“Wake up, get ready and let us go.” That was my dad waking me up on a Saturday morning in January 1975, asking me to join him in a trip to a destination I did not know about. I was excited because that did not happen often.

The common conversation between my dad and I was either him giving me instruction to do something or reprimanding me after picking a fight with one of my siblings or when he found some of his gadgets broken. For example, I once ripped his radio into pieces looking for the surprisingly unseen man speaking. I failed to fix it back and you can imagine the whipping that followed.

We lived on the foot of Mt Meru, the second highest peak in Tanzania. After preparing ourselves, we left the house trekking up and down the foot trails across the farms, through the valleys and empty fields. We finally arrived in a small village where we found a grass-thatched hut with walls made of mud and an earthen floor. My dad walked towards it and knocked. An old Man, Mzee Lemukutan answered the door.

After the greetings, I was informed that from the following week, his son and I would be rearing our herd of cattle in his field. That was the beginning of my first ever career in the next ten years.

I was not a fan of rearing cattle in the first place neither did I like leaving the cushy, comfy and cozy blanket, just like you this morning. I did not like going out in the rain without a raincoat or an umbrella, I did not like spending time just watching cows for countless hours. At the time, there were no mobile phones or Facebook. Uggggh!

After being in the field for a few months, I started making friends. I learned how to hunt birds using a catapult and roast meat. We also played football, shared folklore and had fun. I learned a lot about grazing. I knew all the cows by their family trees, dates of birth, first names and temperament. This taught me one important lesson; remembering and addressing the cattle by their names was the best way to connect and have them listen to me.

Going to school

I got so used to rearing cattle that I would have done it for the rest of my life. It was my comfort zone. I had done this full time for three years from age six to nine. So when my father enrolled me in school, I was like a fish taken out of water because; I did not go through kindergarten to prepare for this. I hated school. One day, I cried so much thinking teachers would let met me go home but that did not work. I thought I was to attend school only once in a lifetime but I was asked to go back repeatedly.

When I first joined school, I only spoke Maasai. Kiswahili and English were foreign. I had one pair of shoes, shorts and a shirt. I only replace when the shoes were completely worn out, when the shorts had a hold on the back and when the shirt has lost all the buttons. Do not feel sorry for me, half of my classmates came to school bare-footed. For three years, I struggled with my studies but when I got used to it I was good to go. In the fourth year, my performance started improving.  After school, I would go home, change, and head out to rear cattle. I enjoyed it, only dusk would bring me home. After dinner, I would do my homework and prepare for the following day. That was my weekly routine.

Primary school life

My primary school life did not have any drama except when football was concerned. I was mystically in our class’ football team and never missed a match. However, there was something exceptionally unique about my football career in my seven years at school. I scored NOT a single goal!  I was NOT GOOD at football! I would get in the football pitch, run for 90 minutes and not touch the ball even once. You should have seen me running like Usain Bolt. I was used to chasing cows only this time, on a football pitch, chasing NOTHING! If you were wondering why they included me in the team, I would simply say, “I don’t know.” All I remember is that we had eleven boys in our class!

One Friday afternoon, two weeks before graduation, we were in the football pitch playing the final match against our arch- rivals the neighboring school.  We were all excited when the match began because the trophy was waiting for the winning team. Ten minutes- No goal, half time – No goal, 70 minutes – no goal.  In the 89^th minute, I was weary, weak and worked up. I then decided to just stand waiting for the final whistle to be blown. Then something remarkable happened. My teammate hit the ball! As I watched, I could see the ball rolling just an inch outside the goal post, right where I was standing. As soon as the ball hit me it landed straight into the goal post, I still remember seeing the net shaking. I had just scored my first golden goal! We won the trophy! And I was declared the best footballer of the year for one night!

Football taught me patience, football taught me perseverance, and football taught me persistence. For you to succeed you need to wake up, dress up and show up day in day out without a guarantee for success. What is your football match, how long have you been playing, how many goals have you scored or are you about to give up? Is it seven years yet? Think about it.

After secondary school, I had a six months break before joining high school. I worked in a construction site as a Store’s Clerk. I worked from this tiny office with a tiny chair and table. I had timber, cement, steel bars and all sorts of construction materials around me. I liked the office; it was my first experience working in an office and my first paid job. I felt good and was so proud of my job that my peers admired it.

This was all good until I visited my aunt who used to work in a Bank as a Bank Manager. As I walked in the building where her office was, I was asked to go through a person so called “secretary” to see my aunt. I thought to myself, “Why do I have to ask for permission from a stranger to see my own aunt?” I was allowed in any way after sometime. When I got into her office, she was sitting in this big table. I had to go past this two kilometers table to greet her.

In Maasai tradition, we are required to bow and have our adults touch our heads as a sign of blessing and acceptance. She had an automatic chair, which turned left, right and whenever she moved. She had a visitors’ lounge with two other chairs, a table and phone plus two secretaries assisting her. Her office was big, the size of our sitting and dining rooms combined. After greetings and a brief conversation, I left her office confused and frustrated. When I got to my office, I realized that what I bragged about was nothing but a tiny storage space with a table and chair.

From that day on, I decided that I wanted to work in a bank. I wanted to work in a proper office with a big table and chairs around. This experience taught me to think big and explore opportunities beyond my current environment by reading books, talking to more experienced people, watching and listening to educational tapes as well.