A graduate of Loreto Limuru Girls’ High School, Florence Ng’endo Mwangi was Kenya’s first female medical doctor. Born and raised in present day Kiambu County, she was a resilient girl who believed in the power of hard work. After her secondary education, Ng’endo studied in the United States courtesy of the Mboya airlifts that transformed the lives of so many bright Kenyans. The students who benefited from these airlifts were also to be the ones to come back and take over from the colonialists who were leaving at the time, making her trip doubly important. She undertook her undergraduate degree at Smith College where she was one of the college’s first black women. During her time at Smith, Ng’endo saw her presence in an international institution as an opportunity to work even harder – and she did just that. This lady of firsts went on to be the first African student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she gained her medical degree in 1965. On graduating, Dr Mwangi returned home and opened her first practice in Athi River. She went on to practice medicine in Kajiado and Makueni where she was the only doctor treating over 50,000 locals.
On hearing of her passing in 1989 due to breast cancer, Smith College students honoured Ng’endo Mwangi with the following tribute: “We, the Smith students of today, owe Mwangi a great debt for being one of the vanguard of women who broke down racial and gender barriers, thereby making our progress a little easier.” The Mwangi Cultural Center located within the premises of the Smith College is a reminder to all students at the college of Ng’endo’s desire for the integration of international students and overall dedication and service to her community. Today, the Mwangi Cultural Center is used by students of various ethnic groups such as African Americans, Asians and South Americans for meetings, gatherings and social events and stands as a reminder of the mark Ng’endo left at the institution. Her great niece, Wangui Kiili, says that Ng’endo was “a great Cucu; a petite, quiet woman who did not suffer fools.”
We celebrate Dr Ng’endo Mwangi, our first female physician.