Our Journey Begins — Simbolei Academy

So how does an Iowa farm girl go from reading and daydreaming of the big world to building a high school in rural Kenya? How does a young man from rural Kenya go from herding goats and sleeping in a mud hut to doing DNA extractions in a lab in the U.S.?

From my personal perspective, I can only say it seems to be the hand of the Almighty and the combination of two rather odd personalities who intertwine the tortoise and the hare in one relationship. Richard is perpetually and boldly taking on huge challenges, and I seem to be continually insisting that we finish what we’ve started.

Richard and I met in college almost 30 years ago. We quickly discovered that we shared the major priorities of education, interesting work, marriage and children. Our parents, who were geographically oceans apart, had also instilled in both of us a deep love and respect for cows, which bridged many cultural gaps!

To be honest, a cross-cultural, interracial marriage was not easily accepted in Iowa in the early 80’s. We learned early in our marriage to decide for ourselves what was possible, rather than being limited by the ideas of others.

It was Richard who first suggested we go to graduate school. But once we started, I felt we should keep going until we had “finished” with Ph.D.s in our respective fields. Other people choose to either postpone graduate school for one spouse or to postpone children. We figured, I guess, that common sense limits didn’t apply to us. Between 1986 and 1998, we attained two Ph.D.s and four children. Richard found time while completing his master’s in plant pathology to enjoy a brief career as a world-class marathon runner, setting a course record at the Houston Marathon that stood for 20 years.

— Andrea