I am now
back where I started as a fresh BVM graduate in 2013. Back then I made a decision
to pursue education and research as a pathway to my future. It has been seven
years dominated by these two very related themes. I have learnt a lot. Some who
we started down this path have succeeded, some changed direction, some failed
and some are still struggling to make it.
I have
learnt that research is an insider’s club. You have to know someone who knows
someone to get into a project, to get a scholarship or to get in to the most
secure jobs in that industry. The epitome of your hard work is getting into one
of the best employers in this sector KALRO, ILRI, KEMRI (and affiliates), IPR
and ICIPE. Yes, these people love acronyms. Once in, it is usually a gravy train
to MSc., then PhD then to more.
On the
other hand, the education sector is a continuous struggle to get employment
into government colleges and universities. These offer job security and the
best chances to progress. A second option are large private universities MKU
and KEMU. It’s a real struggle getting into these. In the mean time you have to
work for small animal health colleges run by education entrepreneurs for both
experience and daily bread. These are the most volatile work places. They are
full of use and abuse, bad bosses and bad working conditions. The main thing
that these institutions have in common is placing profit above almost
everything. Overcharge students and underpay lecturers is the name of the game.
With the education
sector there is also a middle ground called part time lecturing in government institutions.
It is a good CV builder but frankly you may never get paid. The pains of part
time lecturers have been extensively described before.
And in the
middle of all this is the constant struggle to get more qualifications to
better your chances of getting into these preferred employers in education and
research.
Overall, it
has been a thankless struggle for 7 years. On this flip side, I’ve come out of
it with a longer CV, experience and a master’s degree.
I am now
back where I started as a fresh BVM graduate in 2013. The COVID 19 pandemic and
has provided a rare reset button. A chance at a do over. With the closure of
schools, reduced research and the death of someone with whom we started down
this path at the same time, I’ve had an opportunity to reflect deeply on my
life and what is important. I am now older and wiser and know much better how
the world operates. I also now know myself much better. It is now time to
change direction.
As always
there are two ways to change direction. A gradual change from where I am to
where I want to be or a sudden change abandoning the old and changing to the
new. The gradual approach is much safer and allows use of some resources amassed
in the education/research tract. However, it takes more time to reach where id
like to reach. Time that I may not have. The sudden change approach is faster
but riskier. However, despite which approach I ultimately settle upon, change
must happen.
Finally,
there is this internet meme where there are two people digging for diamonds in
an underground cave. One person discovers his diamonds, albeit small, first and
he is very happy about it. On seeing this the other guy feels discouraged, places
his pick axe on the shoulder and gives up digging. However, we are a shown a
cross section of where this last guy was digging and if he had dug just a little
more, he would have gotten more and larger diamonds. This is also something to
think about isn’t it.
