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Elder Joseph W. Sitati: At 13 I lived in a very rural part of Kenya. People had very little. But those who seemed to afford the things that others admired were those who had a good education. I came to see that education was a key to a better life.
The thought kept coming to me to go and speak to the principal of one of the schools that I really desired to attend. I needed my father’s bicycle to make this journey that took half a day. I had never been out of my village. I did not know how to speak English very well, and this principal was a white man. I had never before met or spoken directly to a white man, so this was an intimidating thought.
Something inside me kept pushing me along and telling me that I should do this, so I set off to visit the principal. As I looked at him I could see that he was quite surprised to see this young boy standing like a soldier in front of him. He had kind eyes, so that gave me courage. I told him that I really wanted to join his school and I would be very happy if he could take me. Then he said, “Well, we’ll see when the test results are out.” I said, “Thank you, sir.” In less than four minutes I was out of the office.
Those four minutes I spent in that office really were the defining moments in my life. I was the only student from my primary school who was selected to one of the best schools in our area. The fact that this good man had given me this opportunity made me grateful, and it inspired me to strive to be the best student in my class.
That opened new opportunities for me to go to another good school and then to prepare for university. My education enabled me to find my wife at university. It enabled me to find a job in the city. While living in Nairobi, we came across a missionary couple that invited us to their home, where they were having meetings with those who are members of the Church. If I had not been in Nairobi at that time, I would never have found the gospel. The fact that I was in a secure job enabled me to serve in the Church.
I testify that education is a key to self-reliance. It will open many avenues for you to be able to provide for yourself temporally and to become spiritually self-reliant as well.