Background
By virtue of education at The Prince of Wales School, Nairobi, Kenya between 1945-1950 -- a boys' high school which later changed its name to Nairobi School -- Griffin is a member of the Old Cambrian Society, an alumni and staff association. He was a student member of Grigg House while at the school.
After leaving school "early" (meaning he completed the first four years of high school, but did not complete the additional two years of advanced high school required for admission to university in Kenya), he first joined the Survey of Kenya, and then the King's African Rifles (KAR). After serving during the Emergency, and tired of the brutality of war, he became convinced of the justice of the Mau Mau cause. He did not review his commission, and began to participate in attempts to rehabilitate former fighters held or recently released from detention camps. After some years, his attention turned to children orphaned by the war, and he started a rescue centre, out of which grew Starehe.
Griffin rose to become an educational leader and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. in Education by Kenyatta University for developing Starehe Boys' Centre and School into becoming one of the premier schools -- not only in Kenya but also in Africa and other parts of the world where Starehe has renown as a centre of educational excellence.
He was awarded the MBS (Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear) by President Kenyatta in 1970, the MGH (Moran of the Order of the Golden Heart) by President Daniel arap Moi in 1986, knighthood in the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Geoffrey William Griffin
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)