Being admitted to hospital to have her appendix removed left a lifelong impression on Annette Kemoli. But it was not the trauma of the surgery she remembered, but rather the way in which the nurses took care of her. It was something she wanted to emulate when she grew up. A bright student, she qualified to attend Loreto Limuru Girls and that set her on her road to achieve her dream of becoming a nurse. After high school she went on to Nursing School at King George V Hospital and later was one of two nurses selected to go study an Advanced Diploma in Nursing and Midwifery in the UK. The award was both daunting and exhilarating – it was an amazing educational opportunity and the chance to experience life in another country. Life in the United Kingdom wasn’t easy though, racism was alive and well and she suffered the humiliation of some patients not wanting to be attended to by a black nurse, even to change their bedpans! Annette was resilient though, she completed her studies and came back in 1963 to deploy her skills in Kenya.
She joined King George’s Hospital – now Kenyatta National Hospital, as a staff nurse and over time rose to the position of Matron for Midwifery. Later she went on to join the Nairobi City Council as Chief Nursing Officer in charge of all NCC clinics and Pumwani Maternity Hospital. Her excellence led her to being sponsored by the council to enrol at McGill University in Canada to pursue a nursing degree. For a woman with three small children it was not an easy decision to make, but with the support of her husband who stayed in Kenya with the family she was able to pursue her education and in 1970 graduated and became the first Kenyan woman with a degree in Nursing.
Annette was raised to never see gender as a limitation to anything she wanted to achieve. From the little girl who was gently cared for when she was sick, she went on to establish new heights for the nursing profession. Amazing to see what happens when one is given space and encouragement to pursue their passion!