| "I learned I was not, as most Africans believed, the | | | | By January 1960, fifteen months after he began his |
| victim of my circumstances but the master of them." - | | | | perilous journey, he had travelled nearly a thousand |
| Legson Kayira | | | | miles to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. He was now |
| One of the things my Christian faith has taught me is | | | | growing stronger in body and wiser in the ways of |
| that with God nothing is impossible. I live by 4 Ps - | | | | survival. He remained in Kampala for six months, doing |
| Prayers, Planning, Perseverance and Persistence. | | | | odd jobs and spending every spare moment in the |
| Hence one of the words that are not in my dictionary | | | | library, reading voraciously. |
| is 'impossible'. I seldom use it. Ditto words like | | | | In the library at Kampala, he came across an illustrated |
| providence, destiny and fate. Anything I want to do, I | | | | directory of American colleges. One illustration in |
| do it irrespective of any obstacles by using the 4 Ps. | | | | particular caught his eye - the Skagit Valley College in |
| To me, nothing is impossible if you have a clear goal | | | | Mount Vernon, Washington. He wrote immediately to |
| and vision. The legendary boxer, Muhammad Ali, once | | | | the school's Dean explaining his plight and requested |
| said "Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions | | | | for a scholarship. The Dean at Skagit was so |
| are made from something they have deep inside them | | | | impressed with Legson's determination that he not only |
| - a desire, a dream, a vision." | | | | granted him admission but also offered him a |
| Anytime I remember the story of the award-winning | | | | scholarship and a job that would pay his room and |
| Malawian Writer, Legson Kayira, I am inspired. The | | | | board. |
| facts of Kayira's early life are legendary: a Tumbuka | | | | Another piece of Legson's dream had fallen into place, |
| born and educated in Nyasaland (now Malawi), he | | | | yet more obstacles awaited him. Legson needed a |
| walked 3,200 kilometres to North Africa seeking | | | | passport and a visa, and to get a passport, he had to |
| opportunities for further education. | | | | provide the government with a verified birth date. |
| Like Martin Luther King Jnr., Legson had a dream. He | | | | That's not all. To get a visa he needed the round-trip |
| wanted to be like his hero, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th | | | | fare to the United States. Again, he picked up his pen |
| American President, who had risen from poverty to | | | | and paper and wrote to the missionaries who had |
| become President, then fought tirelessly to help end | | | | taught him since childhood. The missionaries then |
| slavery. He wanted to be like Booker T. Washington, | | | | helped to push his passport through government |
| the foremost black educator of the late 19th and early | | | | channels. However, Legson still lacked the airfare |
| 20th centuries, who cast off the shackles of slavery | | | | required for a visa. |
| to become a great American reformer and educator, | | | | Undeterred, Legson continued his journey to Cairo |
| giving hope and dignity to himself and to his race. | | | | believing he would somehow get the money he |
| Legson's dream spurred him on a journey fuelled by | | | | needed. Fortune smiled on him when, upon hearing his |
| his determination to get an education. | | | | story, the students of Skagit Valley College, with the |
| Like these great role models, he wanted to serve | | | | help of local citizens, sent $650 to Legson to cover his |
| mankind, to make a difference in the world. And to | | | | fare to America. |
| realise his goal, he needed a first-rate education. | | | | In December 1960, more than two years after his |
| Legson knew the best place to get it was in America. | | | | journey began; Legson Kayira arrived at Skagit Valley |
| When he was 17 years old, he sought his parents' | | | | College. Carrying his two treasured books, he proudly |
| blessing to go and study in America. His illiterate | | | | passed through the towering entrance of the institution |
| parents didn't know where America was but | | | | and began his studies. |
| reluctantly gave their blessings. | | | | But Legson Kayira didn't stop once he graduated. |
| His possessions were meagre: five-day supply of | | | | Continuing his academic journey, he became a |
| food, a Bible and Pilgrim's Progress, small axe for | | | | professor of Political Science at Cambridge University |
| protection, and a blanket. Legson eagerly set out on | | | | in England and a widely respected author. His first |
| the journey of his life. He was going to walk from his | | | | book was the autobiographical 'I Will Try' (1965), and he |
| tribal village in Nyasaland, north across the wilderness | | | | has written four novels: 'The Looming Shadow' (1968), |
| of East Africa to Cairo, where he would board a ship | | | | 'Jingala' (1969), 'The Civil Servant' (1971), and 'The |
| to America to get a college education. | | | | Detainee' (1974). |
| After five days of trekking across the rugged African | | | | Like his heroes, Abraham Lincoln and Booker T. |
| terrain, Legson had covered only 25 miles. He was | | | | Washington, Legson Kayira rose above his humble |
| already out of food, his water was running out, and he | | | | beginning and forged his own destiny. He made a |
| had no money. To travel 2,975 miles more seemed | | | | difference in the world and became a magnificent |
| impossible; yet to turn back was to give up and to | | | | beacon whose light remains as a guide for others to |
| resign to a life of poverty and ignorance. Legson | | | | follow. |
| turned to his two books, reading the familiar words that | | | | Legson's story shows that with faith, determination, a |
| renewed his faith in himself and in his goal. He ploughed | | | | dream and a vision, we can achieve anything in life and |
| on. | | | | rise to the top. |