By Allan Wasega, KamiLimu Committee Member
The first time I met Titus was in 2017 when I was a KamiLimu mentee. He walked into the room in KeMU’s 8th Floor in his characteristic well-cut blazer and shirt, and I thought to myself, “I want that blazer!” He was to talk about a topic that brings terror to many: public speaking. Now, Titus is an amazing public speaker and he made it appear so easy; cracking jokes, dominating the stage, incorporating props smoothly to convey his message, and urging us that we will soon be like him by the time we graduate from the program. True to his word, he did turn us from boys and girls who only uttered a few words on the stage to men and women who could communicate effectively. Over the years, I have seen his serious and fun sides, from facilitating various sessions at KamiLimu, doing a weird dance at Dr. Chao’s birthday party in 2019, to learning how to program in Python with us mentees because, as he insists, education is a never-ending journey. Titus is KamiLimu’s vice chair, and I pulled him from his busy schedule on 24th September to talk about who he is, his academic and professional journey, why he believes strongly in mentorship, and what his last meal would be — wet fry chicken and roast potatoes.
Here is an abridged version of Titus’ world.
Q: Who are you? Who’s Titus?
Titus: I am a lecturer and a scientist. I love science, and in particular, science in the medical field. I find it fascinating when dealing with agents that cannot be seen with unaided eyes, agents that are causing havoc in our current world. This is a part of what I do and teach daily at Kenya Methodist University. I am also an adjunct lecturer in a few other universities including Multimedia University and Karatina University. So teaching has been part of my life and I find a lot of pleasure in it. I also find pleasure in seeing the transformation of young people who come to the university naive, confused, and without a sense of direction to where life will take them, but after some time they experience an exponential growth and transformation that they never imagined. This is why mentorship means a lot to me.
Q: I know you’re also a father and are also doing these amazing things on the baseball field. So, who is Titus the dad and who’s Titus the baseball coach and how do you bring all these together and still maintain your work life balance?
Titus: I am a dad of three beautiful girls aged nine, seven and the last born is almost getting to two. Fatherhood humbles you because you realise there’s too much you don’t know. You relive memories of probably how a disturbing child you were to your parents. I am a husband to a lovely wife and between us we have a family that we are bringing up. I find a lot of joy in being a parent and a husband. It’s quite challenging timewise because sometimes you want to be home early to see your kids do their homework every evening, which is not always possible. You also rightfully mentioned that I am the president of the Baseball Federation of Kenya. I lead a contingent of baseball enthusiasts across the country. We normally have events in different parts of the country, to influence the growth of baseball, which is a growing sport that is not so widely known in the country. So, yes, the responsibilities are many, but I try to keep the balance but not without the support of family, friends and colleagues in each of those spaces.
Q: I’ve now worked with you from 2018 at KamiLimu and one of the things that I’ve seen is just how selflessly you can give back to the program. So, what is it with you and mentorship? Why do you feel so strongly about it? Why is it something that you want to do and why is it something that you wanted to do at KamiLimu?
Titus: Well, we say, monkey see, monkey do. Some of the things we do in life are those that we’ve seen work for others or are things that we’ve seen our mentors do successfully. Many people look up to their idols for inspiration, encouragement, and motivation. But these people are very few in our current world, which could be because “we are all work in progress”. But even so, there is something that we can give. For there is no one who is so in need, that they have nothing to give. And there is no one who has got too much that they can’t receive more. What that means is that you can give what you have to someone else, just as you have received from other people. We are all blessed, talented, and skilled in different ways. If I have a chance to mentor another person, whether one of my age or younger, then I should be selfless because this world is made what it is by selfless people. Unless someone else tells you that there is something I can see in you, sometimes we do not see as much and as deep inside ourselves. That is why I give myself selflessly to KamiLimu — to support Dr. Chao in that dream that she had.
Q: You could have done this in any other space. But then you’re here at KamiLimu. So what is it about KamiLimu that makes you feel that this is the space where I want to provide this form of mentorship in and to this group of students?
Titus: First, KamiLimu is a structured programme in which you know where you’re coming from and you know what you want to achieve at the end of the day. So the reason why I have committed to KamiLimu is because of its structure and how open it is for everyone who comes in. The mentees are given equal opportunities, a positive inspiration, in a supportive environment, sometimes with an unspoken clarion call that “it is possible”. That belief birthed by the designer of the programme and the confidence that every human being has an inherent potential to become their best makes me want to continually partake in the program. The mentees are also allowed to become themselves, ask questions, however difficult, when they are not happy with something. It is a freedom that takes us away from the conventional way of teaching and training, where the coach directs and the player follows direction without questioning. That is why KamiLimu is a very good working space with very friendly and committed people who believe in the potential of others.
Q: As the Vice Chair of KamiLimu, where do you see the program going in the next 10 years or even in the foreseeable future?
Titus: We would like to see KamiLimu in its own space not too far from now. Whereby, we can host our own events without hiring space and where we can make our cup of tea and once in a while crack some jokes without looking at the clock. I have been helping Dr. Chao to come up with a strategic plan for the next five and more years. For example, we hope to reach out to more students in tech in other universities. As of now, the coverage is around 20 plus universities but we would like to expand. We are very big on quality but then, of course, sometimes growth is inevitable.
Q: As we proceed now I just have some personal questions because I wanted to know you better as a person. What person, place, or experience has really altered your life?
Titus: Growing up, I realised that I was not so good at communication. Every time I got a chance to lead a group of people, it would backfire because I could not communicate well. So I joined Toastmasters, which is an international public speaking and leadership organisation that trains people to become better communicators and leaders. I have experienced a lot of growth through this journey: I feel more confident talking to someone; I don’t fear how to start a conversation when I meet a stranger; I don’t feel bad when I forget what I would have wanted to say; and I also learned how to speak on my feet so that when I get a question, I can still process my thoughts while speaking. This has transformed me and I am extremely indebted to Toastmasters International and to all my friends there who have participated in making me who I am today.
Q: Wow, okay. Thank you so much, Titus. I will let you continue with the rest of your day.
Titus: Okay Allan. Bye bye, and have a nice Friday and a good weekend ahead.
Catch the full interview with Titus here, in which he speaks more about his love for chapatis, what his last meal would be, and his greatest leadership lesson.
