The Royal Junior School

“I prayed and prayed and prayed…. every morning at 5 am for one year…. God, what should I do?” Headmistress Elizabeth Ndjiki told me the story of how she founded one of the top 3 ranking schools of the region—the Royal Junior School.

A profound woman of faith who could also be a powerful preacher if she wanted to switch careers (I watched her give several mini-sermons to squirming students called into her office), Elizabeth started a school in her house and 10 years later she has several school buildings, almost 500 students, 17 teachers, a garden, a well, and a residence that houses 130 children who board at the school.

I instantly liked Elizabeth and her husband Leonard Ndjiki, who is a retired university professor of philosophy and psychology with a penchant for wearing cowboy hats.


In the three weeks I was there, I taught a journaling class at the school - showing students how to personalize their journals, how to use drawings and colors, how to mind-map, and I encouraged them to pay attention to their lives and to dream about the future. When I walked into any classroom, the students would stand up and recite a greeting in unison—something like, “Good afternoon, Madame, you are welcome at our school.” The smaller children (4-6 years old) giggled when I gave them “high fives” in the hallway.










It’s an amazing school and I was honored to be able to contribute some things they didn’t know about- like mind mapping. On one of my last days I sat down with Elizabeth, coaching her and mind-mapping her dreams for the future of her school. As she spoke her dreams out loud I drew sports fields, a library, a teacher’s lounge, a Secondary school, and even a swimming pool (a gutsy dream in a drought-ridden area). When we were finished, she proudly took her mind map from me and smiled widely as she spoke of laminating it and praying over it. Considering all the Ndjiki’s have accomplished in only 10 years, I’ve no doubt there will be exuberant children splashing in a swimming pool sometime in the next decade.