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Ngɛ Ga magua a mi deka be, e ji tsitaa tsritsri hengmɔ kɛje we he nɛ deka ngɛɛ, lejɛ nɛ mamkpaagbehi nɛ sɛ nga ngɛɛ. A nyaa daa ligbi he ke e na mɛ kɛkɛ. Mɔtu ko, ngumuwi ɔmɛ, te kɛ fiɛ nɛ a hluɛ a sahi ngɛ blɔ jɔjuɛ ɔ nɔ. Kaa fiɛ ɔ nɛ eho se yaa a tsɔ duɔmi ko la. Mokasa ngɛ kuu ɔ mi. E ji wayo kulaa.
In the busy city of Nairobi, far away from a caring life at home, lived a group of homeless boys. They welcomed each day just as it came.
On one morning, the boys were packing their mats after sleeping on cold pavements. To chase away the cold they lit a fire with rubbish.
Among the group of boys was Magozwe. He was the youngest.
Benɛ Mokasa fɔli gbo ɔ e ye jeha enyɔ. E kɛ e tsɛwayo ya hi si. Bi nɛ ɔ sane kɔ we nyumu nɛ ɔ he. E ha we Mokasa ni nɛ e sa. E haa nɛ nyumuyo ɔ tsuɔ nitsumi nɛ he wa wawɛɛ babaooo.
When Magozwe’s parents died, he was only five years old. He went to live with his uncle. This man did not care about the child. He did not give Magozwe enough food. He made the boy do a lot of hard work.
Ke Mokasa bi munyu ko loo etsi nɔ ko ta, e tsɛwayo ɔ gbee lɛ. Ke Mokasa bi kaa e ma nyɛ yaa sukuu lo ɔ e tsɛwayo ɔ gbee lɛ ke, “O biɛ pe nɔ nɛ maa kase nɔ ko.” Je ha etɛ se ngɛ e kɛ e tsɛwayo ɔ si himi ɔ se ɔ Mokasa ma fo kɛ je tsɛwayo ɔ ngɔ. E bɔni gbɛjegbɛ tue hwɔmi.
If Magozwe complained or questioned, his uncle beat him. When Magozwe asked if he could go to school, his uncle beat him and said, “You’re too stupid to learn anything.”
After three years of this treatment Magozwe ran away from his uncle. He started living on the street.
Gbɛjegbɛ nɔ wa nɛ nyumuwi ɔmɛ saiigbo ɔ a daa nyami ngma he dengme. Be komɛ, a nuu mɛ, be komɛ a gbee mɛ nine nya. Nɛ ke be nɛ a wo hiɔ, nɔ ko be nɛ e waa mɛ. Kuu nɛ ɔ hii kaplɛ bɔɔ nɛ enaa ngɛ a nibami mi ɔ nɔ kɛ sika nɛ a naa kɛjee rɔba nitsɔwi nɛ a juaa ha rɔba he nitsuli. A jemi bami ɔ ngɛ yee ha mɛ ejakaa a ngɛ kuu kpaakpahi a mi kɛ a he munyu tsɔwi nɛ a ngɛ hunga jee ngɛ kuuhi nɛ maa ye wetso kpaakpa mɛ a nɔ ngɛ mangua a mi.
Street life was difficult and most of the boys struggled daily just to get food. Sometimes they were arrested, sometimes they were beaten. When they were sick, there was no one to help.
The group depended on the little money they got from begging, and from selling plastics and other recycling.
Life was even more difficult because of fights with rival groups who wanted control of parts of the city.
Ligbi kake nɛ Mokasa ngɛ duɔmi nɔhi a hiɛ ɔ, e na womi momo gbagbɛ ko. E tsu mu ɔ ngɛ he nɛ e ngɔ wo e kotoku ɔ mi. Lɔɔ se ɔ daa ligbi e ma je womi ɔ kpo nɛ emaa hiɛ ofonihi ngɛ mi. E li bɔ nɛ a kaneɔ munyu ɔmɛ ha.
One day while Magozwe was looking through the dustbins, he found an old tattered storybook. He cleaned the dirt from it and put it in his sack.
Every day after that he would take out the book and look at the pictures. He did not know how to read the words.
