By Laura Sandra, Kakamega
Dominic Zalo and his wife Jedidah Ndinda had always dreamed of doing something more meaningful with their lives. Their story is one of grit, determination and inspiration.
Dominic, a successful executive in the shipping industry, and Jedidah, a highly regarded banker, had spent years climbing the corporate ladder. Despite their impressive careers and comfortable lifestyle, both felt a growing sense of emptiness. They yearned for a way to give back to their community, to create something lasting and impactful.
One evening in September 2022, as they sat on their balcony overlooking the Nairobi skyline, Jedidah turned to Dominic. “What if we started a school?” he asked. “A place where children can get not just an education, but the kind of guidance and inspiration that can change their lives.”
Dominic’s eyes lit up. He had always been passionate about education and had seen firsthand the difference it could make in someone’s life. “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” he replied. “But where is the money? And how would we start?”
“My husband was against the idea but for me, I was convinced starting a school was a good idea because I wanted to go back to my matrimonial home and start something that will benefit the entire community,” said Jedidah
Despite not having any professional background in education, she hails from a family of educationists which fueled her passion and inspiration in education.
Jedidah’s mother, a primary school teacher, runs an academy ‘Joy Sounds Academy’ in Makueni County for the last 17 years. Her father retired recently as a Secondary Chief Principal.
“I saw my mother with the help of my father start the school from scratch, now it’s a very big school. That was a motivation for me and I knew my mother would be a to go to after consultant on the journey I was about to start,” said Jedidah
Jedidah shared with her mother about her intention to relocate permanently to Kakamega. Her mother in turn warned her not to become a village woman once she was there. She advised her to find something worthwhile to do and fully supported her idea to start a school.
“I asked my mother where I would get the resources to start a whole school and she told me to just start little by little. She kept on convincing me and with time, I gave in to the idea and started visualizing it”, said Jedidah
Come October, Jedidah found an ideal space ready which was going to serve as classes where learning would take place and by December 2022, after renovations, it was all systems go.
Dominic came on board fully the same month when he travelled back to Kakamega from Mombasa for the festive season. Finally, Jedidah’s determination and hard work had come into fruition.
They named the school ‘Selah’ a Greek word which means ‘Pause and Reflect’ or ‘Affirmation’: It denotes a mystery and something bigger than one can see as in Psalms 87:3 which states that: “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.” –Selah
The beginning of the New Year 2023, found Jedidah when she was ready to take the bull by its horns. On January 10th, she conducted interviews for teachers who would provide their valued services to the school and kicked off.
“I couldn’t put in a reverse gear, I complied and started supporting her,” said Dominic, adding, ‘I wrote my resignation letter and took early voluntary retirement’.
He added: “I had to sacrifice my job and came back home to give my wife moral support and also facilitating the smooth running of the school,”
The new term began with their son Israel as the first learner together with two children of their teachers, their house help’s son and a believer’s child from the church they shepherd.
By the end of January, they had nine learners spread across PP1 to Grade 2. The Selah School closed for the first term holiday with fifteen children.
All this time, they faced skepticism from friends and family who couldn’t understand why they would leave their lucrative jobs. There were bureaucratic hurdles to overcome, and they had to learn how to run a school from scratch.
But Dominic and Jedidah were determined. They believed in their vision and were willing to put in the hard work to make it a reality despite the myriad of the challenges they faced.
Some parents questioned how the learners would commute to the school every day without a proper means of transport.
“We lost quite a number of learners because there was no transport to facilitate the movement of the learners to school,” said Dominic, adding, ‘both having a background in marketing, knew the value of customer satisfaction to yield desired results and had to act immedielty’.
“I had to outsource two vehicles from Mombasa to mitigate the issue of transport,” Dominic added.
When the couple was asked what gives them an edge over other schools in the area, their immediate response was their impeccable work ethic. The school’s slogan is ‘Excellence Redefined’.
“We focus on offering excellence in whatever we do best in a village set up. The school is also customer centric and values its customers,” said Dominic. “We are nurturing the future generation through provision of quality of education, as we promote family values of love, kindness, respect and togetherness among the learners”.
The school has recorded steady but tremendous progress in comparison to when they first opened their doors in January 2023. The second term of that year ended with them having enrolled 34 learners and by the end of the academic year 2023, they had 42 pupils.
Currently, the school has at least 80 pupils which speaks of the determination and good customer delivery at the school. They say they still have 50-100 spaces up for grabs.
“Our goal was never to make profit but rather a calling from God to provide quality education. It is out of passion that we are making this a community project by ensuring it is affordable to every member of the community,” says Dominic.
“In ten years, we will have state of the art facilities, a swimming pool, a skating rink and a basketball court to nurture art and talent among our learners through co-curricular activities,” he added
Now, The Selah School has become the talk of the town and now has a waiting list of pupils hoping to enroll. The school’s success is a testament to Dominic and Jedidah’s vision and hard work. They have created a place where children are excited to learn, where teachers are passionate about their work, and where the community feels a sense of pride and ownership.
It is everything they had hoped for when they left behind the security of their corporate jobs to build something meaningful, and it has now paid off in ways they couldn’t have imagined.
