St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of the portion of the Catholic Church called Opus Dei believed that warmth in the home began and ended with good hospitality. It was St. Josemaría’s prayer that the spirit of comfort he had come to hold so dear would be spread across the world. So, in 1960, with his blessing, some women of Opus Dei relocated to Kenya from Rome and carried forward this culture of hospitality. After all, to serve through hospitality was to serve the church, and by extension, God.
This is the foundation upon which one of Kenya’s most prominent catering and hospitality institutions – Kibondeni College – was formed. The institution aimed to instil that hospitality was a noble profession. This idea was in line with the closely held values of the Opus Dei. While at it, the school would champion the advancement of the education of African women.
Going Against the Tide
Though Kibondeni is a household name now, in the 1960s, the idea of training African women in hospitality was simply unheard of. With independence still being a new occurrence, the equality of races and genders was still not in the cards. The assumption that African women would be unable to learn the ins and outs of running a European home was rife.
This belief came from the fact that it was African men who initially sought out salaried employment. They would take on hospitality roles to pay hefty hut and poll taxes including becoming ‘houseboys’ managing European households. But the aim of the Opus Dei was not to train ‘housegirls’ to become their counterparts. It was to raise the profile of hospitality work by encouraging proper employer-employee relations. The prospective school would insist on clear contractual agreements and suitable working environments. But like any school, it would need students. And finding them was a task that proved to be onerous indeed.
Developing a Reputable Institution
At the start, the hospitality school was supposed to be a catering department serving the then Strathmore College. In fact, the school was initially named Strathmore Catering College. Time was running out to get enough students at the catering college in time for the opening of Strathmore College in March 1961. Even towards the end of 1960, no girls had been found to attend. The members of Opus Dei turned to prayer with the hope that a solution would come about. And sure enough, they learned of a Consolata mission in Tetu that had been providing post-primary education in household skills.
A Sister Germana ran the mission and spoke emphatically about the abilities of African women – a view that differed from the status quo. She passed the idea of Kibondeni to parents of girls who were interested in the training. From this effort, Kibondeni gained its first four students – Josephine Nyakarundu, Euphrasia Waiyatha, Jean Wangũi and Veronica Wanjirũ.
More students followed soon after and the work at Strathmore Catering College began in earnest. The students lived with their European teachers and slept on mattresses on the floor of the unfinished compound the first night. Together, they set up the school, learnt about food production, general housekeeping, and laundry using household appliances. Within no time, the students had completely disproven the idea that African women could not excel at hospitality. The school even produced Monica Henri – the first Kenyan woman to work in hospitality who became the Head Cateress of the Kenya Polytechnic hostel. Some of the students were also employed at Nairobi Hospital’s linen department. With more students and job opportunities for women in hospitality, the school had a golden opportunity to establish itself as a leading hospitality school.
New Frontiers
The chance to take the school to the next level came in 1967 when it gained acknowledgement from the Ministry of Education. The institution officially graduated from Strathmore Catering College to Kibondeni School of Institutional Management. The school only grew from strength to strength – continuing to place its students in top hospitality positions in schools, hotels and hospitals. It even offered services for weddings and other events.
During the 1970s, the school underwent another massive academic transformation. Changes included the development of a one-of-a-kind syllabus approved by the Ministry of Education for use in other institutions. The school was also authorised to issue its own certificates to its graduates.
In 1998, the school became known as Kibondeni College. It grew to offer a 3-year diploma in Catering and Accommodation Management alongside shorter certificates in housekeeping, laundry and cookery.
We salute Kibondeni College – an institution known for its unfailing endeavour to produce passionate hospitality professionals who are detail-oriented to a fault.