Ofoni ɔmɛ tu nyumuyo ko nɛ ngɛ wae he munyu nɛ e maa pee kɔɔhiɔ mi lɛ hluilɔ. Mokasa maa kale kaa kɔɔhiɔ mi lɛ hluilɔ ji lɛ. Be komɛ hu e ma kale kaa lɛ ji nyumuyo ɔ ngɛ anyazia mi ɔ nɛ.
The pictures told the story of a boy who grew up to be a pilot.
Magozwe would daydream of being a pilot. Sometimes, he imagined that he was the boy in the story.
Fiɛ ngɛ yee nɛ Mokasa daa si ngɛ blɔhe ngɛ ni bae. Nyumu ko nyiɛ ba na lɛ ke, “Hello, I mi ji Thomas. I tsuɔ ni ngɛ hiɛ ɔ he ko nɛ omaa na ni maa ye.” E ngɔ e nine tsɔɔ we kungɔzɔ ko nɛ a bu yi kɛ zigli bluu. E bi ke, “O maa suɔ nɛ o ya ye nɔ ko ngɛ lejɛ ɔ?” Mokasa hiɛ nyumu ɔ kɛ ma si nɛ a hiɛ we ɔ. E ke, “Eko ɔ,” nɛ e hia nane kɛje.
It was cold and Magozwe was standing on the road begging. A man walked up to him. “Hello, I’m Thomas. I work near here, at a place where you can get something to eat,” said the man.
He pointed to a yellow house with a blue roof. “I hope you will go there to get some food?” he asked.
Magozwe looked at the man, and then at the house. “Maybe,” he said, and walked away.
Kobɔli ɔmɛ pɔɔ Thomas nami nyɔhiɔ babaoo. E suɔ nɛ e kɛ mɛ maa tu munyu titrii ngɛ nihi nɛ a tlɔ gbɛjegbɛ ɔmɛ a he. Thomas bu a jemi bami munyuhi a tue. E hɛ dɔ nɛ e na tsui, e pee we nɔ buimi nɔ kɛ tsɔɔ we mɛ. Nyumuwiɔ ekomɛ bɔni we kungɔzɔ kɛ e yi zigli bluu ɔ mi yami nɛ a yaa ngɔɔ niyemi piani.
Over the months that followed, the homeless boys got used to seeing Thomas around. He liked to talk to people, especially people living on the streets.
Thomas listened to the stories of people’s lives. He was serious and patient, never rude or disrespectful. Some of the boys started going to the yellow and blue house to get food at midday.
Mokasa hi si ngɛ blɔtue ngɛ foni ɔmɛ hiɛe nɛ Thomas ba hi e kasa mi. “Mɛ nɔ he nɛ nyazia a kɔɔ?” Thomas nɛ e bi lɛ. Mokasa ha heto ke, “E kɔɔ nyumuyo ko nɛ pee kɔɔhiɔ mi lɛ hluilɔ he.” Thomas bi ke, “Ke a tsɛɛ lɛ kɛɛ?” Mokasa ha heto blɛu ke, “I li, I be ninnyɛe ma kane.”
Magozwe was sitting on the pavement looking at his picture book when Thomas sat down next to him.
“What is the story about?” asked Thomas.
“It’s about a boy who becomes a pilot,” replied Magozwe.
“What’s the boy’s name?” asked Thomas.
“I don’t know, I can’t read,” said Magozwe quietly.
Be nɛ a kpe ɔ Mokasa bɔi lɛ nitsɛ e he ni siɛmi kɛ ngɛ Thomas hae. Munyu ɔ kɔɔ e tsɛwayo ɔ he kɛ nɔ he je nɛ e ma fo kɛje. Thomas tu we munyu fuu nɛ e de we Mokasa nɔ nɛ epee se e bu lɛ tue saminya. Be komɛ ɔ a tuɔ munyu be mi nɛ a ngɛ ni yee ngɛ we ɔ kɛ e yi bumi bluu ɔ mi.
When they met, Magozwe began to tell his own story to Thomas. It was the story of his uncle and why he ran away.
Thomas didn’t talk a lot, and he didn’t tell Magozwe what to do, but he always listened carefully.
Sometimes they would talk while they ate at the house with the blue roof.
