I was suspended from school for writing love letters

09 September 2021

•"The second time my mum was very worried and she introduced me to see a therapist. When I think of it now, I think that was her way of trying to 'heal' me."- Makena Njeri

Makena Njeri has shared how she was suspended from high school three times.

At the time Makena was still trying to 'identify' who she was.

Speaking during an interview with 'The Singleton Stories' with Biko Zulu, Makena shared,

"I was suspended three times while in high school and the reasons were always almost the same.

The first time is because I had been caught writing love letters to 'specific people' and the management said they did not tolerate such behaviour.

When I was sent home my parents did not speak about it. They only told me they had taken me to school to get a good education and not what I was doing (writing letters).

The second time my mum was very worried and she introduced me to see a therapist. When I think of it now, I think that was her way of trying to 'heal' me.

So I would go for therapy once per week, but my excitement was at the fact that I would leave school. But the conversations we had were not over why I was suspended from school. I did the therapy for one term."

Makena added it's only after the third suspension that she decided to re-evaluate herself.

"I was suspended for the third time, there was a lot of shame and my dad was very furious. But this time around my mum leaned on church and after that, I went back to school and I kept it together till I finished. After high school, I knew I was unique."

Makena confirmed that she is gay three months ago.

Speaking in an interview on an international media platform, TedX on behalf of TedX Parklands, Makena said that it had taken years for her to accept and admit the fact to herself.

She said she has had to be bold enough about herself. She identified herself as Chris Makena Njeri.

"My name is Chris Njeri Makena. I am happy, I am free and I am bold. For a very long time I could never introduce myself like this but somewhere along the journey I started to discover what it meant to live your truth, I started to discover who I was and I decided to be loyal to my authenticity."