My Valid Dreams: A child's struggle

Part 3

Mwaura's journey, like any other journey to greatness was full of challenges. Mwaura always recited the precious words of his father whenever any challenge crossed his path. He also kept repeating the question in the story book that Mrs. Mugambi had bought for him. If he never said that he could not, who else had the right to say that he could not? Mwaura refused to be intimidated by challenges. Even when he fell sick and missed school, Mwaura would never let the sickness dampen his dreams. He was always determined to catch up. The biggest obstacle was that the other pupils were envious of him. They refused to help him with their exercise books because they did not want him to copy the notes. Thankfully, Mwaura had a very good friend who would always do everything to help him. Makena was the daughter of one of the teachers in Mitunguu Primary School where Mwaura schooled. Being brought up and schooling in the eighties in Mitunguu was a big challenge. The area was still underdeveloped. There were few hospitals that offered affordable and quality medical care. To make the matters worse, the area was infested with mosquitoes that caused malaria. There were also no sufficient drugs to treat the disease. Malaria was the biggest challenge that Mwaura faced. He wanted to attend school every single day but he could not. On two occasions, Mwaura fell ill and fainted. He almost lost his life during those two occasions. His mother was always watchful whenever Mwaura had any signs of fever. As a result, Mwaura had to repeat several classes.

Makena had the heart of helping. She felt sorry whenever Mwaura would miss school. She wanted Mwaura to perform well. By seeing that Mwaura had started to improve greatly, she decided to ask him how it had happened. She was brighter than Mwaura but the rate at which Mwaura was improving began to worry her. She decided that she had to improve and wanted to know the secret. Mwaura told her the precious words that his father had told him. Mwaura told Makena that those words were like paraffin. Whenever Mwaura had a challenge, those words became fuel to his dying fire. Furthermore, Mwaura gave her that story book that Mrs. Mugambi had bought for him. Makena was very happy. It was her first ever story book to read. She got so encouraged that she decided to join Mwaura at the front of the class.

The partnership between Mwaura and Makena began to transform the class. More and more pupils started getting close to Mwaura and Makena. They had seen how much these two pupils had improved. The English class was the most interesting in the whole school. Pupils started challenging each other with new words. The pupils would bet that they could beat each other in composition writing. Their confidence levels rose greatly. Mrs. Mugambi began to encourage the pupils to raise their hands whenever she asked them a question. Every time she would ask a question, she was surprised to see how many hands were shot up without hesitation. She had a difficult time choosing who to answer the question.

The pupils in Mwaura's class were all eager to improve in the English language. They promised never to speak their mother tongue while in school. They would walk home speaking English. The pupils also began to speak in English while at home. Newspapers cuttings could be found in their bags and on the walls of the class. The favorite newspaper cutting was that of Wahome Mutahi who wrote hilarious articles all the time. Whispers, as the brand of his articles was popularly known was every pupil's favorite. Mwaura was a huge admirer of Wahome Mutahi. He wished that he could be able to write articles that inspired and challenged many people.

By the time Mwaura was in class four, he had begun to sense his calling in writing and speaking. Public speaking was something that Mwaura liked to do. He was able to speak English without much problem because of his love for it. Mwaura was however afraid to stand and speak in public. When he was writing, no one was there to challenge him, or even make funny gestures at him. Writing provided Mwaura a hiding place from all the giggles of the naughty children. Speaking required Mwaura to master the courage to face people. Mwaura knew that he must be confident to break all the barriers to public speaking. Mr. Mberia was very fond of Mwaura and his dream. He became a very close friend who encouraged Mwaura to speak. Mr. Mberia would call Mwaura to the staffroom and ask him to speak on a subject of his choice. Mwaura was passionate about reading. He spoke to the teachers about the power of reading. Mwaura narrated how his favorite story book had changed him in a great way. The teachers could see Mwaura's joy as he spoke about the power of reading. They understood that this is something that personally came from his heart.

There were inter schools writing and public speaking competitions for pupils in class six up to class eight. Pupils from other lower classes were only allowed to participate in the competition if only they were among the top three in that school. Mitunguu Primary had just welcomed a new head teacher. Mr. Kimathi was a man known for his record in producing the best schools in exams and also in other co-curricular activities. He was greatly moved and was ready to support the competition with whatever was required. He also noticed how friendly Mwaura was with the teachers and wanted to know the reason for this closeness. Mrs. Mugambi narrated how Mwaura had grown up, his challenges and his dream to become an internationally respected author. This caused Mr. Kimathi to like Mwaura more. In addition, Mr. Kimathi was informed that despite being in class 5, Mwaura challenged most of the pupils in higher classes. Mwaura was very talented in writing and public speaking. It was the love of his life.

Writing and public speaking contests were conducted during the second term. Mwaura had a desire to take part in the competition. He disclosed this desire to his father. Mr. Kamau was very happy with Mwaura's desire. He promised Mwaura that he would pay for him and also attend the public speaking contest. Mwaura's joy could not be hidden. Throughout the first term, Mwaura had been preparing for the competition. Though no topic had been suggested, Mwaura wanted to have as many options and information as possible. He knew that once the topic was announced, he could use some of the information he had gathered. Public speaking was centered on improving the life of the pupils. Mwaura would ask the teachers many questions on how he could improve his life as a pupil.