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Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender 254 Appendix 8 An Example of a Transcribed Conversational Interview Interview held with Dr. Wangare held in her office at Weruini on 25th November 2004 from 11.30 a.m. – she suggested we move out of her office (she was the head of department) to another she shared with a colleague who was not in the campus on the day. We were not disturbed in the office but she answered her cell phone once. Nyokabi: Thank you for this time and accepting to be interviewed. Tell me something about yourself, a bit of your background. Wangare: I am a Kenyan woman. I was born in Nyeri District of Central Province. Am from a family of six, three girls and three boys. Am from an Islamic background; my father comes from a purely Islamic background and my mother comes from a Christian background so she became a Muslim by virtue of her marriage. The first few years, maybe until my early adolescence we lived in slums in Nyeri town. Later we moved out to the countryside into a more peri-urban farm-like setting. I went to primary in Nyeri where I sat my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (CPE). I was one of the very unfortunate ones who thought that I was smart in primary school but come the exam I didn’t attain marks to go to a good secondary school. So I went to a private school where I sat for the Kenya Junior Secondary Education (KJSE). That became a turning point in my life. My father said I had to move out and join a teachers training college due to our large family which he could no longer support. I was barely 16 years old. By the time I was 17 years, I was standing in front of a classroom teaching. I was given the responsibility of educating my brother, but I also continued studying for the form four exam. It is a very long story so I can just put the highlights. In the school where I was teaching there was a teacher who thought I was too young to waste myself. She got an interest in me and she kept talking with me. She was my mother’s age and I remember her telling me ‘you know you are so young and you will be sitting here at break time listening to women’s gossips, as they talk about their husbands, their children’. She told me that I could do a Appendices 255 lot with my life and she is the one who made me do the form four and form six exams. She made sure I was registered for these exams. This woman played a very central part in shaping my future…. I was a Music teacher and the choir mistress, the music patron joined me so we used to work together and we registered for private exams until I qualified to come to Weruini University for a diploma in Music education and Kiswahili and from then on studying became my hobby. After my diploma, I did my BA here and I got my scholarship for this particular department because I wanted to do my Masters… I decided to take Education so I applied to this department in communication and technology and I was taken… (A long discussion on this, which I leave out) After I completed the MA and continued working, I realised I needed to pursue a doctorate. I told my dean I needed a scholarship, if the department could support me. I learnt that there were forms for commonwealth scholarships for PhD, which is usually given to government institutions. On learning about their availability at the university, I asked my dean to give me. The dean told me he didn’t have them, that he only had the photocopy he had pasted on his door…I went to the registrar academic who told me the forms were finished and he only had copies… So I went to the British Council and they gave me…I did not send the forms through the university as I feared the dean may not forward them so I just sent straight to Cambridge …I was admitted at Cambridge but without funding ... I needed to raise the funds so I wrote to Cambridge and I was told that year they had already disbursed their funds… I went to Ratansi Educational Trust who gave me 1000 sterling...

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