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Author Topic: 84 year old Kenyan starts school
Doug
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 44

posted 25 May 2004 01:14 PM      Profile for Doug   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It's never too late to learn!

According to the charity HelpAge International, the Mau Mau veteran is one of the top five pupils in his class and has been made a prefect.


From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
guilty-pleasure
Babbler # 3469

posted 25 May 2004 01:47 PM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
With public school free in Canada, and optional past the young age of 16, it's easy to forget what a privelege an education can be. Big kudos to Mr. Maruge!
From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 25 May 2004 03:13 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I love this:

quote:
He said one of his main aims for starting school was to learn to count the money he expects to receive in compensation from the authorities for fighting against the British.

He says he also hopes to learn to read the Bible - because he does not trust the version he hears each week in church.


Right on, dude! Nice to see his rebelliousness hasn't mellowed any more than his quest for learning.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Vansterdam Kid
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5474

posted 25 May 2004 04:40 PM      Profile for Vansterdam Kid   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This is clearly BUMP worthy!
From: bleh.... | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
'lance
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1064

posted 25 May 2004 05:38 PM      Profile for 'lance     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
When I graduated university, there was a fellow getting his BA in classics who, I learned later, was 82 years old. Almost no-one in the place knew him, but he got a big hand anyway.
From: that enchanted place on the top of the Forest | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Sharon
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4090

posted 25 May 2004 06:14 PM      Profile for Sharon     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
We have an almost-10 year old son and I get teary-eyed when I talk to him about the importance of education as a part of enjoying life. Several years ago, I had an old friend (now deceased) who had quit school at the age of seven to go (commercial) fishing with his father. When I knew him, he was close to 70.

I used to go over every afternoon and spend an hour, teaching him how to read. He wanted to read the newspaper. Whenever there was an election, I would draw him a ballot and show him what it would look like so he'd recognize the names and know he was voting for the candidate of his choice. (He was very sly. He would laugh when he'd tell me that people from both parties -- Liberal and Tory, of course -- had been by and offered him a bottle of rum if he would promise them his vote. He was happy to tell both of them that he'd vote for them, and accept their rum.)

He never told me who he voted for -- and I never asked.

The main point of this post though is to say that I still remember with such joy the way he felt when he was able to recognize a new word, read a headline, a paragraph, the TV screen on election night. It was such a thrill.


From: Halifax, Nova Scotia | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged

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