It is said that whatever good or bad fortune may come your way, you can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value. If in doubt about the saying, Gordon Okumu’s story might just convince you otherwise. In 2004, while in Form Three, the last born in a family of four lost his single mother. His eldest and only sister was obliged to take over the family matters at the age of 23 years.
Life for the four was not easy, especially since they were within the same age bracket with only a difference of six years between the eldest and the youngest. Another challenge that his sister faced was dealing with three young brothers who thought they were stronger than her in handling matters of the family and who also could not see either as mature than the other.
At the time, Okumu was only 17. “I was in Form Three when my mother passed away and seeing that it was quite a hustle for my sister to cater for all our needs, I started thinking of myself and what I could do to raise my school needs,” recalled Okumu. Okumu took to job hunting. His first job as a gardener, which saw him interact with many people. He could ask from friends of friends for any placement or better job opportunity.
Finally, Okumu got a hint that a security firm in Loresho was seeking to employ watchmen. “Having a Form Four certificate, being tall and having an identification card were the requirements needed. But since I was underage and still in school, I lied that I had completed school, but not given my certificate due school fees arrears and that my ID was being processed,” explained the 28 year old.
Student by day, watchman by night His over six foot height saved him from further interrogations and got himself the nightguard position. Pocketing Sh5,000 a month for him was a dream come true to enable him complete his studies as he could raise the fees comfortably. By this time, he was in Form Three, second term.
He describes his encounter while still in school as ‘terrible’ as he had to report to school and work on a daily basis without fail. Sleepless and cold nights, dozing off in classes, staying awake all through and studying was something that Okumu had to deal with. A motivated man he was, he scored a mean grade of B+ in his KCSE. With the good grades, he became more confident and started having bigger dreams.
He got a job as an untrained English and CRE teacher at St Martin’s Girls in Kangemi. “Working in a girls’ school after completing high school a year before was challenging because they were all my age mates. Truth be told, girls can mess a man and this was something I had to fight as a teacher because I did not want to lose my job,” said Okumu.
Okumu held onto this job for one term then quit and joined Jesuits missionaries in Arusha, Tanzania to become a Catholic priest. He lived with the society between 2006 and 2010. He later realised it was not his calling. While with Jesuits, he acquiring his first degree in Philosophy. Getting a job with his Philosophy degree was hectic.
Even though he left, Jesuits gifted him with a scholarship. He joined Multimedia University in Rongai to study Communication. Thereafter, he started his own company, Imperial Media Group Limited with 10 staff members. He could do multimedia jobs on the side too to finance his company. Eventually, it collapsed when he could not make enough money for his employees and himself. But he says one big life lesson that has seen him succeed in life is managing his own finances from a young age.
In 2014, Okumu took flying course at Air Kenya in Wilson Airport and just recently, he got a job with a US Airline based in California. With a side hustle of designing magazines for institutions and working at Waumini Communications as a marketing manager, he raised money to see him finish the 200 hours course needed to become a certified pilot. However, he reveals that flying classes are as expensive as they can get with a payment of Sh17,500 per hour.
To receive the first pilot license, the Private Pilot License (PPL), one must have cloaked 40 flight hours. He achieved this milestone in August 2014. He further did an additional 160 hours to have a Commercial Pilot License.
Now, Okumu has a political ambition. With a vision to change the country to be a better place to live in and guarded with leadership skills from his young age, Okumu will vie for the Suna West parliamentary seat. His parting shot to people going through difficult times is to make good use of their bad times and focus on the little positives that lives presents them.