You determine the winner of the Composition Competition too! Links for voting will be in the next newsletter, so be sure you're on our mailing list if you'd like to vote!
BRIAN MISIKO
She decided
to go away, but after doing something terrible to punish my father. She waited
when none was around and then put the house on fire. I’m lucky that she decided
to keep the children safe. If her anger had driven her mad enough we may have
seen the sun for the last time. From there I started living with my
grandfather.
They fed me
with cow milk until I weaned. At that time my grandmother was just suffering
because of having to care for me. My mother was nowhere to be found. Even my
father was just seeing me suffering but
he couldn't help. My grandmother took
care of me until I was one and half years. I started calling my grandmother my
mother. My elder sister was also living with my grandmother.
When I joined
school I still lived with my grandparents although my father and my step-mother
were there. They had built a new house. School was boring to me and I did not like it. I didn’t
understand what the teacher said. I was very lazy and refused to write. This
drove the teacher mad. She beat me and forced me to write. I did not care about
reading and writing. I disliked my friends because they listened and got it
right. That left me alone in a big trouble. I thought my teacher hated me
because she was not my mother. I wanted my mother because I felt she would be
nicer to me. I wished I was big enough to knock the teacher down, whenever she
beat me. I became more un co-operative
and did not concentrate on what she was saying. That made me to be last in my
class.
I had to repeat nursery school. My new teacher
was surprised at my behavior. She went to ask my grandmother what was the
matter with me. Grandmother explained that she needed my mother who was an
outcast. It's a taboo to burn a house where I come from. Anyway my teacher
became concerned with me. She started to
treat me as my mother. I felt better. She gave sweets and presents and promised
to reward me if I wrote anything at all. She made me to complete nursery school
successfully. In primary school I was back to my old problem. Teachers in
primary school are not baby sitters. I quickly hated them but learnt they would
never use sweets and gifts but canes! I had to do my part this time whether I
liked it or not.
When I was
nine years old my mother remembered me. I had not forgotten my need for my
mother. My aunt brought home to me a pack of presents from my mother. My heart
beat very fast with excitement. There were some clothes and toys! I was very happy. I got my first pair
of shoes. You should have seen me in my new shoes. I bounced up and down the
village road to show to everyone. My friends envied me. Few children wear shoes
in Kakamega. My father saw all this and felt something like he had failed. My
sister ran to him to show him that she had new books and pens. He decided to go
and look for job in Nairobi. After a year he came home.
A few years ago, I visited my father in
Nairobi. I was still not doing well in school. He was trying to encourage me. He
promised to live and study in Nairobi. I started working hard to please him. My results improved. This is my
final year in primary. If I don’t pass my exam I will be forced to repeat it
next year or drop out of school. I want to pass and go with my friends to
secondary school. My father heard me
explaining that so he brought me to Nairobi in December and started looking for
someone to help me. That’s when he met Mr. Daniel of Hamomi Children’s Centre. My sister is now in form two in a
secondary school. I met Susie Marks. She
assured us not to worry, she was going to the U.S.A to help us. Thanks to
Hamomi.
BRIAN.
P.S--- I
still need to see my mum but right now I’m a big boy and I’m very busy.
