Mando And His World

 

Mando And His World

 

As a child, Mando believed that he would make a difference in his world. Something in him used to tell him that he did not belong to the world he was presently in.

Mando's world was that of lack and deprivation. His family was poor, utterly poor and Mando was the 8th of 10 Children that his Parents had. His Father was a subsistent farmer and his Mother a petty trader. They could barely afford 2 meals in a day. Because of the many mouths to feed, both Parents sometimes went hungry just to ensure that their children had something to eat. Clothing was a different kettle of fish, Mando and his siblings barely had clothes and went bare-bodied most of the time. Sandals and silpas were a luxury, but they got used to moving around bare feet even on thorny surfaces.

Being a farmer, Mando's Father would leave the house very early in the morning and come back late in the evening. Sometimes, his wife would cook and then send the food with one of the children to the man while in the farm.

None of the children went beyond Primary 3 before they were withdrawn from School due to inability to pay fees.

At the age of 10 years and still unable to go to School, Mando used to wonder why his Father had so many children knowing well that he could not cater for them all and so one day he asked his Mother why she gave birth to many of them, she in turn told him to ask his Father.

Not being one to be daunted, Mando decided that he would ask his Father whenever he knew that he was in a good mood because the man had a temper and never tolerated any nonsense from any of the children. He used to beat them blue and black when they went astray.

One evening after he had come back from the farm, taken his bath and having eaten his food,  and lying down under the Mango tree in the Compound and soaking in the cool evening breeze, Mando felt that his Father was in a good mood to be approached and he did approach him. But before presenting his concern to his Father, he pleaded with him not to be angry at his question, the man was piqued and very curious to know what his favorite son wanted to ask him, so he gave his pledge not to be angry. Then Mando threw the question - "Father", he said, "why is it that you have many children and your earnings cannot support all of us?"

Instead of being angry, the man burst into a long laughter and soon as he was through with laughing, he called out to his wife - Mama Mando and then summoned the other children to come and listen to the answer to Mando's question.

This was a rare occurrence in the family as they never had that kind of time to sit together and converse like family members.

The man proceeded to tell the tale of how his own Grand Father had hoped to build a large Compound by bringing 6 men into the World and then how death dealt a big blow by taking away 3 of them in their childhood and of the remaining three, one vehemently refused to marry and died without leaving any child behind while  of the other two that eventually married, one went on to have girls as children - 8 of them while his own Father had 7 children, 2 men and 5 women. He told them that as a child his father kept drumming it into his ears that as the first son, it is his responsibility to ensure that the male lineage of the Family grew; he said that is why he is very grateful to his God that he has been blessed with 7 male children and 3 female children and that it is now their turn when they get married to ensure that the male lineage continues to grow. He told them that it is God that gives wealth and that when it is his turn to be wealthy, he would be but until then, he would keep doing what he was doing to provide for his family as much as lieth in him. They all listened to him in silence and when he was done, he wished them good night but before he left his Father's side, Mando told him that he wanted to be like other children, go to school and learn new things. He got no response to that request.

After that encounter with his Father, Mando came to know that it may take a long time for his father to be wealthy to be able to send him to School, so he resolved to go to School on his own if he could help it. From thenceforth, whenever the Parents were out - the Father to the farm and the Mother to the local market, Mando will take his 2 younger siblings and they would go and lay in wait near the only Primary School in the Community waiting for the Pupils to come out to play during the break period, then they would join them to play with their bare bodies and bare feet.

This went on for more than 3 weeks and then one of the Teachers took notice of that and decided to inform the Head Master. The next day when Mando and his siblings came to play with the Pupils, they were apprehended by the Teachers and taken to the Head Master's Office. A nice Gentleman, the Head Master assured them that nothing will happen to them but that he was only keen to know why they were coming to the School premises to play with the Pupils. Mando answered him that they too would like to be Pupils in the School but that his Father did not have the money to pay for their fees or buy sandal and clothes for them or buy their text books. On inquiry, Mando told the Head Master his Father's name and because the man's reputation had preceded him, the Head Master did not waste time in recognizing him as the man who used to withdraw his children from School as soon as they got to Primary 3, so he promised Mando that he would come and speak with his Father.

Mando and his siblings were very happy and left for their home.

Not quite long, on one cool Sunday evening, the Head Master visited Mando's Father as he promised and in their conversation, he told the man that it was time he allowed his Children to come back to School especially the last 3 that were yet to be exposed to learning activities in the School. The man told the Head Master that he was preparing his Male children to be good farmers like him and his father before him while the Female children were being prepared to become good Housewives like their Mother.

The Head Master replied him that going to School will even enhance the children's knowledge on farming and its best practices now as hoe and cutlass farming was giving way to mechanized farming but all entreaties fell on deaf ears - the man could not budge - but in order not to seem as being very difficult to convince, he now said that the major reason really why his children were not in School was because he could not afford the fees and all that go with being in School, the Head Master quickly jumped in to ask him if he then had any objection to him enrolling the last three children in School and catering for their School needs?

The man pretended not to have heard well and so he said to the Head Master, you mean you want to enroll my last 3 children in your School? pay their school fees? buy their school uniforms? buy their text books? pay for their handcrafts? buy their sandals? and the Head Master replied Yes

The man asked - How long will that last?

And the Head Master replied for as long as they keep learning and passing their exams

To which the man now exclaimed - I have no objections and he quickly called Mando and his other siblings and their Mother to announce the good news that the Head Master brought to him. Mando was very happy and thanked the Head Master very profusely.

When shall we start Mando asked the Head Master and he replied that it would be by the next term as the current term was on its way out and before them their measurements would be taken for their new uniforms and they would be prepared for life in the School as Pupils.