A few months later, there was a school trip and everyone was supposed to pay a fee of MK 2000 for the transport. With a smile on my face, I rushed back home very quickly to let both my mom and dad know about this.

“Mom! Dad, there is a school trip that our school has planned and each student is supposed to pay a fee of MK 2000. I also want to go since John and George are going.”

They just looked into my eyes and smiled.

“Am I going or not?” I asked them again. This time they both answered me at the same time.

“We will see about that.”

When the evening came, I was very disappointed with the response that I received that day and I didn’t take my supper. We were supposed to go to Lake Malawi to appreciate the beauty of the lake and I really wanted to go to the school trip.

For my whole life, I prayed to God that our head teacher, Mr Phiri, would come up with a school trip that the whole school would go somewhere and entertain ourselves. So the trip that emerged like the morning sunrise was a dream come true.

Before I went to sleep, I asked them once again about it. Instead, they also gave me a cold shoulder. As they were entering into their bedroom, my mom looked at me and confidently told me that I would not go for the school trip for they didn’t have the money I asked them.

“Son, your dad and I don’t have that kind of money right now. You are not going on the school trip. Maybe just wait for another school trip, but as of now, you are going to stay home and help us with the chores,” she said.

Then I went to my room. Tears were flowing on my face like the waters of Victoria Falls for the answer that I received from my mom was not what I expected.

***

Tell us: Do you believe that his parents didn’t have money or they wanted to keep him away?