Livingstone School

 By William Kiptoo



There are different arguments about where the name Livingstone in Sergoit, Moiben came from. Some people think it might have something to do with the early settlers in Uasin Gishu, while others believe it could be connected to Dr. David Livingstone, a famous explorer from the 19th century.
The truth is, the name Livingstone most likely came from the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) missionaries who started working with the Boer settlers in the Uasin Gishu Plateau in the 1930s. The Boers were a group of people from South Africa who settled in Kenya and were very proud of their culture and language. The missionaries were focused on helping the Boer farmers with their Christian mission work.
In 1944, a group of DRC missionaries, led by EB Ebbys, came to the Uasin Gishu Plateau to continue the work that had started in the 1930s. They set up an outpost at the Steyn farm, which is now known as Livingstone. The missionaries had previously worked in Southern Africa, including an area called Livingstone, which is on the border of the modern-day Zambia and Zimbabwe (formerly North and Southern Rhodesia). They named the outpost after this place.
When the Boer settlers left Kenya in 1963 after the country gained independence, a new African settlement called Sugutek was established. The land where the Livingstone Primary school (now Simatwet primary school) stands today was allocated for the development of the school. They converted the settlers' wheat stores and some buildings into classrooms, and the school kept the name Livingstone.
Around 1986, the school's name was changed to Simatwet, named after an old Simatwet tree in the school's compound. However, when the secondary school was built a few years later, the name Livingstone was brought back. And that's how Livingstone got its name! What are your thoughts?

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