The inspirational story of Purity Muthoni, Kenya's youngest Biomathematics PhD holder

Despite scoring low grades in her first attempt in national exams in primary school, Purity Muthoni Ngina went on to become one of the youngest PhD holders in Kenya.

She talks to Vivianne Wandera about coming to terms with the loss of her mother, growing up in poverty and finding love in the fast lane

It’s about 11.50am when I meet Dr Purity Ngina at Strathmore University where she is a lecturer. She is easy to spot in her short hairstyle and while she walks towards me, students greet her. For a faculty member, she seems popular around the school.

Purity came to the spotlight after her graduation at Strathmore University when, at 28, she was said to be the youngest PhD holder in Biomathematics.

Her story trended on social media, but as she reveals in her interview with Eve, her life has not always been about fame and good fortune.

“I grew up in Nyeri County at a place called Mbiriri where we were settled by the government in 1991. My mum, being single, had turned to farming in order to fend for my elder brother and me,” she says.

Purity joined a school in the settlement in 1994.

“We didn’t have much. I used to visit my uncle almost every morning for breakfast as my mum couldn’t afford to buy us bread. When I couldn’t go to my uncle’s house, I made sure I was in school early enough before the free milk and food from a feeding programme were over,” she recalls.

In 2002, Purity wrote her KCPE examinations and when the results were released, she was disappointed by her score of 235 marks. With advice from her mother, she enrolled back in primary school and later resat the exams.

“My mum always wanted me to do well in school so I could have a better life than she had. She always talked about how she would have given us a better life had she gone to school. She would often compare herself to her peers who were doing well and always wished she could do better,” Purity says.

Her own motivation was the fact that she wanted to go to boarding school.

“I wanted to get out of my village so I could get the exposure and experience being in a different place. My ticket to this was doing better in my examinations. The second time, I got 369 marks which earned me a place at Tumu Tumu Girls High School,” says Purity.

Since her mum couldn’t raise the money needed for her to join high school, Purity had to stay home for a month.

“When I joined the school a month late, life wasn’t easy. I could not speak English at all and I didn’t even have shoes. I had to borrow a pair from my cousin whose feet were bigger than mine. Still, it was my first time wearing shoes to school and I was excited,” she says.

“The metal box I carried to school used to be my mum’s,” she recalls, adding that adjusting to life in boarding school was hard. Not being able to communicate in English with her peers and taking a shower in open bathrooms were the main issues that tortured her in the first days of her school life.

“I would wake up at 3am, earlier than the rest, just so I could shower alone. My box was so old, it would make a lot of noise when I opened it to get my bath supplies. One day, a student yelled at me because I kept waking my dorm mates up with my noisy box,” she narrates.

 Ray of hope

Despite all the challenges in high school, Purity managed grade of B+, with an ‘A’ in Mathematics. Her good grades earned her a partial scholarship at Egerton University.

“My relatives and friends had to raise some money to cover some of the remaining fees. I also taught at various high schools during the holidays to raise some extra money,” Purity says.

“I graduated in 2013 as a top student in the Faculty of Education so the university awarded me a full scholarship to do my Masters in Applied Mathematics. I completed that in 2015 and Strathmore University offered me an opportunity to do my PhD in Biomathematics, which is a branch of applied mathematics that uses mathematical models to help understand phenomena in biology. I then spent six months in Germany doing my research on HIV and I graduated in June this year,” she says.

Dreaming big

Purity says if she hadn’t become a lecturer, she would have joined the military. “I have always had a lot of admiration for the women in the military. I still envy them. Whenever there is a holiday, I am always glued to the TV watching them do their thing,” she says.

Despite having achieved her dream and making her mother proud, Purity’s biggest blow came last year when her mother died.

“I was sitting in the cafeteria having tea with a colleague when someone from my village called me. I ignored the call at first and the person called again and I still didn’t pick up but decided to call them back. He broke the news and to date the words still haunt me. I had talked to her at 9am and by 11am she was gone,” recalls Purity.

She says moving on with life in her mother’s absence has been hard and wishes she lived a little longer to see her little girl conquer the world. 

“My mum died in a cruel way. That’s what hurts me the most. I look at people whose mothers are still alive and envy them. Every Sunday morning as I prepare for church, I can’t help but remember her. It has been tough but we face every day at a time,” she adds.

Purity, however, found love in her fiancé who is an engineer. She says he is everything she has ever wanted in a man.

“I got engaged last year after dating for nine months. He is everything I have ever dreamed of. I know people expected me to go for someone different but he completes me,” she says.

On what the future holds for her, Purity says she wants to start a foundation to help orphaned children because she understands the problems they go through.

“I want to help children who have lost all hope in life. I want to show them that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I would also love to mentor young girls and help them understand they can achieve their dreams and nothing is impossible,” she says.

Purity urges young people not to be discouraged when they don’t do well in primary or secondary school examinations.

“If you were not fortunate enough to get good grades, do not get depressed because life is a journey and you still have time to change your story. When you join high school or a technical vocational training institute, you should do your best and believe in your own capabilities,” she says.