The Wish

J. Mwakimatu

Description

Mria is a good student who excels at science and math, she dreams of skyscrapers and one day training to be an engineer. However, her father has different ideas, he would rather see her become a lawyer, believing that science is not a suitable subject for girls to study. With the support of her best friend Sipe and teachers at schools, Mria tries to find a way to show her father her talents and importance of following her dreams. Mwamgwirani J. Mwakimatu has crafted memorable characters with real-life dilemmas in this touching and entertaining, award-winning novel. Young readers and adults alike will enjoy this tale which shows the importance of following your dreams and believing in yourself.

Informations

• Publié par: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789987083497
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Wish
The Wish
Mwamgwirani J. Mwakimatu
PUBLISHED BY Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd P. O. Box 4246 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania www.mkukinanyota.com
© Mwamgwirani J. Mwakimatu, 2014
ISBN 978-9987-08-291-9
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd.
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Distributed worldwide outside Africa by African Books Collective. www.africanbookscollective.com
Contents
Acknowledgment
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
To my late father; Ahmed Juma Mwakimatu whose trust in me makes me who I am and to my mother; Mwanafatima Abdallah Zakaria whose true love humbled my father and humbles me still.
Acknowledgment
The Burt Award for African Literature recognises excellence in young adults fiction from African countries. It supports the writing and publication of high quality, culturally relevant books and ensures their distribution to schools and libraries to help develop young people’s literacy skills and foster their love of reading. The Award is generously sponsored by a Canadian philanthropist, Bill Burt, and is part of the ongoing literacy programmes of the Children’s Book project for Tanzania and CODE, a Canadian NGO supporting development through education for over 50 years.
Foreword
Since 2008, the Children’s Book Project for Tanzania (CBP) has been supporting novel writing and publishing in English with the aim of promoting the learning of English for the youth in upper primary and secondary schools. In a country like Tanzania where English is not widely used outside the classroom, concerted efforts need to be in place to support its acquisition through intensive and extensive reading.
The Burt Award for African Literature aims at producing books which show the local situation, depicting familiar environments in order to arouse the interest and enthusiasm of the reader. Consequently, students can develop the habit of reading and enjoying interesting stories while improving their English skills and, ultimately their ability to learn other subjects taught in English. It is indeed the expectation of the project that the Burt Award for African Literature will be a catalyst for success in other subjects.
CBP wishes to thank the panel of judges for their dedication and integrity; and both CODE and Mr. Burt for broaching and supporting the project and all our stakeholders, including writers, publishers, librarians, teachers and students. It is their collective participation that has made the project a success. Pili Dumea
Executive Secretary
Children’s Book Project for Tanzania
Chapter One
“If you understand the beginning well, the end will not trouble you.” – Ashanti proverb
The class was quiet, abnormally so. Somebody dropped a pen at the back of the classroom and the cluttering sound filled the entire room. The sound seemed to hit the four walls and echoes bounced back and forth. Surprisingly, no one turned around to look. It was as though they didn’t care or if they did, no one was bothered. I sat at my usual desk looking forwards at the chalkboard. I smiled and wondered why everybody hated maths. Another smile crept across my face when the answer to the problem passed through my mind. Had it been someone else looking at the question, then the answer to that puzzle would have been hard to come by- but not to me!
Absent-mindedly, I looked at my plastic watch; it read two minutes past eight. I could not suppress another smile, this time I was thinking of the ninety minutes we had to persevere with Babu. It was not his theatrics that scared the class of its wits; to the contrary, everyone loved Babu’s comedic performances. Rather, our fear came from the promise he had made after the maths test the past Friday. My watch read five minutes past eight when Babu walked into the classroom. He wore a white, worn out, long sleeved shirt, well pressed and smartly tucked into his blue trousers. A crease ran from the top of the trousers straight to the hem on both sides, a result of pressing and folding. His old worn out moccasins made a rhythmic sound as he majestically entered the room. His entire personality left the scared youth with a taste of fear in our mouths. On his right hand he balanced a pile of exercise books and in his left, a canning stick about three rulers long.
The class was full and it was not hard to tell we all wished that by some unexplainable mystery, Babu would melt and disappear. As if he could hear our silent thoughts, he turned around as in an army drill. He stood for a moment, silently staring at us, letting his revered image sink into our scared hearts. Then a wide sheepish smile spread across his face, it was like watching a cartoon. Hisham could not contain himself anymore and let out a loud giggle. Everyone knew that that was his blunder of the week. Babu turned around slowly to command a better view of his victim, “Hisham,” he called, “It just had to be you! Can you tell me what it is that you find so funny?”
Every pair of eyes in the class was transfixed on Hisham. He sat silently, his gaze towards the floor.