Mentoring :the role of the Mutiiri in traditional Kikuyu society with implications for mentoring in Presbyterian Church of East Africa St. Andrew's Church

Abstract

St. Andrew's Church, Nairobi has identified a need to provide guidance to teenagers and is in the process of designing a mentoring program. The literature available on mentoring has been written mostly in the West. African traditions similar to mentoring have remained largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of the mutiiri in Kikuyu traditional society, with a view to discovering mentoring principles that would be transferable to a modern urban context, specifically, St. Andrews Church. The seven participants interviewed in the study were drawn from bordering locations in Thika and Gatundu. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed using qualitative methods of open, axial, and selective coding. The theory that emerged from the data was that the atiiri were both educators and nurses. They shared their educational role with the parents and the peers of their charges. Their effectiveness as educators depended on their charges' willingness to commit and adhere to the value system of traditional Kikuyu society. Initiates receptive to external influences such as Christianity and Western education were less committed. After the integration of literature it was recommended that the mentoring program at St. Andrew's Church should be community based and community-wide. It should be associated with important events in the lives of the mentorees and should encourage team work among mentors, parents and the community. The selection of mentors should take into consideration the character of the mentors, the possibility of role conflict, and the willingness of the mentorees, which would affect the effectiveness of the program.