• Tabichi reveals that his Sh100 million cash prize will entirely be used to improve the community around him.
• Part of his cash prize is already being used to construct classrooms and washrooms for Keriko Secondary School.
Image: PSCU
He does not consider himself a hero but just someone whose devotion and commitment is to be good and kind.
Peter Tabichi, 38, describes his recognition as the world’s best teacher as a blessing and revelation that he is on the right path to achieving his goal in life.
A philanthropist, award-winning teacher and devoted Catholic minister, he is a man who has let humility to define his life. Despite receiving more than 30 honours, including UN Person of the Year award and the presidential award of the Moran Order of the Burning Spear, none of those is displayed in his living room.
He chooses to stack them in a large suitcase kept in the restroom. His dedication is twofold — the first is service to a higher being and the second is to fulfil his mission on earth.
The irony, however, is that despite the UN award coming with a lucrative cash prize of Sh100 million, Tabichi subscribes to a modest life as per the demands of his brotherhood teachings — the virtue of selflessness prescribed by the Franciscan Brotherhood.
When the Star caught up with him, Tabichi revealed he intends to donate the funds to helping society and is already doing so at Keriko Secondary School where he teaches. He is funding the construction of two classrooms, an office and washrooms.
With about 550 students in four classes, the school was congested and the new classes will ease that. His next goal will be to help build and equip a computer lab and spearhead an environmental initiative before going back to the village to do a project he has yet to decide.
As a young boy growing up in the highlands of Kisii, Tabichi narrates that he had to walk barefoot to school in a society that was dominantly poor. The day he got his first pair of shoes has been "as equally fascinating and memorable as his birthday".
Tabichi lost his mother at the age of 11. His father turned out to be his biggest role model. He would pursue a similar profession as the father. He always wanted to be a teacher but the thought of being an engineer also popped up in his mind once in a while.
But after completing his secondary education, his desire to be a teacher carried the day — first because of his grade and second because it would be funded by the government. Similarly, his dedication to brotherhood was nurtured by his father who partly worked as a catechist in his youthful years.
“I would pick some church magazines my father brought home whenever he walked out and read them and with time my interest grew."
He begins his day at 4am and the first thing he does is pray to ask for "strength to know that anything he would encounter in the cause of his day is not beyond God and his understanding". He then takes a jog and works out before going to school.
In Njoro, Tabichi lives with four brothers of the Franciscan friar. Outside the front gate is a plaque of a white Franciscan brother who was shot right outside the gate. The murder is believed to have been an assassination in response to his advocacy for social justice.
Inside the compound, Tabichi, who also a lover of art, has engraved a plaque with Franciscan brothers symbol and just above it is inscription ‘pax et bonum’ — a brotherhood proclamation that means peace and goodness in Italian.
When he was first posted to Keriko Secondary, Tabichi the thought of giving up crossed his mind. He had moved from a well-furnished private school owned by the Catholic Church and the idea of having to adapt to a school that barely had enough classrooms was devastating.
Despite the challenges, all turned out well. "Even children who are not great academic achievers have great potential and my work as a teacher is to help them unlock that potential and realise what their purpose is," Tabichi says.
He undertook his undergraduate programme at Egerton University as he continued to familiarise himself with the brotherhood doctrine. Tabichi proceeded to follow up on his newfound desire to serve the Catholic Church as a brother.
After completing his studies from Egerton University, he spent time partly in Uganda where he taught before coming back to join the Franciscan Brotherhood where they practise mendicancy and rely exclusively on alms to survive.
For this reason, he has been transferring all his earnings to the brotherhood account where they plan together how to help the less fortunate.
“In here, we eat as a community, thus have very little expenses. In any case, I just ask for money to address any arising matters such as going to funerals or running some errands,” he says.
Tabichi gives the brotherhood credit for his character and dedication. On cuisines, he still prefers Kisii delicacies of traditional vegetables and ugali. However, he says he has had to enjoy other delicacies in his interactions with different communities.
(Edited by F'Orieny)