Some folks have suggested that I ought to write a book about my experiences here. I am of the opinion, that one really ought to have something worth saying and adding to the great conversation of centuries if one is going to write a book. However, I am the "patron" of the writers' club, so the necessity was thrust upon me.
To be totally honest, the life of a high school student in Malawi, at least here, is pretty dull. Witness the time table.
Do you see much free time? Or fun activities? So, being put in charge of the writers club, I was determined to make it fun and foster some joy in writing. My ideas of fun typically center around crafts and movies, so we began Term 1 by watching Miss Potter. I then challenged the girls to write their own stories about animals that they see around them in emulation of Beatrix Potter. In term two, we had some drawing lessons, and finally, I taught them how to make simple cloth bound books.
My example story was made and illustrated in haste, but the animals around me being as enchanting as they are and Saturdays being long and empty, I began sketching the tchule/toad who frequents my back yard and now he has a story:
Tchule thought that the world was a very marvelous place. He was quite authoritative in this opinion being, after all, a very great traveller. He had explored all the tunnels of the lemon-grasslands, and he knew every crack of the great red brick way. He had, in fact, seen all that there was to see.
The blue waxbills who frequented the dusty dirt desert twittered about other places, but Tchule knew that they were just birds and too flighty to be listened to seriously.
Tchule decided that Bulu Skink, who lived on the great wall that encircled the world, was really the only sensible person around to talk to. Howevere, he was not going to find a supporter in Bulu Skink. O no, for when Tchule began expostulating on the silliness of birds, Bulu coughed his dry little cough and said, "You do know, my dear friend, that on the other side of this wall there is another little world similar in size, but quite unlike this one, and beyond that another and another."
Tchule was amazed. Really, he was quite discomfited, meaning that his whole world was turned upside down. Given the new state of affairs, what ought he to do? Clearly he could choose to ignore these other worlds as they had never in any noticeable way effected him, but . . . now he knew they were there. Now he wondered. He wondered what these worlds were like. Were they so different from his? Then he knew. He must go exploring.
Up to the wall Tchule went. Carefully looking along it, he found what he wanted, an opening very small, hardly visible and choked with weeds, but big enough for him to force his way through, and force his way through he did.
It was a very different place on the other side. There was no brick path and no borders, just grass, tall and uncut. As Tchule began to work his way through the grass, unsure what he would find, he heard a sudden rustling off to his right and a clamor of voices. "What, what, what, what! Make way, make way," and before he had time to turn about, a flock of very big birds ran past as if on some very important mission, only to stop suddenly under a bush to begin scratching in the dirt. Tchule did not know what to make of it, but decided to keep going.
As he went, Tchule learned to avoid the marauding nkuke, for while they did not seem to intend any harm, neither did they look were they were going or seem to care if they trampled on one. Then, wonder of wonders! Tchule came to where the fourth wall ought to have been, but there was none! Instead, before him opened up a grassy slope with trees bigger than any he had ever seen, and they were covered in brilliant pink and white flowers.
Tchule wandered and wandered, but slowly a feeling welled up inside him. He wanted to go home. The world beyond the wall was grand, but it was not home with its familiar rocks and paths. He wanted to go home and soak in the sun, to hide under the sweet potatoes vines, and to talk with the waxbills, trading stories about the beyond. So at last, Tchule made his way home, and he can still be found in the little walled world -- Tchule, the Great Adventurer.
The End
Here are the real characters; they are the most common animals I see:
