Wonders of Sergoit Hills

By William Kiptoo Back in the early 1900s, Afrikaners who settled in Uasin Gishu faced a big challenge - getting their language recognized. They wanted their children to be educated in Afrikaans, but the government only supported schools that taught in English. In 1910, a group of Afri`kaners asked the Governor to set up a school for their kids. The government did create two small schools, but they insisted on English-only teaching. This upset the Afrikaners, so Pastor Loubser, of Reformed Church, took matters into his own hands. He opened Afrikaans schools in Broederstroom and Sergoit, hiring two teachers from South Africa. Despite Loubser's efforts, the government didn't support his schools financially. Instead, they opened the Eldoret’s Central School in 1915, where only English was allowed. By 1918, Uasin Gishu had three types of schools for Europeans: English farm schools, the Eldoret Central School, and Afrikaans private schools. The Central School was mostly attended by ...

  S tory based on comments of people from an earlier post by Lepatron Arap Munjur During our childhood days, football was played with a special homemade ball called Lifundo or "Mpira ya Makaratasi." The ball was made of plastic paper, so players were cautioned to be careful not to use “nails” or “Makucha” else they would tear it. A small stone would sometimes be added inside the ball to make it a little heavier. There was always one person who made the ball, and that was the ball "owner." It was important to stay loyal to the ball owner if you wanted to play. If you didn't, you risked not being included in the game. The game was played at school or in village playgrounds, and it was played without shoes The number of players on each team could be more or less than the usual 22. There were no strict rules about balancing the teams, so sometimes one side would have 14 players while the other side had only 9. Teams could even be switched during the game! The ball o...

By William Kiptoo The v intage farmhouse below and the plunge cattle dip at Kaprobu, in Sergoit Ward in Moiben sub-county, originally belonged to a British settler known as JM Martins. The settler owned a 2,000 acres of land around the present-day Kaprobu and carried out large-scale farming activities during the colonial period. After Kenya gained independence in 1963, the land was transferred to Africans through a government land transfer program to settle the landless. Kaprobu derives its name from a Kalenjin word "robu," which translates to "distribute." During the early settlement of Uasin Gishu, some European settlers, who were farmers, are said to have faced financial constraints and were unable to pay their farm workers in cash. As a result, they resorted to distributing cereals as a form of payment for their labor. This practice led to the term "Chumbindet no robu" or that guy (mzungu/white settler) who distributes. Eventually it evolved into the...

Geography Lake Sergoit, or Charar Dam, is used interchangeably. The lake is a captivating body of water located in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. It has an elevation of 2,144 metres, with the coordinates: 0° 41′ 52″ N and 35° 24′ 41″ E. Nestled near the Katalir stream, which serves as its water source, and southwest of Kapkapai Farm, Charar, or Lake Sergoit, is surrounded by breathtaking scenery. The lake is also close to the localities of Viljoin (David Samoei’s estate) and Kazi Mingi (Tugen Estate) farms. Additionally, it shares its vicinity with Kapsubere and Sergoit Downs. A new establishment, Caesar’s Waterfront, has recently attracted visitors from near and far.   Photo: courtesy of Caesar’s Waterfront Resort, Moiben. History In the pre-colonial era, Lake Sergoit played an important role in the livelihood of the local Keiyo people, who also live in the neighboring Elgeyo Marakwet county. It served as a gathering place where they obtained “ng’enda,” or salt lick essential ...

  Eldoret has always been the home of education for many in the country, and it has always managed to turn out the elite in education. In 1928, the colonial government set up the first special school for girls to cater to European girls. The school later became accessible to all. They named it 'Highlands School." It was renamed 'Moi Girls high School in 1978. White highlands was the centre of European settlement in colonial Kenya between 1902 and 1961 was officially reserved for the exclusive use of Europeans by the colonial government. The Uasin Gishu (UG) Primary School catered for most of the Asian children, and it wasn't until 1963 that the first African children also enrolled in these schools. "64' Secondary School was set up around this time.

  This house in Kaptuktuk, Moiben, belonged to Herman Steyn family,  a Boer settler from South Africa, locally known as Kipsepta. The house is believed to have been constructed arounf 1950s. Over the years, the building has served variously purposes, including being a school (Kaptuktuk), currently Chemungen primary school.

 F rom the   Sikh Heritage East Africa, Part 5 by Dipak Hindocha The golden era in the history of Eldoret coincidentally lasted 64 years. Let us look at some of the factors contributing to the hassle-free, friendly, peaceful, healthy, safe and secure lifestyle during this GOLDEN ERA. Eldoret, as we know, was named after 'El-Dore' - a stony river. A visiting British dignitary also referred to it as ‘El-Dorado'- meaning fictitious country rich in gold'. To him there was nothing fictitious about Eldoret. Because of heavy losses suffered by Britain in terms of human life and financial, the wealth generated by the British Colonies was much needed. Any place that brought substantial income without high administration costs meant respect, preferential treatment and privileges for its people, Eldoret was one such place. As Eldoret started from nothing and was constantly growing, there were opportunities galore for everyone. In return to the Asian community’s contribution in the...

Adopted from the an article in the Habari East Africa Eldoret was known in the early days of settlement as "64." In 1907, the then Postmaster-General, Mr. Gosling, made a safari to the Plateau to establish a post office and after touring the area and studying the position of the farms not yet taken up for development, he chose Farm 64 as a central place for a district post office. In the early days, with the exception of those places through which the Uganda railway passed, every settlement and out-station depended tor its mail upon the system of "runners". Many nations used postal runners to deliver mail to remote places. Starting from the principal stations on the railway the "runners" were posted, sometimes as much as thirty miles apart, and the mail was passed from relay to relay until it reached its destination. The Eldoret Panel shows the "runner" postman with his cleft stick in which the letters were carried, and his spear for protection a...

  From the reading, I just fiund out that the name Moiben may have been derived from the name  Moori Ben , an English settler who lived and farmed 3,000 acres of land in present-day Moiben area. Read on. Sometimes on the plateau we had to do very long distances, because of water, since on the plains you dare not miss it. On these long marches the heat ,and glare and the flatness became painfully depressing. Sometimes on the plateau we had to do very long distances because of water, since on the plains you dare not miss it. On these long marches the heat ,and glare and the flatness became painfully depressing. Sometimes on the plateau we had to do very long distances, because of water, since on the plains you dare not miss it. On these long marches, the heat and glare and the flatness became painfully depressing.d to journey on and ever on, over the dullness and bluntness and blackness, until suddenly a hill called Sergoit jumped up abruptly out of the plateau right before our ...