Toropong e phetheselang ya Nairobi,
hole le bophelo ba tsotello ba hae, ho ne
ho dula bashanyana ba se nang mahae.
Ba ne ba amohela letsatsi ka leng ka
moo le neng le tla kateng.
Hoseng ho hong, bashanyana ba ne ba
pakela dimmata tsa bona ka mora ho
robala dipheivementeng tse batang. Ho
iphuthumatsa, ba ne ba besa
mollo ka matlakala.
Hara sehlopha sa bashanyana ho ne ho
le ya bitswang Magozwe. E ne e le yena
e monyenyane ho ba feta.
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.
Ha batswadi ba Magozwe ba hlokahala,
o ne a le dilemo di hlano feela. O ile a
ya dula le malomae. Monna enwa o ne a
sa kgathalle ngwana. O ne a sa fe
Magozwe
dijo tse lekaneng. O ne a sebedisa
moshanyana enwa ka thata.
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.
Ha Magozwe a ne a ipelaetsa kapa a
botsa potso, malomae o ne
a mo shapa. Ha Magozwe a ne a botsa
hore na a ka ya sekolong, malomae o ne
a mo shapa mme a re, “O sethoto haholo
hore o ka ithuta eng kapa eng.”
Ka mora dilemo tse tharo tsa tshwaro
ena Magozwe o ile a baleha ha
malomae. O ile a qala ho phela
seterateng.
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.
Bophelo ba seterateng bo ne bo le thata
mme boholo ba bashanyana ba ne ba
sokola letsatsi ka leng ho fumana dijo.
Ka nako tse ding ba
ne ba tshwarwa, ka nako tse ding ba
shatjwa. Ha ba ne ba kula, ho ne ho se ya
ba thusang.
Sehlopha se ne se phela ka tjheletenyana
eo se neng se fuwa
ka ho kopa, le ka ho rekisa dipolasitiki le
dintho tse ding tse sebediswang
hape.
Bophelo bo ne bo le thata haholo ka baka
la dintwa tsa dihlopha tse lwantshanang
tse neng di batla
taolo dikarolong tse ding tsa toropo.
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.
Tsatsi le leng Magozwe o ne a ntse a
sheba ka hara meqomo ya matlakala, ha
a tla fumana buka ya dipale e marantha.
O ile a tlosa ditshila ho
yona mme a e Kenya ka mokotlaneng wa
hae.
Tsatsi ka leng ka mora moo, o ne a e
ntsha a sheba ditshwantsho. O ne a sa
tsebe ho bala mantswe.
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.
Ditshwantsho di ne di pheta pale ya
moshanyana ya ileng a hola ho ba
mokganni wa sefofane.
Magozwe o ne a dula a lora le motsheare
ka ho ba mokganni wa sefofane. Ka nako
tse ding o ne a ipona e le yena
moshanyana wa paleng.
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.
Ho ne ho bata mme Magozwe a eme ka
thoko le tsela a ntse a kopa. Monna a tla
ho yena . “Dumela, ke nna Thomas.
Kesebetsa haufi le mona, sebakeng seo
o ka fumanang seo o ka se jang,” ha
rialo monna eo.
A supa ntlo e tshehla ka marulelo a
bolou. “ Ke tshepa hore o tla ya moo ho
ya fumana dijo.?” A botsa. Magozwe a
sheba monna, a ba a sheba ntlo.
“Mohlomong,” a rialo, a bile a tsamaya.
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.
Ka mora dikgwedi tse ileng tsa latela,
bashanyana ba hlokang mahae ba
tlwaela ho bona Thomas moo. O ne a
rata ho bua le batho, haholoholo batho
ba phelang diterateng.
Thomas o ne a mamela dipale tsa
maphelo a batho ba bang. O ne a tiile
ebile a na le mamello, a se tala kapa ho
hloka tlhompho.
Ba bang ba bashanyana ba ile ba qala ho
ya ntlong e tshehla le bobolou ho ya
fumana dijo motsheare.
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 o ne a dutse
pheivementeng a shebile buka ya hae ya
ditshwantsho ha Thomas a fihla a
dula pela hae.
“ Pale e bua ka eng? ”
ha botsa Thomas.
“ Ke ka moshanyana ya
bang mokganni wa sefofane,” ha
araba Magozwe.
“Lebitso la moshanyana ke mang?” ha
botsa Thomas.
“Ha ke tsebe, ha ke tsebe ho bala,” ha
rialo Magozwe a buela tlase.
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.
Ha ba kopana, Magozwe o ile a qala a
phetela Thomas pale ya hae. E ne e le
pale ya malomae le hore na hobaneng a
ile a baleha.
Thomas ha a ka a bua haholo , mme ha a
ka a bolella Magozwe seo a lokelang ho
se etsa, empa o ne a
mamela ka hloko ka dinako tsohle.
Ka nako tse ding ba ne ba bua ha ba
ntse ba ja ntlong e la ya marulelo a
bolou.
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.
Nakong ya letsatsi la tswalo la dilemo
tse leshome tsa Magozwe, Thomas o ile
a mo fa buka e ntjha ya dipale E ne e le
pale ya moshanyana wa mahaeng ya
ileng a hola ho ba sebapadi sa bolo ya
maoto se tummeng.
Thomas o ile a balla Magozwe pale eo
makgetlo a mangata, ho fihlela tsatsi le
leng a re,
“Ke nahana hore ke nako ya hore ke ye
sekolong ke ilo ithuta ho bala. O nahana
jwang?”
Thomas a hlalosa hore o tseba sebaka
seo bana ba ka dulang ho sona ba kgona
ho ya sekolong.
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 a nahana ka sebaka sena se
setjha le ka ho ya sekolong. Ha e ka ba
malomae o ne a nepile ha a re o
sethoto haholo ho ka ithuta eng kapa
eng?
Ha e be ba tla mo shapa sebakeng se se
setjha? O ne a tshaba. “Mohlomong ho
betere ho itulela seterateng,” a nahana
jwalo.
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.
O ile a arolela Thomas tshabo ena ya
hae. Ka mora nako monna eo a tiisetsa
moshanyana hore bophelo bo ka ba
betere sebakeng se setjha.
He shared his fears with Thomas. Over time the man reassured the boy that life could be better at the new place.
Yaba Magozwe o ya dula phaposing ya
ntlo e marulelo a matala. A arolelana
phaposi le le bashanyana ba bang ba
babedi.
Kaofela ha bona e ne e le bana ba
leshome ba dulang ntlong eo. Hammoho
le rakgadi Cissy le mohatsa
wa hae, dintja tse tharo,katse, le podi e
tsofetseng.
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 a qala hoy a sekolong mme
ho ne ho le thata. O ne a lokela ho ithuta
haholo ho ba maemong
a ba bang.
Ka nako tse ding o ne a batla ho inehela .
Empa a nahana ka mokganni wa
sefofane le sebapadi sa bolo
ka hara dibuka tsa dipale. Jwaloka bona,
ha a ka a inehela.
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 o ne a dutse ka jareteng ntlong
e marulelo a matala, a ntse a bala buka
ya dipale . Thomas o ile a tla ho tla dula
pela hae.
“Pale e bua ka eng?” ho botsa Thomas.
“Ke ka moshanyana ya bang mosuwe,”
ha araba Magozwe.
“Lebitso la moshanyana ke mang?” ha
botsa Thomas.
“Lebitso la hae ke Magozwe,” ha rialo
Magozwe ka pososelo
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.
