Wueh, tuanzie wapi?

Okay, let's start in primary school. When I was in fourth grade, a classmate of mine died. We attended her burial, and then we were expected to go back to school and continue as normal. No debriefing. No explanation. Nothing. Hio ndio siku nilidevelop anxiety around death and funerals, though I wouldn't understand it as anxiety for years.

Kidogo kidogo, I was sent to boarding school in sixth grade, and guess what was right behind our school...yep, a morgue. Now my anxiety has quadrupled, add to that the disorientation of a new environment, homesickness and the pressure to perform academically...manze I was going through a loottt. Unfortunately, there was no counsellor or supportive teacher to turn to. It was just focusing on your studies and getting punished if you weren't disciplined enough.

One person came through for me in high school: my Math teacher. When I really needed someone to talk to, I reached out to her, and she showed up as best as she could. Even though she sat behind her desk, had her arms across her chest and even answered a phone call mid conversation (everything contrary to the counselling process I've learned), that conversation carried me through the night. It stayed with me.

We had a Guidance and Counselling teacher, but he was also our English teacher, and could only fit a session in between breaks or in the midst of grading papers. The counselling office was shared by another teacher and sandwiched between two other offices, guaranteeing no privacy. It was associated with troublemakers, not with support. We had talks here and there, but nothing that made us feel truly safe or seen. No integrated wellbeing system. No culture of care.

Now you can see why I decided to specialize in student wellbeing and safeguarding after University. Not just because it was a career path, but because najua vile inafeel to fall through the cracks, and I don't want another child to feel that way.

Mental health and safeguarding are still treated as add-ons in most Kenyan schools. Comprehensive G&C programs are the exception, not the rule. Students, especially adolescents, go through so much, and without the right support, they disappear quietly into their struggles.

Mambo Shuleni is my solution to all of that. A dedicated Kenyan platform where students, teachers and parents could find practical, warm, and realistic support for the challenges they face every day. Because every student deserves to feel safe, seen, and supported.

Mambo ni mengi. We're here for all of it.