Mu tauni ya Nairobi, kutali ndi umoyo wosungidwa bwino kunyumba, kunali kukhala anyamata analibe mabanja. Anangokhala mwa tsiku momwe ingabwerere. Tsiku lina m’mawa, anyamata anali kulonga mpasa zao pambuyo pogona pampepo mumbali mwa museu. Kusewenzesa vinyalala, anayasa moto kuti adziteyteze ku mphepo. Pagulu la anyamata iri panali Magozwe. Iye ndiye anali wamung’ono.
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.
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.
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.
Kunali kobvuta kukhala kwa m’mseu ndipo anyamata ambiri anali kubvutika masiku onse kupeza cakudya. Masiku ena anamenyedwa, nthawi zina anagwiridwa ndi apolisi. Akadwala kunalibe munthu owathandiza. Ndalama zomwe anapeza mukupempa pempha, kugulitsa ma pulasitiki ndi zina, ndiye ndalama zomwe zinali kuwathandizira. Umoyo unabvutirako cifukwa magulu ena a anyamata anali kufuna kulanda malo osiyana-siyana mu tauni.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Patapita Miyezi ingapo yotsatira, anyamata osowapokhala anazolowera kuonana ndi Thomas. Thomas anali kukonda kukamba ndi anthu maka-maka anthu okhala m’miseu. Thomas amamvetsera nkhani za anthu awa. Anali wacidwi ndipo wokhadzikika mtima, ndiponso sanataye ulemu. Anyamata ena anayamba kupita kunyumba yacikasu ya tsindwi yamtambo kukatenga cakudya masana.
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 anali nkhale mumbali mwa mseu akuyangana zithunzi-tunzi mu buku yake pamene Thomas anabwera nakhala pafupi naye. “Kodi nkhani Ikamba za ciani?” anafunsa Thomas. “Ikamba pa za mnyamata amena anakhala oyendesa ndeke,” anayankha Magozwe. “Nindani dzina lake mnyamatayo?” anafunsa Thomas. “Kaya, sindidziwa kuwerenga,” anayankha Magozwe mwakacetecete.
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.
Pomwe anakumana, Magozwe anayamba kuuza Thomas, nkhani za umoyo wake. Anamuuza za mwamene anathawira kucoka kwa amalume ake. Thomas sanakambe zambiri, ndipo sanauze Magozwe zocita koma anamvetsera mwacidwi. Nthawi zina Magozwe ndi Thomas anakambirana pamene anali kudya munyumba ya tsindwi yamtambo.
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.
Pomwe Magozwe anali pafupi ndikukwanitsa zaka khumi, Thomas anamupatsa buku. Buku inali pa za mnyamata wa m’mudzi amene anakula kukhala womenya bola odziwika kwambiri. Thomas anamuwerengera Magozwe kambiri, mpaka tsiku lina anakamba nati, “Niganiza kuti uyambe kupita ku sukulu, kuti ukaphunzire kuwerenga. Uganizapo bwanji?” Thomas ananena kuti anali kudziwa malo kumene ana angapite kukhala ndiponso kuphunzira kwameneko.
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 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.
Anamuuza Thomas kuti anali ndi mantha. Thomas anamusimikidzira kuti, azakhala ndi umoyo wabwina kumalo atsopanowa.
He shared his fears with Thomas. Over time the man reassured the boy that life could be better at the new place.
Motero Magozwe anapita kukhala mu cipinda mu nyumba ya tsindwi yamsipu. Anakhala ndi anyamata ena awiri mu cipinda. Pamodzi onse anali anyamata khumi amene anali kukhala panyumba paja. Pamodzi ndi a Anti Cissy ndi amuna ao, agalu atatu, cona ndi mbuzi yokalamba.
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 anayamba sukulu ndipo cinali cobvuta. Ndizambiri zimene anali kufunikira kudziwa kuti alingane ndi anzake. Nthawi zina anali kufuna kuleka. Koma anaganizira oyendetsa ndeke ndi omenya bola a mu mabuku ake anthano. Monga iwo anyamata a mu mabuku, sanaleke.
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 anali khale panja panyumba ya tsindwi ya msipu, akuwerenga buku lake lakusukulu, Thomas anabwera ndi kukhala pafupi naye. “Ikamba ciani nkhani uwerenga?” anafunsa Thomas. “Ikamba pa za mnyamata amene anakhala mphunzitsi,” anayankha Magozwe. “Ndani dzina munyamata?” anafunsa Thomas. “Dzina lake ndi Magozwe,” anayankha Magozwe momwetula.
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.
