Nairobi, tiŋshɛli din be katiŋa ka di biɛhigu ku tooi ŋmani nira ya ka tuma kuli nyɛ kpa saha shɛli kam ka bihi shɛba ban ka biɛhigu shee daa be. Biɛɣu kulo din daa kuli beni ka bɛ dola. Dahiŋshɛli asiba, ka bidibsi ŋɔ daa gbihi neei n-kpabiri bɛ bindɔhi palli noli wari maa ni. Bɛ ni daa yɛn niŋ shɛm n-kari wari ŋɔ daa nyɛla saɣiri ka bɛ nyɔ. Bidibsi ŋɔ puuni, yino daa beni ka o yuli booni Magozwe, ŋun n-daa nyɛ bɛ zaa bia sani.
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.
Magozwe laamba ni daa kpi saha shɛli, o daa nyɛla yuma anu. O daa kuli o ŋahiba sani. Doo ŋɔ daa ka zaɣa zaŋ chaŋ bia ŋɔ polo. O daa bi tiri Magowe bindirigu viɛnyɛliŋga. O daa che ka bia ŋɔ tumdi tuunkpɛma pam.
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.
Magozwe yi daa fabili bee m-bɔhi bɔhigu, O ŋahiba ŋɔ daa buri o mi. Magozwe ŋun daa ti bɔhi ni o tahi o shikuru? O ŋahiba daa bu o mi ka yɛli, “A zuɣu kpiya pam dinzuɣu a ku tooi bɔhim binshɛɣu.” Magozwe daa di lala wahala ŋɔ m-paai yuma ata, ka di nyaaŋa ka o zo o ŋahiba maa sani. O daa kpalim gbɛrila pala zuɣu.
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.
Pala zuɣu biɛhigu daa to pam, bidibsi ŋɔ daa yi niŋdila nimmɔhi biɛɣu kam ka naan yi nya bindirigu. Saha shɛŋa bɛ daa yi gbahiriba mi, ka saha shɛŋa ka bɛ bu ba. Dɔro yi ti gbaai ba, so kani ŋun yɛn sɔŋ ba. Laɣibihi shɛŋa din daa gbubi laɣiŋgu ŋɔ daa nyɛla bara maalibu mini bɛ ni daa kɔhiri gbanbihi la ni binyɛri shɛŋa. Biɛhigu daa lahi niŋ tom pam, dama laɣingu shɛŋa gba daa beni m-bɔri ni bɛ zaŋ bɛ fukumsi n-fa fɔŋ shɛli bɛ ni be maa, ka zaba tooi zooi.
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.
Dahiŋshɛli Magozwe daa yuunila saɣiri guŋgɔna puuni, ka ti nya salima buku chera. O daa nyahi daɣiri di zuɣu ka zaŋ niŋ o kɔligu puuni. Din nyaaŋa biɛɣu kam o yɛn yihila buku maa na n-yuuni anfoonima di puuni. O daa bi mi bachinima maa karimbu.
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.
Anfoonima maa daa tiri la lahibali zaŋ kpa bi’so ŋun daa zoona n-ti lebi alepile durooba. Magozwe kuli yɛn ʒimi n-zahindi ni o lebi alepile durooba. Saha shɛŋa, ka o tɛhiri ni di yi di nyɛ ŋuna n-nyɛ bi’so ŋun be lahabali maa ni maa.
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.
Wari daa beni ka Magozwe ʒi soli zuɣu m-maani bara. Doso daa kana o sani. N-ti puhi o ka yɛli o, “N-yuli Tomasi n-tuma shee bi waɣa ni kpe, luɣ’shɛli polo a ni tooi nya bindirigu n-di.” O daa tiri yili din nyɛ zaɣa dozim ka pili chɛmsi nuɣiso maa. “N tamaha ni, a ni chaŋ n-ti nya bindirigu n-di?” ka doo maa bɔhi o. Magozwe daa lihi doo maa mini yili maa ka yɛli “Di yi pa shɛli,” ka ŋmaligi.
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.
Chirshɛŋa din paya maa na, bidibsi ban ka biɛhigu shee ŋɔ daa tooi nyari Tomasi bɛ ni be luɣushɛli polo maa. O daa bɔri ka o mini niriba diri alizama balante ninvuɣ’shɛba ban yiŋsi nyɛ pala zuɣu la. Tomasi daa tooi bɔri lahabaya zaŋ kpa niriba biɛhigu polo. O daa mali nimmɔhi ni suɣulo, ka je ni o boli so yoli bee m-bi ti jilima. Bihi maa shɛba daa pili chani yili din nyɛ dozim la maa mini nuɣiso yili maa ni, n-ti diri wuntaŋ bindirigu.
