From Va. to Kenya, Serving Others
Teacher-Turned-Parliament Member Taught Pupils: 'It's Never About Yourself'

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 29, 2006

Kenyans know Joseph Lekuton as a new member of their Parliament. But students at the Langley School in McLean know him as the teacher who showed them what it means to be poor and insisted that seventh-graders memorize every country and its place on the globe.

Lekuton, a longtime social studies teacher in suburban Virginia, grew up in a cow-dung hut in northern Kenya. For years he has straddled those worlds and helped connect them. This summer, he decided to return to Africa for a reason many in Washington would appreciate: He ran for a seat in the Kenyan Parliament -- which he won.

Yesterday, between visits to a U.S. congressman and international aid agencies, Lekuton came to the small private school where he had taught for a decade to say goodbye. He was greeted by students who screeched and cheered so loudly that the head of the school asked them to clap and not pound their feet on the gymnasium bleachers.

"You know I am still a teacher in my heart," Lekuton told the students. "It's never about yourself. It has to be, 'What can you do for someone else?' That is how you keep your dream alive."

In his years at the school, Lekuton led families on summer trips to Kenya to visit schools without running water and help dig latrines. Students whose families pay about $22,000 in tuition each year experienced life in a country in which the annual per capita income is $530, the World Bank estimates.

The school, which has about 465 students through grade 8, raised money for Cows for Kids, a nonprofit organization that gives livestock to Kenyans in drought-ravaged areas. The school's parents also have supported a scholarship fund for Kenyan children.

Max Queenan, 13, an eighth-grader who is thinking about becoming a scientist or an inventor, said Lekuton's lessons inspired him to design an aqueduct system that he imagines would bring water to Kenyan villages.

Thanks to what Max called Lekuton's "infamous test on the whole world," he and his classmates know the locations and capitals of nearly all the countries. (Lekuton gave them a break on identifying tiny island nations.) During one Africa trip, Max played soccer with boys who wore shoes made of tire scraps or were barefoot.

Max said Lekuton treated his students like adults. "It was serious, open discussion," he said. "I don't like that I don't have him this year, but at the same time I feel great for him. He's going to make a difference."

Lekuton, born into the nomadic Maasai tribe 37 to 39 years ago -- he doesn't know precisely -- was a boy when government officials came to his village and demanded that each family send one son to a missionary school. His older brother was supposed to go but hid in a hyena's den. So Lekuton went.

Lekuton excelled in his studies and eventually made it to a quality boarding school. He came to the United States in 1989 with a full scholarship to St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York. The education was free, but the plane ticket wasn't. His countrymen sold goats and cows to pay the fare.

"Taking that from real poor people was huge," Lekuton said. "After I was elected, people reminded me of that: 'I gave you that black cow.' "

Betty Brown, former head of the Langley School, was intrigued instantly when Lekuton's résumé landed on her desk in 1995. She invited him to the school and offered him a job on the spot. "The kids were crawling all over him because he was telling stories" about Africa, she said.

When Lekuton went on sabbatical a few years ago to earn a master's degree at Harvard University, many parents thought he wouldn't return. But after his university commencement, he jumped into a car and drove to the Langley School's graduation ceremonies.

Max's older brother, C.J., 16, said Lekuton was mostly serious but also had a broad smile and sense of humor. Sometimes he warned students to behave because he kept Maasai spears in the cabinet.

Once, Lekuton lectured for 90 minutes on honor and promises. "He just talked about the power and importance of your word," C.J. said. "In our country, when people think of power, they think of money."

Colleagues said Lekuton often talked about returning to Kenya to run for office. When five members of Parliament were killed in an April plane crash, he filed as a candidate for a special election. He left the school in June to campaign and was elected July 24. He pledged to focus on schools, health care and economic development.

"I learned a lot from my students, and one of the things I learned is they always wanted to be part of the solution," Lekuton said. "Even students lucky enough to be in suburban McLean can identify with students in Africa, and they wanted to help."

On Wednesday Lekuton is scheduled to make his first speech to Parliament in Nairobi. He will talk about improving education.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.