Having a Maths teacher like Mr. Wamalwa was a blessing and curse all in one. Wamach was slightly tall, slender and was always rushing even when there was no need to. All you saw were his hands alternating from front to back, pushing his torso forward systematically. None of us ever saw Mr. Wamalwas hair, because whoever his barber was did a thorough job of clearing his hair so much that you couldnt even see the stems. Wamach was a Mathematics genius. On a good day he gave slow, in-depth and detailed explanations into those formulas, leaving even we who struggled with the subject feel an inch closer to managing As in KCSE Maths if we did this more often. He would feel proud about explaining the problem from the set equation through the steps until an answer presented itself without much hustle. Then his signature line of Unaona hiyo maneno? would follow. Wait until you failed to finish his assignment and all those smiles faded away. Aki unaenda suspension leo! he threatened, asking you to wait for him just outside the classroom. Ngoja nimalize lesson twende kwa deputy. I swear leo lazima ulete wazazi! Well he never suspended anyone for failing to do his assignments because you would easily talk him into forgiving you and promise to be a better boy next time. Just like that you shook hands like gentlemen and the threat was over, albeit until a few days later when you would be in the same mess again. The other not so good thing about him was that he said more than what most of us thought he shouldnt. Apparently there was a time he was teaching a Form One class how to use log tables and many of them were not getting anything. So he got frustrated and shouted; Msiwe kama Kelly wa Form Four R. Huyo kijana hajawahi kutumia log tables hadi wa leo! Even before this Kelly was already a known figure among the monos so you can imagine what that statement did to the poor boys image. Another incident happened during a parents day. He had asked one of the parents to buy a book called P. Muturi to help his son who was struggling in Maths. The parent forgot and soon another parents day came and yes, Wamalwa asked about the book. Sasa angalia. Kijana anachew blackout, mzazi anachew blackout, nyinyi mtasaidika vipi? It is only when all students, parents and teachers who were in the room all turned towards them that it hit him he had said the words loudly. Such are times you would look at his small round head, clear of hair, and imagine how a good slap on it would sound. (Excerpt from Five Long Years by Hillary Lisimba)
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 05:03:03 +0000
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