chongei, Kap Chemurungu, Kap Mutoor, Kap Buigut
  Tui seru

Kipaa
  Ndareet
  Kap Kesgeny, Kap Nyaliil
  Koros, Kap Tageei Kou ngat ta unda koek che(go)

  Tisieet Kap Buusia  
Kipasiso
  Asis
  Kap Chepkicho, Kap Chulai
  Kap koluu

Kuchwa
  Mororochet (mò:rôro:c-ét)
  Kap Kunguren (Late Bishop Muge, Paul of Mogoon)
  Maram koong ram toliil

Toyoi
  Ropta
  Kap Kesei, Kap No (Hon. John Sambu), Kap Moeek (Hon. Kosgey), Kap Chepchoge
  moriso

  Birechik
  Kap Bwaibei, Kap Cheramuk, Kap Kelem (Kap Cheepchoge), Kap Kipkeen?
Kap ooit
  Belioot (+ nyiiritiet 'chameleon')
  Kap Chemogos, Kap Chepsuto, Kap Milkija (Dr Kimaiyo of Referral),  Kaap Chebwaachar
  Kiram gel koe mooi

  Kiplengweet
  Kap Rooben
  Kap wariir ko loo komi Namuge
Tungo
  Kimageetiet
  Kap Chemageet, Hon. Tarus
  Korap oor/ Kipeetu



Sunday 5 April 2020

Sour dough bread: my lessons during the Coronavirus "holiday"



Growing up in rural Kenya under very grinding poverty, my widowed mother made busaa, the proceeds feed us and paid fees for our education.

Busaa biochemistry is complex.

No yeast is added at stage one. Thence, only maize flour (mostly) is mixed with water and the "dough" is stored away to ferment naturally. After about 7 days, the ferment is scalded to kill the fermentative microbes and develop delicate flavour. Today we know that as mailers reaction.

My mother and the generations before her looked for the delicate brown colour. That was all!

If course the fermentation at stage two is aided by millet which is aimed to be richer in (natural) yeast.

Busaa, like Mursik (the traditional fermented milk you call Kefir elsewhere), is driven by natural fermentation.

Sour Dough baking is a busaa type process.

For bread.

During this COVID-19 #StayAtHome I wanted to learn something new.

All my academic life, I've never attended a baking class.

So I took to YouTube, the best learning medium of our time.

To make Sauerteig (German for sour Dough), you follow the busaa process.

1. Develop and feed the starter (up to 7 days)
2. Then bread process
3.Bake 

Today, after failure on day 1 because of very cold temperatures which suppressed starter activity, I've made bread!

I'll make a video later. Here are the photos, meanwhile. The bread is 50:50 Rye: whole grain wheat flour. Very healthy.

My next move? Baguettes!

Note: After proofing, I kept the two parts in the fridge overnight because I didn't have the time to wait for the 3 hrs. After 2 hrs upon removing from the fridge, I "signed" and baked at 240°C for 25 min (preheated oven and poured water on a hot ready to create stream to make the bread crunchy!), followed by 5min at 180°C.

Now we can enjoy some fresh bread!

Sunday 8 March 2020

Further studies in Germany: How to search and apply for MSc/PhD

I receive inquiries from interested students or parents asking for opportuities for further studies for their children or family.

1. German Education is mostly Tuition-fee FREE.
2. Most information about study programmes and their requirements are freely avaibale and you don't need a paid consultant to guide you.

Watch on and remeber to subscribe to the channel.






Tuesday 3 March 2020

A guide on study in Germany

Studying in Germany quick guide

I get asked the same question everyday. I'm sure anybody who studies or works in Germany gets it too.

"Please help me look for a scholarship in Germany".

Well that's the question.

It may come in different ways. But the bottomline is the same: "I wish to study in Germany but I don't know how to go about it".

I don't know but in the age of the internet people should spend more time searching than reading useless posts on social media. I left active university a year ago.

Aisuru.

I've shared this simple guide. It's helped a number of you get progress on your quest to pursue further education in Germany.

But we've a unique problem with Kenyans. We're not a reading society. Perhaps we're a listening society.

Because even though I share this simple guide, I still get people who come back asking me where to begin. Yet it says it clearly!

Please note. Going abroad, especially to Germany, for further education, is NOT an event.

It's a PROCESS. One that takes time, patience and costs money.

So don't wake up now and expect to get an admission letter in January.

You need at least three, six even twelve months of preparation. Plan early and stop behaving like a baby. Nobody will babysit you out here.

Here's is my guide.

You have asked me for help with scolarships. Germans are keen on REQUIREMENTS, be careful to read instructions and provide ALL documents, if they require them certified make sure they are. Mind deadlines too. Actually DAAD Regional Office for Africa in Nairobi has done a superb job in providing Info and you can stay up to date by liking their Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/DAADNairobi). Also consider liking the very useful page Mkenya Ujerumani.

Ideally note the following.
1. Education in Germany is free. As in you don't have to pay any tuition.

2. The cost of living is high, that is what you would need help with. Plus you may need to pay other fees, probably up to 1000€ per semester.

3. To begin with, look for a course of interest. Use this link https://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programs/en/.

SIMPLE GUIDE. Choose a course which is RELATED to your previous degree, Germans don't understand why Kenyans switch from one field to another and that determines your chances of gaining admission!

4. Create your CV online usinf this link (https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/editors/en/cv/compose) and then download and send it to me to check. Do some cleaning by removing the Europas logo in the header. Save the file with Surname_CV. Mind first impressions. Keep it lean. You don't need to fill it with unnecessary Info. Only that which is useful for your application.

5. Once you have found your course of interest, go to the course/university website and READ the requirements, note DATELINES and applications datelines. Pay attention to requirements.

6. Get back to me with firm decisions on WHAT you want to study and WHERE you wish to study it.

7. Perhaps I'll guide you from there. Or you'll get help from those who have gone through a similar process.

You'll need a motivation letter. I'll expand later on what you need in one such.

Kindly do me a favour. READ the contents. I am pressed for time.

Scholarships in US & Canada (Mathew Birgen, Gilbert Kiprop & Maria Chemeli Sang)

SECTION 1.  Mathew: Theme - Graduate Schools in Canada (Social Sciences & Humanities)  ·         Choosing a program in graduate s...