Dennis Onyango
5 August 2007
Nairobi — When James Sang arrived in the US one November morning in 1991, he had one suitcase containing two pairs of trousers, four shirts, an extra pair of shoes, his documents and about $500 (Sh34,000) in cash.
"I had sold everything I owned in Nairobi. This included a 21-inch colour TV, bed, sofa set, an iron box, some shoes, and a suit. Then I threw away or burnt everything else," Sang says.
As he sat waiting for a friend to pick him up from the airport that cool windy autumn morning, the nervousness of being in the unknown hit him.
But soon, Sang came to learn what it takes to realise the American dream.
He had left Nairobi to escape the sense of "uselessness" that had taken a hold of him at the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi, where he had worked for two years as a general support staff.
The $500 he carried did not amount to much. He did not have proper documents either, except the air tariff certification from the Kenya Utalii College.
From those ashes of desperation, he built on his dream slowly, counting on the equalising power of education in America's corporate world, and finally ending up in his current job with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Here, Sang's main responsibilities are procurement, design, implementation and maintenance of FAA's IT systems.
"I ensure the systems are compliant with the Federal government laws and directives, such as the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. The law imposes mandatory steps to be taken to ensure the security of government information systems," Sang says.
Success in the US, he says, is about skills and focus.
"You may have all the degrees in the world, but if you do not improve your skills through continuing education, you will be on the streets without a job.
"Your job security in corporate America is not who you know, but your skills and performances. Most companies have budgets for human resource development. This ranges from specific certifications to college degrees," explains Sang.
Take advantage of opportunities
He says it is up to an individual to take advantage of this. Sang says most Kenyans who have succeeded in their careers in the US took advantage of opportunities offered by their employers or the government."
For instance, his certificate from Utalii College earned him a job with American Express.
At the height of IT boom in 1999-2000, he changed to a career in IT and for two years worked for a major Internet service provider (ISP). The firm operated an Internet backbone system offering Internet services to companies such as America Online and other ISPs.
He later settled down to his current job as an employee of BAE System, a major defence contractor for the US Department of Defence and other government agencies.
Sang's determination has borne fruit since he won the company's Outstanding Employee Award for 2006.
He attributes this success to his willingness to improve his skills.
"My company is involved in several projects, including manufacture of all kinds of air, ground, and undersea weapons systems. But my specific contract is with the Federal Aviation Administration," he says.
Start at the bottom of the ladder
Skills also worked for Dr Richard Kaitany, who left Kenya in 1989 and is currently employed as a Senior Plant Pathologist for the State of Michigan.
"The environment here is more appreciative and rewards people with good skills. Besides, one does not have to follow a politician around or come from the "right tribe" to get a job," Kaitany said
If he were to return to Kenya, and he wants to do so in the next five years, he believes he would fit in Agriculture, and especially in the area of developing export crops and in meeting the requirements of various foreign markets for plant and plant products.
"My work has changed the way Michigan's Plant Industry does business and has enabled the State's agricultural products to maintain their foreign markets," Dr Kaitany said.
Clearly, it is not always a story of rags-to-more-rags for Kenyans who go to the US and other developed nations.
Amid the desperation that grips them on landing in the foreign lands, many have had to start life afresh, at the bottom of the ladder, only to rise and tell success stories.
"Sometimes, what makes you fail or succeed abroad boils down to who picked you up at the airport on arrival and whom you perceive to be your competitor, says Dr Kefa Otiso, an assistant professor of urban and economic geography at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, US.
Otiso moved to the US a few years ago to complete graduate studies, and settled to the teaching job.
"A sure way to fail is to compete with Kenyans back home while living in the US. People who plough back all their savings and investments in Kenya while living in the US usually get burned because they under-invest in themselves," Otiso says.
"There is nothing wrong with investing in Kenya or helping people back home as long as you bear in mind that you may end up staying abroad permanently. This will require you to be prepared for life abroad," he adds.
Kenyans in the US, the don says, should compete with Americans and aspire to rise to the top.
"Competing with Kenyans back home is "a sure path to failure. It does not take much for a Kenyan in the US to do better than the average Kenyan back home."
Desperate times
Adds Otiso: "Stories abound of Kenyan factory workers in the US who compare themselves to permanent secretaries back home unaware of the long list of privileges the latter enjoy despite their modest income, by American standards.
"Thus, the real measure of success should be doing well by American economic, business and professional standards."
The professor adds that success also depends a lot on the person who picks you up from the airport. If he or she is focused or successful, chances are that you would borrow a leaf from them and also succeed.
"Simply put, nobody can lead another beyond where he or she has been," he says.
Both Otiso and Sang agree on one thing: to make it the so-called land of opportunity, you need constant education and a long-term view of life.
"A good education leads to good jobs that gives one a chance to obtain good professional skills and connections that are invaluable even in private business enterprises," Otiso says.
Continuous improvement of skills worked wonders for Sang.
Before joining Unep in Nairobi, Sang had worked for a number of airlines and travel agencies as a customer service representative, ticket sales staff and airline tariff specialist.
While at Unep, he realised that he needed further education if he was to ever join the "professional" ranks of the UN.
There are two types of employees at the UN: the general support staff, commonly known as GS, and professionals who drive the notable vehicles with red number plates.
He says during his two-year stint at the Gigiri offices, there was hardly any Kenyan in the professional cadre and most locals were in the GS group. Only foreigners enjoyed high salaries and duty-free import of consumer goods.
"This class-based mode of employment was demoralising, which created a feeling of uselessness. The salary of the top-most GS was still much lower than the lowest-ranked professional," he says.
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