Karibu Magazine July 2022 (updated)

Amazing Mother
Lynn is immensely proud of her
mother Margaret Ngina. To support
her family, Margret sold shoes
almost everywhere in Kenya. But
this was not the life Margaret
always dreamt of. In her younger
years, Margaret always wanted
to go to Kenyatta University. But
when she found that she was
pregnant as a teenager Margaret
had a difficult life choice to make.
She was now a young mother
and this changed everything.
Margaret is a major reason why
today everywhere she goes, Lynn
reminds us how her mother gave
up the world (and her own future)
for her girls.
Absent father
Lynn grew up with an absent but
wealthy father. Mr Ngugi, who
died in 2014, was both unavailable
and unsupportive for most of
her childhood. Lynn often speaks
about her father wanting her elder
sister Millicent (Shiku) to become
a doctor. Similarly, he wanted Lynn
to become a lawyer. Lynn asserts
that her father had no clue how
Lynn hated law with a passion.,
nor that deep down she wanted
to become a storyteller. He was
not a major presence in their lives
anyway. Nevertheless, Lynn is
grateful to both parents because
without them both she would not
be.
Education
Lynn literally fought her way
through school. Constant lack
of school fees saw her change
schools often. She eventually
completed class eight with high
marks gaining a straight entry to
Moi Girls Nairobi. Sadly she lacked
the money to proceed since her
older sister Milicent was still in
high school. As a result, Lynn
repeated at Ndururuno Primary
School. She performed even
better this time and gained entry
to Kenya High Girls Nairobi. Lynn
was disappointed again for lacking
school fees and could not enrol.
Her younger sisters Ruth Wangui
and June Wanjiru were also in
school.
Magumu High School
Having missed a chance at Moi
Girls and Kenya High respectively,
Lynn joined Magumu High School
in South Kinangop near Kinale
Town. It was discouraging, but it
did not inhibit Lynn from scoring
high marks in her exams. Lynn
was exceptionally good at Maths
and Physics. During her free time,
she interviewed the students on
various topics. Thus Lynn built her
confidence and eloquence from a
very early age.
Mr Nandoha
During her early years at Magumu
High School, Lynn met a teacher
who would later inspire her to
consider Journalism as a career.
Mr Nandoha spotted a streak for
journalism in Lynn and encouraged
her to work on it. He noticed her
rare ability to sync well emotional
with storytellers. Even her own life
story is no doubt a blend of fate
and luck. Nonetheless, Lynn has
definitely done Mr Nandoha proud.
Lynn’s Heritage
In all respects, Lynn is, first of all,
a Kenyan citizen, and second of
all a Kikuyu girl from Muranga
County. Her paternal ancestral
home lies in Githuya, in Muranga,
Central Kenya. Her maternal
home lies in Kambi Village within
Maragua. Essence, her father’s and
her mother’s villages are only 30
minutes apart in walking distance.
The Kenya National
Theatre
For her KCSE exams, Lynn
received straight A’s in maths and
science with a B+ mean grade.
Again, A lack of cash, bursary, or
sponsorship to join the University
of Nairobi sent Lynn away from
the academic space for a while.
To find something else to do
with her life Lynn first considered
acting and soon found her way
to the Kenyan national Theatre in
Nairobi. Successful auditions by
the veteran David Aliwah ushered
Lynn into set book theatre. But
several set book plays later, Lynn
realised a striking lack of fulfilment
and she made up her mind to try
journalism. Meanwhile, at the time
her mother’s shoe business was
picking up and Lynn was able to
start college.
School of Media
Studies and Beyond
Lynn started a course in journalism
in 2011 at the East Africa School
of Media Studies. She eventually
graduated in 2013 from
EASMS with a diploma in Mass
Communication and Broadcast
Journalism. After her college
life ended Lynn went searching
for a job in Kenya. After a few
months of fruitless tarmacking,
her friend Jackie who was already
in Dubai (UAE) invited Lynn to
join her. In Dubai, after a short
spell of trekking (Kenyans call it
tarmacking), Lynn landed a job
at Costa Coffee as a barista. She
worked for 6 months but was
discouraged by the working hours
and money. When she saw her
former classmates - actress Jackie
Matubia, photographer Brian
Mwando, and Hassan Mugambi
prospering back in Kenya, it forced
Lynn to seriously reflect on her
life and she finally considered
returning to Kenya. But before
coming home for good, Lynn
worked as a project manager at
the Qatar Foundation Research
and Development organization
between 2015 and 2016.
The Kilimani Mums
Show
In early 2017 Lynn returned to
Kenya quite loaded and excited to
venture out with what she believed
to be the ultimate talk show. With
her entire savings and some help
from a good friend Gregory Kiwo,
5TH EDITION | JULY 2022
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