The First Grader (2010)

Naomie Harris: Jane Obinchu

Photos 

Quotes 

• Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge : I will continue learning, I want to become a vet.

  Jane Obinchu : [laughing]  A vet? Maruge, you'll be almost 100 years old.

  Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge : I will never stop learning until I have soil in my ears.

• Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge : Do you think I'm too old to learn?

  Jane Obinchu : My father had a saying. He was not an educated man, he was a fisherman, but he said 'you never stop learning until you have soil in your ears'.

• Jane Obinchu : [addressing her 200 students on her last day]  My mother never went to school, and she said to me, 'You must love education, so that you can do better than me'. I am your mother and I am telling you, you must love education, so that you can do better than me, better than all of the teachers.

• Jane Obinchu : Mmzee, why does someone as old as yourself want to go to school?

  Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge : I want to learn to read.

• Jane Obinchu : Mmzee, they meant for children, not adults.

  Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge : No, I heard it on the radio, with my own ears, they said 'everybody'.