She represents the face of Hekima University College: a quiet, calm, composed, and very lovely lady with a beautiful, soft, and firm voice that conveys credibility and efficiency. She embodies patience, professionalism, and a warm charisma that welcomes you to Hekima. Christine Onyango is the first person you will meet when you come to Hekima for any official matters. She sits at the college’s reception receiving HUC visitors and attending to administration and academic queries from visitors, faculty members, non-teaching staff, and students.
As the college’s secretary and assistant to the registrar, Christine will answer your call whenever you contact HUC at the college’s official number. Her position makes it possible for her to not only direct you to where or who you seek but also provide information about the institution to prospective students, collaborators, partners, and the HUC fraternity.
“Having been at Hekima for almost eight years now, I have had quite an interesting experience, being both an employee and a student of Peace Studies and International Relations, a master’s degree program that runs for two years,” she revealed.
Hekima, Christine says, is a place where you get to experience the feeling of being out of Kenya while you are in Kenya! By meeting and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures every day, you feel truly international while at Hekima.
“The Annual Cultural Day has been the highlight of my international experience. This is the day when you literally see, feel, and taste the cultures of the various people from different countries represented at Hekima. The exhibition of colorful attire, mouthwatering food, music, dance, and dramatic performances brings out the true cultural diversity of Africa and beyond.”
Although the exhibition of cultural diversity at Hekima carries with it a cultural shock, for Christine being the knowledge that certain animals such as cats and insects such as caterpillars are a delicacy in some countries, the resilience she has witnessed from students especially from non-English speaking countries excelling in exams at the end of their three years journey at Hekima is quite an encouragement and a learning experience.
“Some foreign national students, while here at Hekima, make an effort to learn Swahili, and when I see them speak it, I get inspired because I know it’s not an easy thing, but because they put passion into it, they end up learning so well; proof that you can achieve anything with a touch of passion,” she explains.
A full-time employee and a full-time student at Hekima, a bittersweet experience!
Christine describes her time as both a full-time employee and a student at Hekima as both challenging and quite fulfilling. She says that the two years she spent studying for her master’s degree while working were not easy, as she appreciated that every second counted.
“There was no time to waste; you leave work at five in the evening and rush to class, your weekends are for doing assignments and for reading papers in addition to doing your household chores.” The experience taught her a great deal of discipline, that one must know how to use their precious time wisely.
The postgraduate classes at Hekima run from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, meaning Christine only gets home a few minutes before 9 pm. Then she has to cook, eat, and clean up, and attend to pending assignments and assigned readings before she can catch a few hours of sleep. The following day, she has to get up early again to make sure she is at the office by 8 am.
“If you know Hekima, things are rigorous; not only in the classrooms but also in the offices. In administration, you handle a lot and must maintain work etiquette and professionalism; you cannot compromise these in any way.”
Impact of her HUC Master’s Degree on her work at Hekima
Having graduated with distinction in her master’s degree in Peace Studies and International Relations at Hekima, a constituent college of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Christine’s work at the heart of HUC administration bears no direct connection to her studies. However, she explains that there is an indirect connection because peace and conflict studies is a course that involves people. Conflict is part of society. Wherever there are people, there will always be conflicts.
“So, if I were to say how my degree impacts my work, it is that now I have a more open mind and a better understanding of dealing with people within a community, understanding that conflict is not necessarily a bad thing, but just being conscious about how to deal with it, for instance, sitting down, having a dialogue, and finding solutions to problems in a more diplomatic way,” she explained.
Her classroom experience as a student of peace studies and international relations at HUC where she got to sit with classmates from war-torn countries and listened to them sharing first-hand experiences of conflict and war, humbled her and taught her to be more empathetic and understanding especially in her line of duty where she has to interact with guests and prospective students from diverse backgrounds seeking information about the institution.
“Once you go through a master’s degree, you learn to be a critical thinker, an avid researcher, a good writer, and a more organized and disciplined person. These are indirect skills that I would say I got from my master’s degree, and I get to apply them on a day-to-day basis in my workplace.”
Beyond being a workplace, Hekima means a lot to Christine and truly inspires her on a personal level. She considers Hekima a growing institution, one that is just beginning to have wings. With new academic programs, more schools opening, and the prospect of becoming a full-fledged university, there is a lot to learn and an opportunity to grow. When you are in a growing environment, you naturally realize you cannot remain the same.
“As you see people around you working toward achieving a dream, and by the mere fact that you are part of that dream in a small, big, or any way, is an inspiration. And when you go back and think about it, you will realize that ten years from now, Hekima will have really grown, and whether I will be there or not, I want to experience a similar growth and progress in my life, ten years from now.”
By Pamela Adinda, HUC Communications and International Office Coordinator
