The DALC was started in the year 1999 by Prof. Humphrey Oborah but began full operations in January 2001. The license from University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) made no sense until a friend bumped into it and insisted upon Oborah to make it popular. Efforts to market it were pulled back by an invoice from Nation newspapers for Kenya Shillings 24,000. That was the salary for the 3 staff at DALC by then at Kazi Plaza ( now Professional Centre, near Ngong Racecourse, Nairobi).
There was initially almost no student until September 2001 when our first 3 students registered and it was not until they submitted their first Computing and Business projects to University of Cambridge International Examinations, for Diploma, and obtained results that some sense came in. Armed with the results, as testimonials, Prof. Oborah risked the Kenya Shillings 24,000 and made the first advertisement at Nation Newspapers. The long queues that followed resulted in huge registrations and quick expansion of the institution to 4 locations in Nairobi and later other cities of Kenya and East Africa region.
It was at this point that prof. Humphrey Oborah remembered the words of his late teacher and professor Romney Harden who was instrumental in securing approval of DALC in the UK and Germany. The DALC was now beginning to make impact and growing. But it was the arrival of constitutional lawyer and former Gem MP Hon. Dr. Okii Ooko Ombaka and the wife Katini Nzau Ombaka who motivated more when they brought in their daughter Amandla. Gifted kid Amandla OOko-Ombaka had made the mum read widely and travel far to UK and South Africa (Radford House) to meet Dr. Shirley Kokot for Gifted and Talented kids.
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Former cabinet minister Hon. Oloo Aringo was next with his daughter and very supporting wife. They followed “Dr. Oborah’s strange and rather new approach to education and particularly Gifted and Talented children”. They thought that Oborah was describing their daughter who matched the symptoms described by “this guy Oborah”. After assessment of the daughter, and following Talent Prescriptions, the Aringos became one of most vocal and original testimonials for DALC.
Next came Hon. Dalmas Otieno ( then serving cabinet Minister) and whose son Isaiah Otieno was giving sleepless nights. Born naturally gifted, Isaiah was quite restless, hardly read but passed most exams. The young man, though, was no longer interested in general education and would create trouble in St Andrews Turi, Brookhouse and Millennium Academy. It was Prof. Oborah’s intervention through Professional Gift and Talent Assessment that unearthed Isaiah’s challenges and it is the same Oborah who found the solution for Isaiah to go to the School of the Rockies ( British Columbia, Canada).
Unfortunately, and if you remember, Isaiah died there following a tragic helicopter accident which was servicing electricity lines while Isaiah walked the streets. Candice Kola (the daughter of the late Dr. Abssai Kola – dermatologist and surgeon) made it even better by attaining top honours in the Cambridge Examinations at Full Distinctions.
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With those great testimonials, and many others, DALC had become a household name and media outlets wanted to know more. Jimmy Gathu (through then KTN Production Manager Mburugu Gikunda) was the first to interview Prof Oborah about the new and exciting approach to learning in the year 2003. The programme (What It Takes), became so successful that the DALC became the new horizon in education, and in so doing, challenging age-old beliefs in education. Education managers, teachers and stake holders began to listen to the DALC.
In the year 2006, DALC had produced over 600 Cambridge graduates attracting interest from the late Fidel Odinga hence the support from the mum Ida Odinga during the DALC graduation 2006 at Safari Park Nairobi, which was supported also by the late Prof Ouma Muga, Prof Jalango Anyango, Prof. Davy Koech, and Prof. Justin Irina who was Chief Guest ( and then Chairman Commission for Higher Education), among many, many others.
The growth of DALC was now phenomenal and in 2010 DALC made a first in its quest for Professional and Scientific Assessment of Talent as well as Talent Based Learning. The World Talent Council /Federation agreed to make the first Talent Clinic donation to Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. The entire Executive Board of the Federation visited Nairobi and Africa for the first time. This was later followed by a grand launch in the year 2012 led by the President and Vice President of the Federation.
Strong Kenyan government was felt with then Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Musalia Mudavadi representing the Prime Minister Hon. Raila Odinga. Prof. Harry Kaane, Prof. Ayicho Olweny, and senior education officials were at The Hilton Nairobi Hotel to witness the unveiling of the African Federation for Gifted and Talented and launch of donated Talent Clinic complete with testing machines. The DALC had now brought in the necessary challenge to education ministry in Kenya and later others in Africa especially the East African Region.
With his TV Programme (The Class) on KTN after 9pm news, Prof. Oborah pushed the DALC agenda to a new height.
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