Iha sidade Nairobi ne’ebé okupadu, dook husi uma ne’ebé iha karinu, moris labarik mane sira ne’ebé la iha uma. Sira simu loron loron hanesan baibain. Iha dadeer ida, labarik mane sira ne’e haloot hela sira nia biti depois de toba kalan iha pavimentu leten. Atu hasees husi anin ninia malirin sira sunu ahi ho fóer sira. Entre labarik mane sira ne’e mak labarik ida naran Magozwe. Nia mak ho idade ki’ik loos.
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 ninia inan-papa mate bainhira nia ho tinan 5 de’it. Nia ba hela ho ninia tiu. Nia tiu la tau matan ba nia. Nia la fó hahán natoon ba Magozwe. Nia halo labarik mane ne’e servisu todan barak tebes.
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.
Ninia tiu baku, se Magozwe lamenta ka husu buat ruma. Bainhira Magozwe husu se nia bele ba eskola, ninia tiu baku nia no dehan “O beik tebes atu aprende sa de’it.” Depois de tinan 3 hetan tratamentu sira hanesan ne’e, Magozwe halai sai sees husi nia tiu. Nia komesa hela iha estrada.
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.
Moris iha estrada difisil tebes no labarik sira ne’e barak hetan difikuldade atu hetan hahán. Dalaruma sira hetan kastigu, dalaruma mós sira hetan baku. Bainhira sira moras, laiha ema ida atu ajuda sira. Grupu sira ne’e depende ba osan oituan sira ne’ebé sira hetan husi ema seluk ne’ebé sira husu, no husi fa’an plastik no halo resiklajen sira seluk. Moris ne’e difisil liu tan tanba baku malu ho grupu sira seluk ne’ebé hakarak kontrola parte balun husi sidade nian.
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.
Loron ida bainhira Magozwe buka hela hahán iha lixu fatin, nia hetan livru istória tuan naklees ida. Nia hamoos rai-rahun husi livru ne’e no tau iha ninia pasta. Loron loron tuir mai nia sei hasai livru ne’e no haree ba imajen sira. Nia lahatene lee liafuan sira ne’e.
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.
Imajen sira ne’e konta istória kona-ba labarik mane ida ne’ebé boot sai pilotu ida. Magozwe dalaruma sei imajina sai hanesan pilotu ida. Dalaruma, nia imajina katak nia mak labarik ne’ebé iha istória ne’e nia laran.
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.
Rai malirin no Magozwe hamriik iha dalan ninin hodi husu osan. Mane ida la’o hakbesika ba nia. “Ola, ha’u Tomas. Hau servisu besik iha ne’e, iha fatin ida ne’ebé o bele hetan buat balun atu han,” mane ne’e dehan. Nia hatudu ba uma kinur ida ho kaleng kor azul. “Hau espera o sei ba iha ne’ebá atu simu hahán balun?” nia husu. Magozwe haree ba mane ne’e, no depois nia dehan, “Talvez” no la’o sees tiha.
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.
Iha fulan hirak ne’ebé tuir mai, labarik mane sira ne’ebé laiha uma sempre haree bebeik Tomas. Nia gosta ko’alia ho ema sira, espesialmente ema sira ne’ebé hela iha estrada. Tomas rona ba istória moris husi ema sira ne’e. Nia seriu no pasiensia, nunka hatudu malrespeitu ka rude. Labarik mane sira ne’e balun komesa ba uma kor kinur ne’e atu simu hahán iha meiudia.
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 tuur hela iha pavimentu haree ba ninia livru istória ne’e bainhira Tomas tuur iha ninia sorin. “Istoria ne’e kona-ba saida?” Tomas husu. “Istoria ne’e kona-ba labarik mane ida ne’ebé sai pilotu,” Magozwe responde. “Labarik mane ne’e ninia naran saida?” Tomas husu. “Hau lahatene, ha’u lahatene lee,” Magozwe dehan neneik.
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.
Bainhira sira hasoru malu Magozwe komesa konta ninia istória ba Tomas. Istória kona-ba ninia tiu no tansá nia halai sai husi uma. Tomas la ko’alia barak, no nia la dehan ba Magozwe saida mak nia tenke halo, maibé nia sempre rona didi’ak. Dalaruma sira sei ko’alia iha momentu sira han iha uma ho kaleng azul ne’e.
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.
Bainhira Magozwe iha tinan 10, Tomas fó ba nia livru istória foun ida kona-ba labarik husi foho ida ne’ebé sai jogadór tebe bola famozu bainhira nia sai boot. Tomas lee istória ne’e ba Magozwe dala barak. To’o iha loron ida nia dehan, “Ha’u sente to’o ona tempu atu o ba eskola no aprende atu lee. O nia hanoin oinsá?” Tomas esplika katak nia hatene fatin ida ne’ebé labarik sira bele hela ba no ba eskola.
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 hanoin kona-ba fatin foun ida ne’e no hanoin atu ba eskola. Karik ninia tiu loos duni no nia beik tebes atu aprende buat ruma? Oinsá se sira baku nia iha fatin foun ida ne’e? Nia ta’uk. “Karik di’ak liu atu hela de’it iha estrada,” nia hanoin.
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.
Nia fahe ho Tomas ninia ta’uk sira. Iha tempu hirak nia laran mane ne’e assegura bebeik ba labarik mane ne’e katak moris sei sai di’ak liu iha fatin foun ida ne’e.
He shared his fears with Thomas. Over time the man reassured the boy that life could be better at the new place.
Entaun Magozwe muda ba iha kuartu ida iha uma ida ho kaleng verde. Nia hela iha kuartu ne’e hamutuk ho labarik mane nain rua seluk. Hamutuk iha labarik nain sanulu mak hela iha uma ne’e. Sira hela ho tia Cissy no ninia la’en, asu tolu, busa ida, no bibi katuas ida.
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 komesa eskola no difisil duni. Nia presija aprende buat barak. Dalaruma nia hakarak atu para. Maibé nia hanoin kona-ba pilotu no jogadór bola iha livru istória sira nia laran ne’e. Hanesan ho sira, nia mó s la deziste.
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 tuur hela iha jardin iha uma kor verde ne’e nian, lee hela livru istória ida husi eskola. Tomas sai mai no tuur iha nia sorin.” Istória ne’e kona-ba saida?” Tomas husu.” Nee kona-ba labarik mane ida ne’ebé sai manorin ida,” Magozwe responde. “Labarik ne’e naran saida?” Tomas husu. “Ninia naran Magozwe,” Magozwe hatan ho hamnasa.
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
Translated by: Aurelio da Costa
Read by: Aurelio da Costa, Vitalina dos Santos, Criscencia R. Da Costa Viana