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.
Magozwe daa kuli ʒila soli maa zuɣu n-yuuni anfoonima buku la. Ka Tomasi ti ʒini m-miri o. “Bɔ lahibali m bala?” Tomasi m-bɔhi o maa. “Di nyɛla bidibilso ŋun daa lee alepile durooba lahibali,” Magozwe labisiya. “Bidibila maa yuli booni bo?” Tomasi m-bɔhi o maa. “M-bi mi dama n-ʒi karimbu,” Magozwe yɛli baalim.
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.
Bɛ ni daa ti nya taba yaha ka Magozwe piligi o maŋmaŋa lahibali n-yɛri n-tiri Tomasi. Di daa nyɛla o ŋahiba lahibali ni daliri din che ka o zo maa. Tomasi daa bi yɛli pam, ka mi daa bi wuhi Magozwe ni yɛn niŋ shɛm, amaa ka lee kuli maai o maŋa n-wumda. Sahashɛŋa bɛ tooi diri alizama di yi ti niŋ ka bɛ be yil’shɛli din pili nuɣiso la n diri bindirigu.
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.
Magozwe dɔɣiri dabsili naba daa miri na ka Tomasi daa ti o buku din nyɛ lahibali palli yɛltɔɣa. Lahibali maa daa nyɛla tiŋkpaŋ bidibil’so ŋun daa zooi na nti lebi bol’ŋmɛri kpeeni ŋun yuli daa gili luɣuli kam. Tomasi n-daa kuli karimdi lahibali ŋɔ n-tiri Magozwe, ka ti yɛli dahiŋshɛli, “Di simdi ni a chaŋ shikuru nti bɔhim karimbu, wula ka a tɛhi?” Ka Tomasi daa wuhi o luɣushɛli polo o ni mi ka bihi gbɛri a ka chani shikuru.
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.
Magozwe daa tɛhi biɛhigu palli ŋɔ mini shikuru chandi ŋɔ zuɣu. Ka di yi ti niŋ ka n-ŋahiba yɛligu la niŋ yɛlmaŋli, ni dama n ka fahim din ni tooi bɔhim binshɛɣu? Ka di yi ti niŋ ka bɛ buri o biɛhigu palli ŋɔ shee? Dabiɛm daa mali o. “Di yi pa shɛli palli zuɣu biɛhigu ni so,” lala ka o daa tɛhi.
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.
Ka o daa baŋsi Tomasi dabiɛm shɛli din mali o. Doo maa daa tooi yɛri bidibila maa ni biɛhigu palli ŋɔ shee ni so.
He shared his fears with Thomas. Over time the man reassured the boy that life could be better at the new place.
Lala zuɣu, Maqozwe daa kahi kuli nti kpe yil’shɛli din mopilli nye zaɣvakahili la duu ni. Niriba ayi n-daa be duu maa ni m-pahi o zuɣu. Bɛ baŋ daa laɣim be yili maa ni zaa daa paai pia. Yili maa ni m-piriba Sisi mini o yidana n-ti pahi bahi ata, jɛnkuno mini bukurili n-daa beni.
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.
Magozwe daa pili shikuru chandi ka di to n-ti o. Dama o daa mali tuma pam nyaaŋa. Saha shɛŋa o daa bɔri ni o che. Amaa o yi teei alepile durooba mini bol’ŋmɛra la yɛltɔɣa, lahibali buku la ni, o kpaŋdila o maŋa.
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.
Magozwe daa ʒila yil’shɛli din mopilli nye zaɣvakahili la duŋdɔŋ ni n-karimda lahibali buku shɛli o ni ʒi n-yi shikuru la na. Ka Tomasi ti kana n-ti ʒini baɣili o. “Lahibali bɔ yɛltɔɣa m-bala?” ka Tomasi bɔhi o. “Di nyɛla bidibilso ŋun daa lee karimba,” Magozwe labisiya. Ka Tomasi bɔhi o, “Bidibila maa yuli booni bo?” Ka Magozwe yɛli, “O yuli m booni Magozwe,” ka la biɛla.
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.
