THE VILLAGE GIRL: MY DREAM, LIFE AND LEGACY by Mary Wangari (Hard Cover)

1 review for THE VILLAGE GIRL: MY DREAM, LIFE AND LEGACY by Mary Wangari (Hard Cover)

1. 

   5 out of 5

   Bernard Kishoiyian – 25th July 2023

   Top review from the United States
   bkisho
   5.0 out of 5 stars A Story of grit, resilience and fortitude.
   Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 17, 2023
   Verified Purchase
   The Village Girl by
   Mary Wangari

   A Book Review by
   Bernard Kishoiyian

   This book is a story of grit, resilience and God’s providence in pursuit of unlimited potential of the blue skies. The author hereinafter Wangari, was born in the beautiful undulating landscape of Mununga-ini village in Nyeri county to a family of six siblings raised by a single mother and the MVP of this book one salt of the earth indefatigable Cornelia Wanjiku Matteo. Though her children were born into crushing poverty, Cornelia infused unusual discipline and pride of place in her children and insisted that they pay attention to their education even as they helped till the land, harvest the coffee and deliver milk to the dairy everyday at the crack of dawn. It is in this setting that Wangari developed a work ethic and a deep appreciation for her mother who made sure that there was always enough to eat in the house even if it was never a four course meal with Kreme brulee for dessert drowned with decaf cappuccino.

   The author learned to swim in the local nearby river where a whirling beetle known locally as “njururi” was famed to induce a bust of mammalian glands growth if it bit a young girl’s nipples. Despite enduring the pain, Wangari’s chest remained flat until genes and God had mercy. To help keep guard rails in her interaction with boys, her mother told her that in Kikuyu “arume me rwamba” which means boys sting! She took that advice to heart until further notice and if boys winked at her, she thought
   they had itchy eyes.

   Wangari breezed through Tetu Boys primary school graduating at the top of her class. She says, “I loved school. Wearing the royal blue tunic made of thin cotton material with orange collars every morning of the school term and making a dash barefoot for school was one of the most fulfilling things I have done in life.” From there, she was admitted to Kangubiri Girls Secondary for “O” levels and ultimately to Ngandu Girls for her “A” Levels from where she excelled and joined the faculty of law at University of Nairobi. Her mother’s admonition to study hard was beginning to crystallize. She graduated law school and was admitted to the bar and her life in private practice began in earnest. Through serendipity and certainly God’s divine Providence, Dr James Mwangi invited her to join Equity Bank as General Counsel when the bank was practically a ground floor start up opportunity with barely $30million in assets. She took the leap of faith, rolled her sleeves and went to work. Already married and with three children, juggling the challenge of building a start up and raising a family was a test of intestinal fortitude and learning to adjust, trust people and delegate responsibility. It’s incredible that her personal assistant has remained with her for two decades and counting!

   Through organic growth and M&A activity in the East and Central Africa footprint, Equity Bank has grown to become one of the largest and best managed bank franchises with an asset base of $15billion. The growth has been nothing but spectacular and as a public company, the shareholders have over the years been richly rewarded. Wangari immersed herself in the banking business and sought knowledge to complement her legal education and enrolled for advanced degrees in management and leadership. Today she is fluent in the language of ROI, ROE, ROA, NPLs and cost income ratios among many other metrics that measure capital efficiency of an enterprise.

   Wangari has been promoted to Group Executive Director which means she sits on the board of all eleven subsidiaries of Equity Group and is the link or conduit with the board of the whole enterprise. The company has remained steadfast to its creed which is “transforming lives, giving dignity and expanding opportunities for wealth creation.” The growth in the last twenty years has been off the charts yet in the grand scheme of enterprise growth, Equity Bank is only at its first inning. The foundation and structures are in place for the outfit to break $100billion asset base. The East African Regional potential as the engine for economic renaissance in Africa is in place and the bank to underwrite that growth and capital formation is ready to go.

   The work that Wangari and Equity Group has done in giving back to society through education scholarships has lifted many from poverty. This book opens your eyes to what is possible when an organization has world class leadership and is tethered to values of fairness, meritocracy and inclusion. As Dr James Mwangi reminds his troops, “Things don’t happen. They are made to happen through seamless and speedy execution of strategy.” I say Amen to that.

   I strongly recommend this book to everyone especially those interested in social mobility, free enterprise, excellence and a can do attitude and never giving up. Wangari has given us a road map and inspired even those born without a silver spoon, shoes and indoor plumbing to dream big, really big because all things are possible to those who believe. A very easy 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.