“To compete in a man’s world, you need to toughen up, let your character stand out and be the real you. Do not strive to impress everyone,” says Eunice Bonyo.
Bonyo, 32, a geochemist at KenGen’s Olkaria head office, told the Star she wants to be the best at her job, an innovator and a problem solver.
She believes there can never be problem-free situations or problems without solutions.
“Opportunities do not come to your doorstep. You must get out of your comfort zone and look for them. This can only be achieved when you are aggressive enough,” she said.
Bonyo is among a team of seven geochemists (three female and four men) whose role is the administration of laboratory activities.
This entails carrying out chemical geothermal resource exploration, soil gas (R and CO2) measurements, exploration of new fields and sampling of fumaroles (openings in or near a volcano through which hot sulphurous gases emerge).
The team is also in charge of discharge test sampling, chemical analysis and data interpretation, production field monitoring and power plant monitoring in the Olkaria geothermal field.
Bonyo says she is happy to be part of a dedicated team that is committed to always delivering the best.
The mother of a seven-year-old boy is a graduate of Bachelor of Science, Chemistry and Math from the University of Nairobi’s Chiromo campus.
She said she is among the lucky ones who immediately secured employment after her graduation in 2015.
“It is such a competitive environment and one has to go out of their way in a male-dominated field. I do as much as our male counterparts do and I am lucky to be here because it is where I always wanted to be,” she said.
“The only challenge is I am learning geology on the job, which entails huge volumes of research.”
Bonyo believes women stand a chance of excelling in science-related courses, but the mindset is the major hindrance. Being in the field, she says, is not as hard as women are made to believe.
The situation hardened me because waking up every morning knowing I have no father or mother gave me every reason to challenge myself
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Bonyo had always wanted to be in the field of science. Initially, she wanted to be a doctor or a chemist.
“I had a tough life growing up and wanted to be something big. Most of my campus friends shied away but I am sure they learn much from the other side,” she said.
Bonyo’s mother died in 2000 before her dad followed suit seven years later. As a result, she was raised in the hands of many well-wishers, who saw her through her education from class four all the way to campus.
She said high school was the most devastating moment for her.
“My eldest brother got depressed and ran mad. I was forced to stay in school all through the four years because there was nobody to take care of me,” she said.
Bonyo remembers that as she was preparing to sit her KCSE exams, the same brother got depressed and ran mad for the second time and this time, he did not make it, he died.
“He was the only one working, the other 11 of us looked up to him. His death was a big blow to us. Our world stopped,” Bonyo said.
She is the last born of 12 children. Four have died, so now they are eight.
“The situation hardened me because waking up every morning knowing I have no father or mother gave me every reason to challenge myself,” she said.
“I know wherever my parents are, someday we shall meet and have a little chat of what lessons the world taught me.”
She said despite having attended a six-month training in Iceland, her colleagues, especially seniors, have always been there to guide her baby steps appropriately.
“Here we are best of friends and we focus on growing and supporting each other,” she said.
Having been named KenGen’s brand ambassador, Bonyo has won several employee awards, including the G to G award after developing an online monitoring system.
She said steam vapour is challenging to monitor, thus she wanted to have an automated online system that will allow the team of geochemists to sample at the site and immediately relay the results to the control room for analysis.
She has also done another root course analysis on the dozing plant, where 80 per cent of the recommendations have been adopted by the company.
Bonyo believes sciences are the best regardless of one’s gender, and one can never go wrong with them, not to mention lots of opportunities.
“The country is working to expand its renewable energy. This is your chance to be part of the deal. Power plants will be set up and they need dedicated people to fill the positions,” she said.
Bonyo is currently working on a project where they have partnered and installed infrared cameras to monitor fumaroles in the exploration fields.
The three-year project has been slowed down by Covid-19, but a progress report will be out soon.
Bonyo, says the girl child has been isolated in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses because there are a lot of limitations.
For instance, those who have excelled in the field have not come out strongly to motivate those who have the potential to pursue the courses, she said.
VARSITIES AND STEM
The development and application of science, technology and innovation is crucial to national development policies and programmes, such as Vision 2030 and its successive medium-term plans.
Economic, social and cultural development goes hand in hand with scientific and technological transformation.
Despite this, the growth of STEM in education and training institutions has not been rapid enough to support the science, technology and innovation sector.
According to the National Education Sector Strategic Plan for 2018-22, universities have shifted focus from STEM-based courses, with a large proportion of enrolment being seen in non-science fields.
Universities do not have qualified faculty with the capacity to teach STEM-related programmes of the quality to meet the standards.
Education experts say the cost of delivering STEM programmes is higher than that of the social sciences and humanities because of the need to invest in expensive equipment.
The strategic plan also cites the low number of students transitioning from secondary level education with the skills and qualifications required for STEM programmes as another factor undermining them.
The 2019 KCPE exam results showed candidates who scored 400 marks and above dropped by 15.4 per cent, pulled down by poor performance in science and mathematics.
The plan also decries the lack of promotion centres at national and county levels to create interest and a culture of science, technology and innovation.
RATIO GAPS
The Commission for University Education said the overall enrolment is growing for STEM-related courses and programmes.
CUE secretary and CEO Mwenda Ntarangwi told the Star that overall in the entire university enrolment, male and female ratios are almost equal, but in STEM courses, males tend to be more. But there is variance in different universities.
He said the imbalance has manifested because fewer students are qualifying for STEM courses, especially biology.
“Without such qualifications, enrolment in some STEM courses, especially those that are in the human health sciences, will be hurt. Poor performance in mathematics and physics may affect enrolment in technology and engineering courses,” Ntarangwi said.
He said in the 2018 KCSE results, for instance, out of 654,630 students who sat the examination, only 171,847 did physics, 98,219 mathematics, and 33,126 biology.
“Clearly students are not choosing these courses in high school, so you cannot expect the numbers we need to build on STEM at university level,” he said.
“Students who qualified for admission to the university with a grade of C+ and above in those subjects: biology 5.7 per cent; chemistry, 11.3; mathematics, 15; and physics, 23.8.”
Ntarangwi said women need more role models in STEM to look up to.
“More research is necessary to find out at what age females sop being interested or start being turned off from STEM because at early ages, all children are fascinated by learning, despite the areas,” he said.
Ntarangwi said one area that has been successful is the Africa Centres of Excellence project (ACEII), where innovation, research and postgraduate training are central.
Such projects are carried out at Egerton University, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology and Moi University.
Edited by T Jalio
