Morris Nango -a teacher, and his son Tom Mboya, are currently looking to bag the record of the only people to have ever made an aircraft that can take to the skies, using locally available material.
Speaking to NTV, Mboya -a Bio-Chem student at Kenyatta University, revealed that they were using YouTube as their main source of information, with the ultimate hope that their project would eventually take flight.
“I’ve been watching on YouTube and other social media channels where people posted similar projects. We carried out intensive research on how to make an airplane and we are positive regarding our chances of success,” the enthusiastic student explained.
Neighbors at their South Sakwa, Bonde village home, are still skeptical over the entire project, with Mr Nango claiming most were talking behind their backs but he paid no mind to such.
The teacher went on to explain the drive behind their relentless pursuit of the dream, that is yet to be accomplished by any other team.
“You see once you are literate, you can do anything it’s just that people have the tendency to limit themselves,” he stated.
“With literacy, you can do your research, you can collect information and do some calculations because you know how to go about it,” Mboya’s dad added.
Quizzed on why he thought such projects were not a common occurrence across the country, the experienced teacher was quick to lay the blame squarely on the current education system, which he claimed placed too much emphasis on forcing issues rather than letting students express themselves.
“A lot of student’s time is wasted doing things they are not interested in because we have narrowed down and limited their potential,” he explained.
He urged his fellow teachers to shift their mindset to one that was geared towards allowing students to pursue their dreams, however crazy.
“Our aim as teachers should be to discover the talents that these students have,” he advised.
Here’s the video of Mboya working on their light aircraft:
