Tobias Otieno Obura

Why do you work at Nova Pioneer? What keeps you here?

To contribute toward developing young leaders and innovators that will shape the African century. To achieve this, we have to wake up every day prepared to offer guidance, to invite cooperation, to encourage pro-activity and push our young men towards sweating the small stuff that builds character. It is a long road to self mastery, it is not easy. It takes time and concerted effort to realise an all-rounded individual and I am here to travel this journey with our young leaders and innovators.

What inspires you most about your work at Nova Pioneer?

I am inspired by the fact that we are very intentional about giving every member of the Nova Pioneer community support, encouragement and opportunity to become a better version of themselves and that we are committed to the spirit of always growing. In growing our young men, we also grow as their mentors and role models.

In what ways have you grown since joining Nova Pioneer?

I joined Nova Pioneer as a Resident Teacher and later doubled as a Boarding Master. In 2017, this evolved further to the Associate Dean of Residential Life and confirmed as Dean of Residential Life in January 2018. It has been a roller-coaster ride for me with challenges knocking at my door every day. My experience in the classroom is totally different from outside the classroom. In class, the structure of the lessons gives it some predictability and stability. Outside the classroom, there is more spontaneity. Taking care of the varied individual preferences stretches your creativity as a facilitator and provides opportunity for collective responsibility among the young men – a great opportunity for living greater together.

Can you share a story of one of your most memorable moments at Nova Pioneer?

In our first year, 2016, I took a group of 20 young (Form 1) men to Alliance High School for the SAGE-Kenya entrepreneurship competition where our young men were pitching their business ideas against their peers (who were older than they – Form 3s and Form 4s) from other schools. The eloquence, confidence, questioning and presentation skills of our students were so impressive that two of our young men were awarded as best presenters.

My proudest moment was when all the 20 young men had their hands up to question the presenters from another school taking them to task in the spirit of high expectations. The moderators were so amazed and one of them exclaimed…. “Nova Pioneer is on fire!”. I had never felt so proud to be in the midst of such an amazing group of young men.

What are you passionate about? What makes you tick?

I am passionate about seeing young men who are responsible for their spaces, their colleagues and take charge of their individual and collective growth. I like order, it takes discipline to be orderly and self-discipline is a key element of self-mastery.