Maa pee Mokasa e jeha nyɔngmaa yemi be mi ɔ Thomas ha lɛ nyazia womi he. E ji nyazia ko nɛ kɔɔ kɔpe nyumu yo ko he nɛ e wa nɛ e ba pee blɔɔlu fialɔ ngua. Thomas kane jama nyaziaa ha Mokasa be sai kɛya si ligbi ko nɛ e de ke, “I susu kaa e su be nɛ sa nɛ o ya sukuu nɛ o kase ni kane mi. Kɛ o susu kɛɛ?” Thomas tsɔɔ nya ke e le ko nɛ jokwɛni ma nyɛ hi nɛ a ya sukuu.
Around Magozwe’s tenth birthday, Thomas gave him a new storybook. It was a story about a village boy who grew up to be a famous soccer player.
Thomas read that story to Magozwe many times, until one day he said, “I think it’s time you went to school and learned to read. What do you think?” Thomas explained that he knew of a place where children could stay, and go to school.
Mokasa susu hihe ehe nɛ ɔ he kɛ sukuu ɔ nɛ e ma ya. Nɛ ke e ba mi kaa e tsɛwayo ɔ munyu da kaa e dami tɛ ha ni ksaemi ɔ nɛɛ? Nɛ ke e ba mi kaa a hi lɛ gbee ngɛ hihe hee nɛ ɔ nɛ? E ngɛ gbeye yee. “Eko ɔ emaa hi pe keji ngɛ nɔ engɛ ma a dɛm,” e susu ja.
Magozwe thought about this new place, and about going to school. What if his uncle was right and he was too stupid to learn anything?
What if they beat him at this new place? He was afraid. “Maybe it is better to stay living on the street,” he thought.
E kɛ Thomas sɛsɛ e gbeye nihi a he. Nyumu ɔngɛ lɛ, henɔkami hae kpami saa kaa e jemi ehe nɛ ɔ maa hi pe sa sihimi ɔ.
He shared his fears with Thomas. Over time the man reassured the boy that life could be better at the new place.
Jeha Mokasa ya hi tsu komi ngɛ we kɛ e yi bumi bamumu mi. E kɛ nyumuwi enyɔ nɛ hi mi. Bimɛ tsuo nɛ hi jama we ɔ mi ji nyɔngma. Akɛ nihi nɛ hi si ji Anti Sisi kɛ e huno kɛ gbe etɛ, ati ko, kɛ apletsi momo ko hu.
And so Magozwe moved into a room in a house with a green roof. He shared the room with two other boys.
Altogether there were ten children living at that house. Along with Auntie Cissy and her husband, three dogs, a cat, and an old goat.
Mokasa je sukuu ɔ sisi nɛ e ye lɛ. Nihi nɛ a tsɔɔ kɛ be ɔ esa nɛ ekase mɛ. Be komɛ ɔ e nine mi jee wu. Se e susuɔ kɔɔhiɔ mi lɛ hluilɔ kɛ bɔɔlu fialɔ he ngɛ nyazia womi ɔmɛ a mi, kɛkɛ e lua e he kaa mɛ, e kɔni mi jɔ we.
Magozwe started school and it was difficult. He had a lot to catch up. Sometimes he wanted to give up.
But he thought about the pilot and the soccer player in the storybooks. Like them, he did not give up.
Mokasa hii si ngɛ we kɛ e yi bumi bamumu ɔ kpo nɔ, e ngɛ nyazia womi nɛ a ha lɛ kɛje sukuu ɔ kanee. Thomas ba hi e kasa nya. Thomas bi ke, “Mɛ nɔ nyazia i?” Mokasa ha heto ke, “E kɔɔ nyumuyo ko nɛ pee titsɛ he.” Thomas bi ke, “Kɛ a tsɛɛ nyumuyo ɔ kɛɛ?” Mokasa ha heto kɛ muɔ ke, “E biɛ ji Mokasa.”
Magozwe was sitting in the yard at the house with the green roof, reading a storybook from school. Thomas came up and sat next to him.
“What is the story about?” asked Thomas.
“It’s about a boy who becomes a teacher,” replied Magozwe.
“What’s the boy’s name?” asked Thomas.
“His name is Magozwe,” said Magozwe with a smile.
Written by: Lesley Koyi
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Divine Apedo, Elizabeth Ocansey (OLE Ghana)
