Lucy Mbogo – A True Rotarian Ambassador

There are only a few means by which a Rotary club can recognize the contribution made by an individual to his or her community.  Awarding a Paul Harris Fellowship to a Rotarian is one such mechanism, and many of our club are proud to be Paul Harris Fellows.  But a Paul Harris Fellowship is not restricted to Rotarians, and in Rotary GB & I it is also a means to recognize the contribution of non-Rotarians who demonstrate outstanding efforts to improve the condition of others.

Joining An Illustrious Group

Little has given our Rotary Club of Billericay as much pleasure then as, on Monday June 14, we were delighted to award a Paul Harris Fellowship to Mrs Lucy Mbogo, Headteacher of ACK Ena Primary School, and previously of Ciamanda Primary School, both in Embu, Kenya.

Mrs Mbogo joins an illustrious group of non-Rotarians which includes U.S. Past President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk, along with Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

In a superb ceremony completed entirely and brilliantly on Zoom, due to travel restrictions, and attended by many members of both our Club and the Rotary Club of Embu, president Peter and president-elect Les stressed Mrs Mbogo ‘s achievements and virtually presented her with the official certificate as a Paul Harris Fellow, her PHF pin, a PHF medallion and ribbon, and as a non-Rotarian, a book reviewing the first 100 years of Rotary Foundation.

“We did not feel it fair to Lucy to wait for restrictions to lift,” said president Peter. “Hence doing it on Zoom. It worked brilliantly.”

Rtn. Margaret Fowler will take all the regalia with her when travel will be possible once again, and she is able to make another visit to Kenya, hopefully next year.

Lucy’s Key Role

For more than 12 years, Mrs Lucy Mbogo has initiated and driven projects to improve the wellbeing, health and education of pupils at Ciamanda Primary School and other schools in Embu County, Kenya.  Her value is recognised widely in Embu County

As Headteacher of Ena Primary School she was recently appointed Chairman of the Headteachers Association in Embu Diocese, and Secretary of the Headteachers Association in the Mount Kenya Region (Embu, Kirinyaga, Meru and Mbeere).  In that role she works closely with the Diocesan Education Secretary in coordinating Headteachers when there are issues of welfare.

She has never let problems stand in the way of achieving goals to better the conditions for schoolchildren.  Her work so far has culminated with the near-completion of the Embu Borewells Project bringing fresh clean water to at least 2,500 schoolchildren.  At the start of that project, Mrs. Mbogo and the Embu Education Secretary were invited to Rotary Club of Embu to plan these projects.  Mrs Mbogo was appointed treasurer of the sub-committee running the project in Kenya, with responsibility for payments to the workers and ensuring that the work is being done perfectly. She documents progress, taking photographs at each stage of construction of each borewell and forwards them to the Rotary Club of Billericay.
Despite the challenges, particularly striking rock underground as the digging went deeper, the project has always managed to deliver clean and safe water for the children..  Her achievements over the years have not only been her work on the Borewell Project but so many others for her schools.

We applaud you, Lucy.