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Awesomeness!
Hooray! I will be going for the USS Halloween event later! Headcount confirmed, tickets purchased. Too late to chicken out.
The First Grader
Ever wonder what makes an ordinary man extraordinary? To me, it's his determination to walk the walk and complete the journey to his personal destination. Success is not overnight but has to be 'cultivated' one fall after another and not giving up till you reach your finishing line.
Success has got no judgement because everyone has a different finishing line. For example to me, finishing a 3.5km run is highly successful (Im serious... lol!) but to another, finishing a 21km run is only half successful. So while I feel on top of the world after my run, the other 21km runner could be feeling only half-accomplished eventhough he had ran more than me. Yiaks, who in the right mind....... >_< Anywayz... you know what i mean. Hmm... perhaps you will understand my 'revelations' more after the next few paragraphs.
'The First Grader' is about 'Maruge' in his eighties, who had solid rock determination for education. When the Kenyan govenrment announced free education for all, he was amongst the many other participants who rushed for a vacancy in school. The 'other participants' being young children who were easily less than 1/10 his age...
Needless to say, he was rejected by the teachers who said everything to discourage him like he was too old, he had got no pencil, he had got no school uniform, etc. Though impoverished and weak at one leg, Maruge turned up at the school gate day after day nevertheless, armoured with a newly-met expectation. He was never willing to give up and doing his best till acceptance into the school. Touched by his perseverance, head teacher Jane Obinchu finally let him in.
Success has got no judgement because everyone has a different finishing line. For example to me, finishing a 3.5km run is highly successful (Im serious... lol!) but to another, finishing a 21km run is only half successful. So while I feel on top of the world after my run, the other 21km runner could be feeling only half-accomplished eventhough he had ran more than me. Yiaks, who in the right mind....... >_< Anywayz... you know what i mean. Hmm... perhaps you will understand my 'revelations' more after the next few paragraphs.
I went Lido with a beloved friend to watch 'The First Grader' the other day and manz.. was I inspired by this movie based on a true life story of an awesome old man. 
'The First Grader' is about 'Maruge' in his eighties, who had solid rock determination for education. When the Kenyan govenrment announced free education for all, he was amongst the many other participants who rushed for a vacancy in school. The 'other participants' being young children who were easily less than 1/10 his age...
Maruge
Needless to say, he was rejected by the teachers who said everything to discourage him like he was too old, he had got no pencil, he had got no school uniform, etc. Though impoverished and weak at one leg, Maruge turned up at the school gate day after day nevertheless, armoured with a newly-met expectation. He was never willing to give up and doing his best till acceptance into the school. Touched by his perseverance, head teacher Jane Obinchu finally let him in.
Jane Obinchu with Maruge
The acceptance in school was no smooth deal as this had been met up with fierce resistance by parents.
Maroge, who had lost his wife and child during his younger days during the British invasion, had been living alone since. An old man who walked with a stick, impoverished, lonely and had a sad past but who, against all odds fought towards what he had always wanted to do. It is a truely tear-jerking yet inspiring story for all.
Kimani Maruge
(1920-2009)
(1920-2009)
