PART 10: THE TRIO | Three Boys • Three Dreams • Two Survivors •
Three Stones Beneath the Jacaranda
By Habbakuk Nyongesa Mwasame
LWANDANYI, Kenya
Education in the village of Lwandanyi did not begin with brick walls or fancy blackboards; it started with a giant, architectural masterpiece of nature and a steady supply of free, home-baked pastries.
Narrative writer Habbakuk Nyongesa Mwasame recalled his early days at ACK Lwandanyi Primary School, where the student body was effectively managed through the strategic deployment of shade and deep-fried dough.
Standing proudly near the old main gate was a massive Sycamore Fig tree, locally known as “Kumukhuyu,” which doubled as the school’s very first nursery classroom.
According to Mwasame, the open-air facility was operated by a formidable duo: Madam Asthmin Wangusi—the wife of the area’s sub-chief and fondly known as the daughter of Simonde and Madam Lenah Maikuma Kisasati.
The pair maintained perfect classroom discipline and zero truancy rates by feeding the pupils warm mandazi, known locally as “bitumbu”.
“These simple treats, served with warmth and care, made our nursery school days beneath the great fig tree even more memorable,” Mwasame said. “They made us look forward to school every single morning.”
While Mwasame admitted that the financial logistics of the operation were entirely lost on his younger self, the results were undeniable.
“Whether the cost was hidden somewhere deep within our school fees never once crossed my young mind; all that mattered to us was that they were warm, delicious, and always left us smiling,” he noted.
Beyond the culinary incentives of nursery school, the primary school compound offered its own physical challenges.
A species resembling the Tropical Almond tree, known locally as “Wamimbi”,” required the pupils to perform daily manual labor to clear the falling leaves.
However, the tree compensated its young custodians by dropping hard, fibrous fruits.
Mwasame explained that tasting the reward required the students “to become clever craftsmen, using heavy stones to carefully smash open the stubborn shells” to reach the sweet, white kernel inside.
Yet, the true epicenter of Mwasame’s childhood universe sat just outside the Standard One classroom, beneath a majestic Jacaranda tree.
There, three ordinary stones served as the headquarters for Mwasame and his two friends, Charles and Robert.
“To anyone else, they were just ordinary rocks, but to us, they were our front-row seats to the universe,” Mwasame said. “Every single break time, Charles, Robert, and I would dash out of the classroom to claim them, eager to settle into the tree’s welcoming shadow.”
From their “three stone thrones,” the trio ate smoky roasted maize smuggled from home in their pockets while watching the high-stakes soccer matches on the main pitch and observing the trainees at the adjacent Lwandanyi Youth Polytechnic learning woodwork, tailoring and masonry.
The group frequently expanded to include Charles’s sister,Eunice “Aseme” Abai, who functioned as a silent, rhythmically nodding audience of one, happily accepting payments in roasted maize.
The backdrop for this youthful think-tank was a live fence of wild Lantana camara, which a local teacher and freelance photographer, Mr. Patrick Nato Mwasame, used as a studio backdrop to take subsidized portraits of clients.
Mwasame reflected that these recess summits were actually early career development.
“Without knowing it, we were laying the foundation for the stories I would one day share with the world,” he said. “Those three stones became my very first stage, and perhaps the exact place where my lifelong love for storytelling quietly took root.”
The peaceful routine of the Jacaranda sanctuary was eventually disrupted by a bizarre and emotionally devastating guest lecture from a local character known as Wamalabe, or “The Intellectual in Rags.”
Mwasame reported that the trio gave an unresearched answer to one of Wamalabe’s prompts that left the eccentric teacher so profoundly moved that he broke down in tears and terminated the class ahead of schedule.
“The pupils around us were left wondering what had happened during that extraordinary lesson,” Mwasame teased, refusing to provide immediate closure.
“What exactly did Wamalabe teach three curious boys beneath the shade of that Jacaranda? Trust me, all lessons from all parties are worth remembering.”
More from the writer at :-habakkuknyongesa@gmail.com
Ends.
